As new bars pop up in Kyiv, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the variety of the drinks on offer. Luckily, lots of Kyiv venues also have friendly and experienced bartenders to help out. The Kyiv Post asked five bartenders for their personal favorite cocktails.
Adam Howell (Lost and Found, Podil East India Company)
American expat Adam Howell moved to Ukraine in 2003. Since then he and his wife have opened two venues: Lost and Found on Volodymyrska Street and Podil East India Company at 10 Mezhyhirska St. Howell said that he has been mixing cocktails for more than 10 years, but making them for the public for only about three years.
Favorite cocktail: Daiquiri
50 ml rum
15 ml lime
10 ml sugar syrup
“It’s simple, but at the same time it has to be made right,” Howell said. “And it’s a great way to test different rums – each one expresses itself in different ways in the cocktail.”
Gerasimos Livieratos (Fairmont Grand Hotel, Pink Freud, XOXO BAR)
Former bar manager of PR bar Gerasimos Livieratos worked as a bartender for about 10 years. (facebook.com/gerasimos.livieratos)
Gerasimos Livieratos has been working as a bartender for about 10 years. Livieratos moved with his parents from Greece to Ukraine in 2000. He started as a waiter, but soon switched to mixing drinks. He was bartender at Fairmont Grand Hotel Kyiv and bar manager at Pink Freud, a bar in Kyiv’s Podil district famous for its cocktails. Livieratos now co-owns XOXO BAR, which is about to open at 19 Yaroslaviv Val St.
Favorite cocktail: The Fitzgerald
The Fitzgerald was created in the early 1990s by Dale DeGroff, also known as King Cocktail, an American bartender who recreated classic cocktails. Livieratos said he first tried it while working in the Fairmont hotel several years ago, but only last year really fell in love with the cocktail.
“I’ve tried tons of gin based drinks, but the Fitzgerald is numero uno for me. The botanicals of the gin, the citrus and the spices of the bitters all work so well together, they bring out the best of the gin.”
2/3oz of fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2oz (2/3oz if you want it sweeter) of sugar syrup
Few dashes of bitters
Mix the ingredients in the shaker, add ice, shake well again and double strain in a coupe glass.
Andriy Molnar (Bar 13, PR Bar, N::B Cocktails)
Andriy Molnar opened his own bar entitled N::B Cocktails at 13 Mykhailivska St. (facebook.com/n.bar.kiev)
Andriy Molnar, who often works under a nickname Bartender Samurai, has been mixing cocktails for more than 10 years. He worked at PR Bar and Bar 13 (both places attract guests with delicious cocktails) until he opened his own place – N::B Cocktails.
Favorite cocktail: Baker’s Dozen
Baker’s Dozen is Molnar’s house cocktail, served at N::B Cocktails. Molnar said that the cocktail’s second name is Number 13, because this number has symbolical meaning to him – he lost his parents when he was 13, his first job in the capital was in Bar 13, his daughter was born on Jan. 31. When he decided to open the bar, he found the best spot at 13 Mykhailivska St.
Ron Zacapa 23YO – 50ml
Amaro Montenegro – 15ml
Giffard Fraise de Boise – 10ml
Lemon Fresh – 10ml
Sugar Syrup – 10ml
Aromatic Bitter – 2 dashes
“I felt very depressed when I was making up this cocktail. After the first one I felt better. After a third one I became optimistic again.”
Sergey Alekseev (Parovoz)
Sergey Alekseev is a head bartender in Parovoz bar in Cinema Kyiv. (facebook/Parovoz-Speak-Easy) (FESENKO MAKSYM)
Sergey Alekseev is the head bartender at Parovoz – an iconic arty place hidden in the basement of Kyiv Cinema in the heart of Kyiv. Alekseev has worked as a bartender for more than 10 years. A native of Kharkiv, he won an international contest for bartenders – the Ultimate Monin Cup Global Final Paris – in 2014. Alekseev is also a brand ambassador of Campari Ukraine.
Favorite cocktail: Amaro-tonic
“A person who is fascinated about mixing drinks sooner or later encounters a moment when simple, sweet and sour ‘stories’ are not enough. And then a complex mix of bitter-sweet drinks – vermouth, bitters and Amaro – comes to the rescue.”
50 ml Amaro Averna
100 ml tonic
Mix the ingredients with ice in a high narrow glass highball. Decorate with lemon peel.
Egor Pereuzenko (Alchemist, Mozhevelnik, Bar 13)
Bartender Egor Pereuzenko worked at Mozhevelnik and Bar 13, and now mixes drinks in Alchemist. (facebook.com/egor.pereuzenko)
Egor Pereuzenko became a bartender only three years ago, having previously worked as a photographer and PR person for Ukrainian celebrities. After switching career, Pereuzenko became a bartender in Kyiv’s top drinking places, such as Mozhevelnik and Bar 13, and now mixes drinks in Alchemist.
Favorite cocktail: Martinez
Martinez is one of the oldest cocktails – its recipe was published in Jerry Thomas’s “How to Mix Drinks” in 1862. Pereuzenko said he loves Martinez because it’s moderately sweet and strong.
2 oz of gin
Red sweet vermouth
1/4 oz of maraschino liqueur
1 dash of orange bitter
