Colourful cocktails bring the good vibes

By Gary Middleton, bar manager

There is a saying that colour has the power to influence the soul. So perhaps that’s why the IX Bar is always full of good vibes – our cocktail menu paints a rainbow.

I fully subscribe to the idea that we eat first with our eyes, and I think that also applies to drinks. So, I’ve made it my mission to make our cocktails look every bit as good as they taste.

It’s the details that help to make the mouth water: the choice of glass; the garnish its served with – and most of all the colour that will catch a customer’s eye.

Twenty years ago, cocktails were all about sickly sweet drinks, curly straws and paper umbrellas. Thank goodness we’ve moved on since then!

Creating cocktails, especially ones that are popping with both colour and taste, is a real art form and it’s a passion that I share with my colleagues.

We love nothing more than getting the bottles out from behind the bar and mixing things up until we find the perfect combination. Sometimes you know which flavours will work together; sometimes it doesn’t quite turn out as well as you’d hoped; and at other times you can be very surprised.

Berries are always a good starting point at this time of year as they represent the summer – even in September we’re still serving up berry-based drinks as people want to cling on to their memories of the sunshine.

One of our most popular cocktails at the moment is the Brockmans Crush – a perfect mix of gin, fruit juice and fruit puree. It looks sensational and tastes amazing. And, just for you, I’m going to share how I create it.

I hope you have fun making this at home, but if you don’t fancy yourself as a mixologist then please do ask for it the next time you are in to visit. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

The Brockmans Crush

25ml Brockmans Gin

15ml St Germain

15ml lime juice

50ml cranberry juice

50ml raspberry puree

Garnish with raspberries on a skewer and dust with icing sugar.