Next Generation Cocktails

Mixology goes global with sake, soju and cachaça

Mediterranean Caipirinha

ingredients:
2 oz Sagatiba Pura cachaça
3 strawberries
3 grapes
4 fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon of sugar or the equivalent in sweetener


method: Chop the fruit and muddle in a cocktail shaker with sugar and basil until
the sugar is dissolved in the juice. Add Sagatiba and ice and shake well. Serve in an old-fashioned glass.

Text by Heather Wagner

In order to fully embrace one’s chic and cosmopolitan surroundings, whether lounge, hotel bar, or artsy-designy party, you must not only look the part—you must drink it. Nothing says dealbreaker like a man ordering Merlot, or a woman requesting a Panty Dropper, neat. Actually, that is likely a deal maker, but probably not a very good deal for anyone the next morning.

The latest cocktail craze to span hemispheres is not a pork-chop reduction highball, or vodka that can see the future. The preferred drinks of the smart set in the late-aughts are the nuanced cachaça cocktails.
Distilled from fresh Brazilian sugarcane, cachaça is the upscale, international cousin of rum. The quintessential cachaça drink, the caipirinha, is gaining popularity, and Sagatiba Pura is the import of the moment. And they’re surprisingly easy to whip up if your days on the international club circuit are waning and you seek the quiet consolation of a “me cocktail” after a tough day. Muddled lime (look for Tahitian limes, slightly sweeter than Mexican), sugar (caster sugar works best), crushed ice and cachaça create a perfect balance of sweetness and acidity, as well as an unmistakable air of cache.

For a slightly more subtle path to posh inebriation, try elegant flavor-infused sake drinks. And don’t go low rent—TY KU Sake and TY KU Soju is triple-distilled and free of additives or impure ingredients. TY KU has a brilliant portfolio of cocktails, from a new take on the warhorse cosmo to a sake sangria that will make you forever recoil from sickly-sweet swill served at C-list tapas restaurants the world over.
No matter who you are—hipster, scenester, unemployed banker—there’s a next generation cocktail for you.

ty ku cosmo / TY KU Sake, splash of vodka, cranberry juice
who drinks this: Who says cosmos are dead? Ok, we do, repeatedly. But the crisp, refined flavor of the TY KU Cosmo has very little to do with the crass consumerism and shenanigans of a certain infamous forsome. Thus, the drinker of the TY KU Cosmo is a young up-and-comer, a hip chick—a Carrie Bradshaw without wrinkles. Essentially, this is a drink for the “Y” and “Z” generations: tech savvy, DIY-ing, eco-friendly, and about to take over the world. Why not ply them with booze as they plot your irrelevance.

sagatiba apple martini/Sagatiba Pura cachaça, elderflower cordial, fresh-pressed lime juice, apple cider, mint sprig garnish
who drinks this: The Apple Martini is, frankly, a girl drink. If the apple cider and elderflower cordial aren’t enough, the mint sprig seals it. But men, remember that it’s all in how you carry yourself. For instance: if you’re a sharply dressed man with an Apple Martini in hand, ladies might view you as sensitive, someone who will listen (read: gay). But pair this bracing, tart and sweet cocktail with a cigar or handgun and hello, James Bond!

THE SPRING ISSUE

Facebook
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
YouTube
Email