Page 39 - MENU Magazine - Jan/Feb 2018

BEHIND THE BAR
SpiritHouse has created a house cocktail flight—half-sized samplers of its four house cock- tails: Netflix and Chill, Macadamia Mai Tai, Cucumber Basil Smash and the Harvest Daiquiri!
Every year people say that “this is the year of rum.” If this is indeed the year of rum, it bears noting that we’ll be talking specifically about regional rums. Molasses grown in di erent areas deliver distinct tastes and aromas, which translates into individual flavour pro- files. And refashioned classic rum cocktails—Tiki drinks like the Mai Tai—are poised to drive this category.
INSPIRATION FROM THE ISLANDS
Who, in the dead of winter, doesn’t hark back to lazy days spent sipping island concoctions on the beach? The Tiki cocktail is a reminder of winter escapes. Take glassware carved into Tiki figures, kindly lent to revelers the world over from the islands of Polynesia, decorate them with leaves and bamboo and fill with rum, bitters and aromat- ic complementary flavours and textures. These cocktails are striking, complex, great-tasting and very popular.
Rum is a humble spirit, a team player. Rum is just as happy as the centre of a complex cocktail as it is being paired with a simple squeeze of fresh lime over ice. Try this with a 7-year Havana Club dark rum, also referred to as Anejo.
At SpiritHouse, we do twists on two of the most popu- lar rum cocktails—the Daiquiri and the Mai Tai. These
are classic rum cocktails, but don’t be afraid to change them up with seasonal elements. For example, we use a macadamia nut orgeat in our Mai Tai instead of the tra- ditional almond syrup. The syrup is a textural sweetener. We serve our seasonal Mai Tai wrapped in a banana leaf with a flaming sugar cube. We infuse the dark rum with banana, and this cocktail is like a vacation in the islands in the middle of February.
BE BOLD AND ORIGINAL WITH YOUR MENU
Our Harvest Daiquiri is made with Havana Club 7-year- old, apple foam and fresh grapefruit, with an apple chip on top. Canadian winter is all about spice, warmth and the fruits of the harvest.
Why do your patrons keep coming back? Loyalty, curiosity, because they like your o erings and your
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JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2018
MENU 39
Is 2018 the year of rum?
BY LEN FRAGOMENI