ESPRESSO
MARTINI
The Espresso Martini: invented by Dick Bradsell in 1983 at the Soho Brasserie, it was originally named the “Vodka Espresso”. Cocktail legend has it that a young, future supermodel sidled up to the bar and asked Dick to make her a cocktail with coffee. He mixed her a drink using vodka, sugar, coffee liqueur; and a shot of espresso, pulled from the coffee machine next to him. The edgy and spontaneous origins help. The young cocktail was renamed the Pharmaceutical Stimulant when Dick moved to London bar The Pharmacy, but the Espresso Martini had a better ring. Since it is served in a martini glass, it has remained in the public conscious as the Espresso Martini.
BLOODY
MARY
Half tomato juice, half vodka…. But who was Mary? Was the Bloody Mary named after England’s punishing and crushing Queen Mary, eldest daughter of Henry VII th? Was she an actress in cabaret show Bucket of Blood, and girlfriend of a patron and early tasting panel member of bartender Ferdinand “Pete” Petiot? Was she Mary, waitress in Chicago bar Bucket of Blood? Or, returning to the ethos of the drink, was Bloody Mary a poor pronunciation which took hold, of the Slav name Vladimir? After all it was Vladimir Smirnov, of the Vodka dynasty, for whom Fernand Petiot prepared the drink in the early 1920 or 1921.
MANGO DAIQUIRI
Daiquiri is also the name of a beach and an iron mine near Santiago de Cuba,] The drink was supposedly invented by an American mining engineer named Jennings Cox, at the time of the Spanish–American War. In 1909, Rear Admiral Lucius Johnson, a U.S. Navy medical officer, tried Cox's drink. Johnson subsequently introduced it to the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C., and drinkers of the daiquiri increased over the space of a few decades. It was one of the favorite drinks of writer Ernest Hemingway and President John F. Kennedy. In the 1940s. World War II rationing made whiskey and vodka hard to come by, yet. President Roosevelt’s s Good Neighbor policy, opened up trade with Latin America, Cuba and the Caribbean. The policy, helped make Latin America fashionable, as did rum-based drinks (once frowned upon as being the choice of sailors and down-and-outs), the daiquiri saw a tremendous rise in popularity in the US.
PINA COLADA
Since Don Ramon Portas Mingot created the first Pina Colada in 1963 in Puerto Rico, the Pina Colada has been associated with refreshment, warm weather and a holiday vibe. This cocktail instantly transports you somewhere tropical, and Iceology’s Pina Colada maintains a cooling sea breeze. This is a drink, or ice cream, for any time of day and for anywhere: poolside, the dinner table, or a refreshing but sweet treat in a bar.
WHISKEY SOURS
Whiskey Sours have an organic origin, from the combination of a ship’s stored grog with the citrus fruit carried to avert scurvy. The cocktail was first described in the 1860’s, and has been added to and modified into many incarnations. We prefer this simple, fresh and tasty combination perfect for hot days, adding to a pudding, or a late night sugar load; and still for sailors, on board on on dry land.
TOM COLLINS
A Hoax and Name Change: a cocktail with history, the Tom Collins rose to notoriety under another name in London. The John Collins was named after the head waiter in a London restaurant in the 1860s. Made from gin, lemon juice, sugar syrup and soda water, the drink crossed the Atlantic by the 1870’s. At the same time, a popular prank in New York involved asking if a fellow drinker had heard what Tom Collins was saying about them in a nearby alley or tavern. The aim was to goad your companion to head out in search of this mythical Tom Collins, in order to maintain their reputation; a simple prank that became known as The Tom Collins Hoax of 1874. Jerry Thomas, father of modern mixology, had re-christened the John Collins as Tom in a recipe book by 1876, and the drink was soon being served in bars across New York City.
GIN & GRAPEFRUIT
Grapefruits can be considered one of the newer fruits of the earth, having been discovered on the island of Barbados in the mid-18th century. The fruit clusters on the tree like grapes, but the similarities end there. Grapefruit as a citrus in cocktails introduce a crispness and complexity beyond the standard use of lemon and lime. At Iceology we aim to refresh, invigorate and amuse. Pairing grapefruit and gin, you experience a tasty, flavour-full wake up taste, enjoyable in the sun, or as a sundowner; or to clear the palate after a sweet dessert. Simple, and adaptable.
PROSECCO
Despite the aromatic Prosecco grape being renamed Glera in 2010, the name for the drink is firmly established, and we feel it’s more fitting and lasting. It resonates with company, celebration and cheer. Prosecco must be 85% Glera but can contain any mix of nine other grapes to make up the final proportion. This varied supplement, and the huge differences in soil and therefore Glera taste, within the Prosecco producing DOCG, leads to a great variety in tastes. Did you know? The original Bellini, crafted in 1948 in Harry’s Bar in Venice, used Prosecco to top pureed fresh white peaches, in order to achieve the crisp freshness of the famous drink.
MOJITO
When the Mojito took a foothold in Cuba, rum was hard to like. Known alternatively as kill-devil or demon waters, there was a natural pressure to mix and craft the drink into something more palatable and enjoyable. Lime, mint, and sugar-cane syrup became the popular additions. Allegedly fine-tuned by Pirate Drake, the cocktail was first known as El Draque, until the effects earned a new name: Mojo, from the African word for magic.