I’m not sure I’ll ever look cool behind a bar, but can I learn how to mix a killer cocktail?
How does Stanley Tucci look so cool making cocktails? I can’t throw a lemon barley together without burning the house down, though it’s a skill I long to acquire. That’s why I’ve come to east London bar The Duchess of Dalston, where general manager Nazareth Rodriguez is demonstrating how to use a Boston shaker. I’ve prepped for this by watching Tom Cruise in Cocktail, spouting pseudo-philosophy and chucking a bottle of Bacardi over my shoulder. As it turns out, the biggest cocktail in this joint is me.
Rodriguez doesn’t juggle. He doesn’t throw ice at his colleagues, or slide shots along the bar. “Generally, the more service flair you see, the lower quality the drink.” Oh. Rodriguez is a lab technician of a bartender, obsessed with flavour combination. Arrayed on the bar are flacons and phials of exotic ingredients: Peychaud’s bitters, mango, chocolate, absinthe. I feel as if I’m in the BFG’s dream cave. He serves me an espresso with tonic over ice. Huh? It sounds criminal, yet tastes like a piazza coffee and mineral water, sparkling with the promise of Roman holidays. Incredible.
