The hunt for the perfect summer cocktail
ore satisfying than the hunt for the most refreshing cocktail.
Just the idea of sitting on a patio, lounging by the pool or lying on the beach on a sunny, steamy afternoon calls to mind pitchersful of colorful, exotic elixirs poured over glasses of crushed ice.
The thought of a slushy indigo concoction topped with a fuchsia umbrella can catapult daydreamers to a faraway tropical island where pina coladas, daiquiris and margaritas flow like water.
But when asked which summer cocktail was best suited for beating the heat, Brasilia bartender Leonid Lahoda doused our musings with a splash of cold water to the face.
“Drinking any kind of alcohol when it’s hot outside isn’t really going to cool you down,” he warned.
Ha! Whatever.
When offered the choice of either a frosty cocktail or a cup of hot coffee, nine out of 10 drinkers prefer the cool qualities of the spiked libation. And the 10th person is on the wagon. So, against Lahoda’s advice, we set out to find which frothy cocktails are the most refreshing in the city’s most fashionable bars and restaurants. Here’s what we discovered:
Brasilia
Blue Lagoon, Hr 25.
Let’s be honest. When it comes to imbibing, there are two types of drinkers: the gulpers and the sippers. And grizzled bartenders will tell you, without a hint of political correctness, that men gulp and women sip. Brasilia’s bartender Lahoda has taken that research a bit further. He says that men are more likely to order conservative cocktails like whiskey colas, gin and tonics and screwdrivers. Women, on the other hand, prefer something a bit prettier. They tend to order Martini drinks or sweet liqueurs like coconut-flavored Malibu.
But a popular year-round drink that appeals to both men and women is the Tequila Slammer or, as it is locally known, the Tequila Boom.
“It hits the bloodstream quickly, and when you follow that up with a screwdriver, that’s about all you need,” said Lahoda, who clearly knows a thing or two about chemical reactions.
The Tequila Boom doesn’t really qualify as a refreshing beverage, so we pressed Lahoda for a second pick. He offered the Blue Lagoon. Made of vodka, Blue Curacao, lemon juice and Sprite, and dressed up with a paper umbrella, the Lagoon certainly has the azure sea look down. But with only a 50-gram shot of vodka, it’s not that far from the blueberry Kool-Aid it so closely resembles.
Tequila House
Margarita Special, Hr 36
At Tequila House, the name says it all. The Mexican restaurant offers up an assortment of cocktails, but there’s one primary reason to go to Tequila House: the frozen margarita. Waitress Natasha Marchenko had bartender Vova Vladeyev shake up the Margarita Special.
“It’s a traditional Mexican cocktail and the coolest thing you can have when the heat is on,” she said. “It’s also the most delicious.”
Ok, well, it’s not really traditionally Mexican, but more like traditionally California Mexican restaurant. But let’s not split hairs.
Comprised of imported American margarita mix and Jose Cuerro Especial gold tequila, the special also includes a shot of Cointreau orange liqueur, which softens the bite of the already-icy smooth margarita.
Arizona
Arizona Kiss, Hr 29
Like Tequila House, Arizona boasts a wealth of splashy drinks – original blends as well as traditional favorites. Barman Serhy Kozakevich didn’t hesitate in selecting Arizona’s Kiss as his summer drink of choice. Lovingly described in the menu as “a tender kiss from our restaurant,” it combines light rum with Marie Brizzard black current liqueur, apple and lime juice in a tall cylindrical glass complete with a cherry, kiwi slice and a sparkling palm-frond decoration.
“It’s cold, it’s not too strong, it’s not too sweet and it’s not too sour,” Kozakevich said.
Beware: The innocent-looking drink, with its silly shiny adornment, is deceiving; the Kiss packs a punch, and the black current gives this drink a unique taste.
O’Brien’s Irish Pub
Tequila Sunrise,
| Chili peppers and margaritas at Tequila House. |
Hr 22.90.
O’Brien’s Irish Pub may not seem like the kind of place to pop into for an exotic cocktail on a blistering day. With the fiddle music wafting through speakers and the elegant, yet subdued decor, it feels more like the kind of establishment where you’d sip Guinness while discussing rugby.
But bartender Roman Morozov blew that impression right out of the water when he mixed up his cocktail of choice – the Tequila Sunrise. Combine orange juice and bright red Grenadine, and you get one loud-looking libation.
“It looks like the sun, like summer, and it’s fun,” Morozov said.
No argument there, although such a sweet drink with such a generous shot of Tequila guarantees that life won’t be quite so much fun the next morning.
Club 111
Machitos, Hr 25
Club 111 is so named because it serves up 111 drinks. Despite the vast quantity, bartender Tanya Skaiskaya had no trouble choosing her favorite summer cocktail: the Machitos.
Comprised of a generous helping of fresh mint sprigs, lime juice, mineral water and light rum served over crushed ice, the Machitos tastes like some healthy, herbal version of a margarita.
“The mint is very fresh, and when you drink a Machitos and look at the beautiful barmaids, you think about winter and being all cool,” Skaiskaya said, waxing poetic.
Indeed, the cocktail is tasty, very green and summery and looks almost manly with its simple presentation and lack of frou-frou extras.
Deja Vu
Caperinia, Hr 47
Though made of rum rather than Tequila, the limey, minty Machitos seems like a variation of the traditional margarita, and the same could be said about the summer cocktail choice of Deja Vu barman Yaroslav Fondushyn
He opted for a South American twist on the Caperinia. Sometimes made with Cointreau, Fondushyn insists on using the little-known but exotic Pitu sugarcane rum from Brazil. Combined with a third of a glass of smashed limes, brown sugar and crushed ice, the result is, well, intriguing.
“That looks nasty,” commented one patron, perhaps more used to associating cocktails with neon pinks or aquamarine blues rather than the choppy blend of strong, dark greens that make up the Caperinia. Softened by the brown sugar, however, the drink is thirst quenching.
Golden Gate
Sex With the Captain, Hr 35
Lime is apparently the flavor of the season. At Golden Gate, bartender Dima Isayenko also picked the Caperinia as a bar favorite. But he ultimately mixed up the summery-sounding Sex With the Captain.
Luckily, a female colleague was on hand to help sample the “Captain,” made with Amaretto, peach liqueur, Captain Morgan white rum and lemon juice. Tasting somewhere between a lemon Popsicle and a box of pop rocks, the Captain is tangy enough to provide that satisfying zing at the back of your jaw.
Uncle Sam’s
Cherry Charm, Hr 28
Barman Anatoly Maslenykov suggested a number of Uncle Sam’s cocktails before hitting on one of the 10 frozen ones listed on the menu, the Cherry Charm.
Comprised of cherry brandy, Creme de Cacao, vodka, cherry juice, egg white and ice cream, it is one delicious, dessert cocktail. It’s the kind of drink that tastes like a really good milkshake but, thick and rich enough to be a meal.
The Drum
The Drum, Hr 24
At The Drum, bartender Sasha Greshyshyn ended the hunt for the perfect summer cocktail with a successfully sweet experiment known simply as The Drum. The combination of Malibu, Kahlua, Blue Curasao and cognac produced an almost art-deco-like, turquoise-colored mix that goes down about as smooth as a dessert cocktail can.
“It’s soft, it’s strong and it’s a weird color,” commented Drum owner Katya Gorchinskaya.
Maybe Lahoda is right. Perhaps drinking alcohol on a hot day isn’t the ideal way to cool off. But we think that given the choice, people still prefer to find an air-conditioned bar, order a summer concoction – and walk away sweating, and smiling, than to take a dip in the dingy Dnipro.
