Patron, those purveyors of tequila that should be everybody’s first choice, have an annual competition for bartenders extraordinaire to be recognised as Patron Perfectionists. This year I managed to catch it in time to actually participate in the judging. But as usual, given that mine is not a professional bar set up, I’ve had to substitute the occasional ingredient or two. So although I will definitely be submitting a vote, it will only be relative to how ‘home bar friendly’ their entry is.
The first to be put to the test is a Stone Wheel, from Yoann Tarditi of The Lobby Bar.
Apart from actually having all of the ingredients (or as near as damn it), I particularly liked the use of cider as a mixer. If you have all of these ingredients you might be in time to submit your own vote here.
Half fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add everything except the cider:
40ml Patron Reposado
5ml Green Chartreuse
7.5ml vanilla syrup
7.5ml ginger syrup
20ml lime juice
60ml cider
Shake it all hard, strain into a Collins glass full of ice, and top with the cider.
As an amateur cocktailer, I can honestly never be bothered with ingredients in such small volumes like a bit more than a medicine spoon, usually, but I made myself stick to it on this occasion, and actually, I can kind of see that it worked. But in all honesty, this wasn’t a cocktail that knocked my socks off. It was refreshing. And it did have a fair bit of alcohol in it, but it didn’t taste like it.
I’m not sure it will get my vote, but would it get yours?
Cocktail Queen 