Cocktails around the World

Cocktails are truly an international passion and famous cocktails around the world range from Brazilian cocktails like the Batida and the Caipirinha to cocktails from Peru such as the iconic Pisco Sour cocktail. Many globally recognised cocktails have their origins firmly rooted in one particular country or city. Below we take you on a quick journey around the globe using well-known cocktails as our chosen landmarks.

 

Brazil

Brazilian cocktails have been making a real impact in Europe and North America over the last few years. The country is home to both the Caipirinha and Batida cocktail, which are based on the popular Brazilian distilled spirit cachaça, made from fresh sugar cane juice which is fermented and distilled. Until fairly recently, these classic Brazilian cocktails were relatively unknown outside their home nation, but this has changed due to the exportation of quality brands of cachaça, such as Sagatiba. The Caiprinha cocktail is simply cachaça mixed with muddled lime wedges and sugar and the Batida is a shaken cocktail made with cachaça, fruit juice and sugar. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Singapore

Singapore is the setting for the creation of one of the most famous cocktails around the world, the Singapore Sling. This extravagant and exotic cocktail was developed in 1915 by a bartender at the famous Raffles Hotel in Singapore. Scribbled notes for the original recipe are still on display today at the Raffles Hotel Museum. This is quite a complex drink containing several ingredients, including Gin, Cherry Liqueur, Cointreau and Pineapple Juice.

 

Mexico

With its national drink as its base, the Mexico has always been inextricably linked with the classic Margarita cocktail. The tequila-lime-orange liqueur refresher was most likely invented in Esenada or Acapulco, possibly by a vacationing socialite or perhaps by a bartender. Make sure to enjoy both the drink and the stories of its origin with at least a grain of salt!

 

 

 

 

Cuba

Mojitos were a favourite drink of Ernest Hemingway and he was a regular patron of La Bodeguita del Medio in Havana, Cuba, which is credited as the cocktail’s birthplace. The world famous Mojito consists of 5 ingredients: white rum, sugar, lime, sparkling water and mint.

No story about cocktails around the world would be complete without considering the Daiquiri cocktail. This cocktail can also trace its roots to the abundance of rum, lime and cane sugar in Cuba. During the 1920s the famous Floridita Bar in Havana began serving frozen daiquiris which quickly gained a large loyal following, including Greta Garbo and Ernest Hemingway. The bar is still serving them to this day.

 

Italy

In the same way that the most popular Brazilian cocktails tend to be based on cachaça, most of the popular Italian cocktails seem to be based on Campari. First up is the Negroni cocktail. The most widely reported account of the origins of the classic Negroni cocktail is that it was created in Florence, Italy in 1919 at Caffe Casoni. The story goes that Count Camillo Negroni invented it by asking the bartender to strengthen his favourite cocktail, the Americano, by adding gin rather than the usual soda water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Italy was also the birthplace of the Bellini cocktail which was invented in Venice and named after the 15^th century painter.  The original Bellini was created by Giuseppe Cipriani, who was founder of Harrys Bar, which still serves them today and they remain one of the most popular and well known cocktails around the world. They are still served using the original recipe of white peach puree and Prosecco.

 

South Africa

South Africa is home to the Springbok cocktail. It is not completely clear whether this creation was named after the South African rugby team or the springbok gazelle, but either way it is a fantastic dessert cocktail which features the African produced Amarula Cream and Crème de Menthe and is a drink any nation would be proud of.

Peru

The Pisco Sour cocktail is such a significant part of Peruvian culture that on the first Saturday of every February the drink is celebrated on its own special day, National Pisco Sour Day. The story told is that this Pisco Sour cocktail was first mixed at Morris` Bar in Lima, Peru. The drink is a delightful mix of Pisco Brandy, Citrus, Sugar and Egg White.

 

Cocktail Ingredients

50 ml Pisco, 12 1/2 ml Simple Syrup, 25 ml Lime Juice, splash Egg White, Lime wedge

How to make Pisco Sour Cocktail

Chill rocks glass with soda and ice. Add all ingredients to mixing tin and dry shake for 10 seconds. Fill mixing tin with ice and then shake vigorously for a further 10 seconds. Add fresh ice to the rocks glass. Single strain into glass over ice and garnish with lime wedge.

 

United States

Many of the great classic cocktails around the world can be traced back to somewhere in America.

The classic Mint Julep cocktail originated in the southern United States, around the late 18^th century. Henry Clay, who was a US Senator in Kentucky, introduced the drink to Washington DC at the Round Robin Bar in the Willard Hotel during his residence in the city. The Mint Julep has been strongly promoted in association with the Kentucky Derby since 1938. Each year, an estimated 120,000 juleps are served over the two-day period of the derby.

Moving on to another classic, the exact origins of the Manhattan may be muddled, however, by one account it was invented in the 1860s by a bartender named Black on Broadway. Today, the popular drink is soundly associated with the New York borough. The Manhattan is a mix of Whisky, Vermouth and Bitters.

One cocktail that has bona fida roots in the United States is the Sazerac cocktail. In 2008 Louisiana declared the Sazerac the official cocktail of New Orleans. As the story goes, the bewitching blend of whisky, bitters, and absinthe was first brewed by a Creole apothecary in the 1830s, giving the Sazerac a claim as one of the world’s first cocktails as well.