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The Cocktail Ponders of Miss Bella Rouge

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Bonjour one and all. Apologies for the immense gap inbetween blogging but times are busy (as per usual) and ive been flat out at the Bar recently. However, i am now on holiday for two weeks!(whhaaaaaaaa) and this weekend was filled with the wedding of my best friend Rachel. I want to talk about the wedding as imbibing in many ways was a massive part of their day, driven by the Bride's love for GIN and the Groom's love for Ales.

 The whole event was a proper hands on affair and everyone was encouraged to get involved with the set up and all the different aspects of the day. Luckily they have friends in all manners of industries from Butchers to arborists and vets to mixologists, so the day was eclectic and personal to everyone who was invited...a very special day.

Like my friends....if your a boozy kind of couple these are things to definatly consider at your wedding!...

Gin themed table plan:
This was such a nice way of setting the scene for the day. Each table was named under a different gin brand and bottles of that gin were placed upon the table. It made it really easy to see where your table was as the bottles stood out on the white tables.

Gin Bar/ Retro fitted Hot Air Balloon Basket Gin Bar:
This was a mega attraction! The Bride and Groom actually ordered in nearly 50 litres of Gin for the day, a wide variety was on offer from the basket too. The land owner runs a franchise of Virgin Hot Air Balloons and just happened to have a 1970's decommissioned hot air balloon basket that they decided to turn into a bar!
Apart from being a bit heavy to maneuver or move about the design was great! Lots of shelves for Gin and glassware along with chopping boards and a hefty ice bucket/champagne bucket for functioning and display purposes. It had a gorgeously soft padded edge where punters could lean and socialise too, and the boys even put some funky UV strips on the top to illuminate the drinks when the sun went down. Needless to say a mountain of Gin was consumed and kept the party atmosphere going right into the early hours. A small optic was placed around the frame (that was built especially for the basket) and was roomy enough for two bartenders to do their thang.

It was such an attraction as its vintage/ home made look is fasionable at the moment, and people were instantly drawn to it....not just for the gin! When the sun went down we were revealed that the backet had a small gas burner on the top with a small flame that let the punters know they were still serving. Later on in the evening the boys made a 'home made ice luge' with a big piece of ice and a chainsaw! As you can imagine this also had a certain 'home made' feel as they chainsawed the life out of a massive block of ice in front of the guests, it was a show in it's self, and then we got to drink chilled vodka from it! It took pride of place on the side of the Gin Basket looking somewhat like a hand crafted Tiki mask made of ice! Although not transparent and frozen at specific temperatures like the professional ones, this luge turned out pretty cool and everyone was impressed with the home made attempts.

 

Alongside this was a Pimms Mini! Thats right a Pimms Mini, serving fresh Pimms and Lemonade on arrival to all the guests. Such a cute little thing that fitted in with the outdoorsy retro theme of the day...it looked amazing next to the marquee and hand made bunting...
In all the day reflected the nature of the Bride and Grooms relationship, natural, home made, rustic and real. Such an incredible day with a the hot air balloon rising up and down doing trips for guests well into the early hours...
You can actually check out a video of the day here...
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151487663037982

Other things that have been happening...

On the competition front i've been asked to compete in the No#3 Gin Competition at the Rummer Hotel in Bristol in June. The spec is simply 'A twist on a Classic G&T'. My head has been whirring with ideas and has got me looking deeper into the roots of classic gin and tonic drinking, the people who drank them, and what it tasted like back then. I've decided to make my own Tonic Syrup using Citric Acid and Chinchona Bark, a recipe i researched in my book 'Craft Cocktails at Home' (an awesome read for those looking for fun recipes and inspirational ways of doing the more scientific bits about bartending at home). I am yet to make the syrup and i'm intrigued to taste the results. I am thinking of carbonating water and my homemade Tonic Syrup in my ISI Carbonator at the competition, keep it fresh! To me No#3 is a real savory gin with heavy coriander and cardamom notes, so i may try to balance it out with lighter lavender and meadowsweet infused into the tonic syrup, balancing the bolder savory notes with light floral noses in the tonic; the component normally associated with bitterness from the Quinine that comes from the Chinchona). I'm really excited to get stuck into it and see what the other competitors have to offer.

Naked Grouse
The lovely people from Maxxium Brands asked me if someone from the bar would like to enter the competition in Bristol a few weeks ago, i was going to be away at the wedding so my Assistant Manager Grant stepped up to the plate, eager to sink his teeth into his first ever comp! The spec for this was simply  'An Old Fashioned'. Naked Grouse is branded as a 'simplistic' and 'raw' whisky thats filling a spot in the market for Scotch drinkers wanting a revival of traditional whisky styles. After many attempts to get Grant to enter the compeition naked (and being shot down each time) he beavered away behind the bar for a week before the big day. He finally decided on a home smoked Bourbon syrup that went down a storm at the Comp, alongside this was an awesome orange zest cut into the shape of a grouse...my favourite part... All of this combined with his charm saw Grant take 4th place amongst the wizened Bar tenders of Bristol and the South! 'Proud Manager!!!!!!'

Events
As well as planning weddings, Hen Parties, writing new menu's and running a busy Bar ive been trying to do a bit more on the events side at the bar, with my GM rushed off his feet with our new site i thought id try to spur on more business in the coming months, take a little weight off his back. Ive organised a charity clothes swap evening for Macmillan Cancer Support. we've called it 'Primark to Prada' and are hosting a clothes swap with a mega charity raffle alongside! Ive secured a case of rum from Brugal to serve some free cocktails (donations  reccomended) and even a luxury trip to the No#3 distillery in London with a tour of the Berry Bros shop too. It was originally going to be a small affair with just some friends grabbing clothes to swap as were all pretty poor but have tonnes of stuff in our wardrobes that we dont wear! if you want to come along simply drop off some clothes before hand and ill give you a ticket! Monday June 10th 7pm start at Circo Bar and Lounge 2/3 South Parade...its going to be great!



I have recently completed my Cellar Management Course at Wadworth Brewery in Devizes, Wilts, and now i feel super confident in all aspects of the work i do. Not only was the course informative but we got a brewery tour which was great, id never been inside a large working brewery like Wadworths before and it really opened up my eyes to the scale of brewing! Ive seen micro breweries before but nothing like this...the building is enormous and the staff were incredible. Super passionate and long lasting, they have inspired companies like the guys at Brew Dog, Meantime and The Wild Beer Co to produce intriguing flavours and combinations. Id love to do an internship at a brewery one day, i love the science behind it all and craft beers popularity is soaring at the moment. Next month at Circo we are hosting a Craft Beer tasting event as part of the Conniosseurs Club and its set to be a big one! With a large set of home brews and craft beers hopefully going into our new site its going to be a great eye opener into the palate of the average consumer in this day and age, with considerably more women taking a step forward in the ale and bitter consumer volume.

Back in my home town this week for the wedding ive been a busy beaver, checking out my late Grandfathers old cocktail equipment... thought id share a picture of a beautiful sterling silver topped Bitters Dropper that still smells like angostura even though its not been used in nearly 30 years... so awesome to see the hand crafted equipment he used to use and think about how he has inspired me over my lifetime! In this picture you can see the bitters bottle, a super old Chambord bottle (not even the nice metal casing...its some horrid plastic!) and in the top left a peanut dispenser shaped like a duck! I love these items and everytime i visit my Gran it grounds my bar related thoughts and reminds me of how drinks used to be made.