For dramatic flourish, Manhattan smokes the Mad Dog with wild cherry bark and Schisandra berries.
No. 46
Jungle Bird
AVIARY BAR AT HILTON KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
Adapted by Dez O’Connell
INGREDIENTS
50 ml (1¾ oz) Goslings rum
12.5 ml (2½ teaspoons) Campari
12.5 ml (2½ teaspoons) freshly squeezed lime juice
15 ml (½ fl oz) simple syrup (1.75 parts sugar to 1 parts water)
60 ml (2 fl oz) fresh pineapple juice
1 baby pineapple, top removed and hollowed out, to serve
1 orange wheel, to garnish
1 pickled cherry, to garnish
METHOD
Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake. Fill the baby pineapple vessel with crushed ice, then strain in the cocktail. Garnish with the orange wheel and pickled cherry.
Had you passed through Kuala Lumpur in the 1970s, you could have sipped a Martini at the bar of the Hilton and watched birds flutter through a glass wall. That phenomenon, as rumour has it, is what spurred beverage manager Jeffrey Ong to create the Jungle Bird in 1973, a welcome drink coinciding with the opening of the hotel. Served in a showy ceramic bird vessel, it was a refreshing mix of rum, Campari, lime juice and sugar, garnished with fruit and flowers, that soon found its way into the tiki canon – less sweet (thanks to bitter Campari) and less complicated than its brethren.
The Hilton, which attracted guests such as Muhammad Ali and then-Princess Elizabeth through the years, turned into a Crowne Plaza and was eventually demolished. However, there’s a new Hilton Kuala Lumpur in the city, and its bar is called Aviary. There are no birds on display, but this time around there is no need for the cruel carnival side show. In Aviary, next to the sexy curved wall, a good ol’ Jungle Bird provides the night’s requisite dose of fun.
This tiki classic is best drunk out of a colourful, retro-style bird-shaped vessel. Since there’s a dearth of those up for grabs at flea markets, an in-vogue baby pineapple also provides the requisite dose of Polynesian kitsch for this adaptation from Budapest-based Dez O’Connell, who oversees cocktails for the Brodyland empire, including the bar at the boutique hotel Brody House.
No. 47
36 Above Martini
BLU BAR ON 36 AT SHANGRI - LA, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
INGREDIENTS
50 ml (1¾ fl oz) Absolut Elyx vodka
10 ml (⅓ fl oz) Peach and Nectarine Mancino Secco Vermouth Infusion*
2 dashes of orange bitters
3 olives or a lemon twist, to garnish
*For the Vermouth Infusion (makes 700 ml/24 fl oz):
1 peach, stoned (pitted) and cut into 6 slices
1 nectarine, stoned (pitted) and cut into 6 slices
700 ml (24 fl oz) Mancino Secco
METHOD
For the Vermouth Infusion, combine the sliced peach and nectarine with the Mancino Secco, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. Strain into a clean container and the vermouth infusion is ready to use.
To make the cocktail, add the ingredients to a mixing glass and top with ice, then stir for about 20 seconds. Double strain into a chilled Martini glass and finish with a garnish of olives or a lemon twist.
It would be foolish to come all the way to Sydney and not spend ample time basking within a sight line to the Sydney Opera House. That’s why many travellers plot an evening, or an afternoon tea, at Blu Bar on 36. From the 36th floor of the Shangri-La, it feels as if you are floating over the concrete, shell-shaped architectural wonder. Together with the Sydney Harbour Bridge, it’s a scene that simply wows.
The Shangri-La opened in the Rocks area in 2003. Although guests swoon over the marble baths and floral patterns splashed across headboards and carpets, it’s the bar that is likely their favourite aspect of the hotel. Martinis are an art form here, and there seems to be at least one on every table, but the originals also shine. Begin with a ‘Two At Most’ (Del Maguey Vida mezcal, yellow Chartreuse, lime, falernum, absinthe rinse) and end with the ‘GPS’, a fusion of Laphroaig, Campari and Dubonnet. The cocktails are as commendable as what lies outside the glass walls.
SPOTLIGHT:
AVROKO ON LIGHTING
the transformative power of visual craftsmanship
LIGHTING AS ARTISTIC NARRATIVE
Partners Greg Bradshaw, Adam Farmerie, William Harris and Kristina O’Neal founded AvroKO in 2001; since then, the design and concept firm has expanded from its New York base to studios in Bangkok, San Francisco and London. A force on the global hospitality scene, AvroKO has designed such Asian hotel bars as Charles H. at Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, Jing at The Temple House in Chengdu, Terrible Baby at Eaton HK in Hong Kong, and UNION and Superfly at The Opposite House in Beijing. Marvellous lighting, woven throughout AvroKO projects, is crucial to the quartet’s artistic process. As AvroKO delineates here, this element – all too often neglected in bar settings – is a chance to tell a meaningful story.
Lighting is one of the strongest narrative creators in bar atmospheres. It can create mystery, incite delight or even encourage a particular mood. It can even literally be the story in the room. For us, these are all enticing aspects of the power of lighting design.
We use numerous strategies to create lighting that serves as
