Inside the Mind of a Drinker: The Art of Cocktail Profiling

What’s the greatest honor that can be bestowed upon a drinker?

Well, there might be a barstool in your local where no one would dare sit – it’s yours, and yours alone. In my local, certain seats in the bar are retired when their proprietors pass to the big ale house in the sky. To be fair, I do drink in a crown-green bowls club, though, with what closely resembles the cast of Cocoon, and therefore I spend most of my nights in the pub standing up.

In other cases, one might have one’s own pewter tankard given pride of place behind the bar. Upon your entrance, your vessel is dismounted and filled with your regular tipple – all in silence. No words need be exchanged. You’re part of the furniture.

It’s just a shame that you generally have to wait until you’re knocking 70 before you qualify for either of these honors.

There is another way of going down in barroom folklore – and that is to have a drink invented for you personally. It’s a rather short roll call, the list of figures who have been immortalized with their own tipple. There’s clumsy old Harvey Wallbanger, the dangerous but decadent Hemingway and the sweet tooth’s choice – the David Bowie. Posthumous classics include the Bloody Mary, named for Queen Mary I of England in recognition of her unslakable bloodlust, and the Rob Roy, named for the Robin Hood of the Highlands. Non-alcoholic variants, of course, include the Arnold Palmer and the Shirley Temple.

This month, we offered a select few Beijingers the chance to be canonized in cocktail by having a drink created for them by award-winning mixologist Paul Mathew. All we asked of them was a photo and a small factoid to help Paul profile them. Each of our subjects was then given the opportunity to sample their concoction to give it their own seal of approval.

Mirsad
Interesting fact: “I’m an athletic, metrosexual, occasionally illogical Bosnian- German.”
The resulting drink: The Randy Bosnian
Ingredients: Gosling’s Dark Rum, Gosling’s Ginger Beer, fresh lime, mint, bitters
Served: In a glass tankard

Thomas
Interesting fact: “I’m over 18, I have no allergies, and I like to fly all over the world.”
The resulting drink: Flight of the Grapefruit
Ingredients: fresh pink grapefruit juice, lemon, Grand Marnier, Tanqueray gin
Served: Garnished with a pink grapefruit-peel bird

Emily
Interesting fact: “My name is Emily and I’m a shopaholic.”
The resulting drink: Berry Crush
Ingredients: raspberries, black raspberry liqueur, Ketel One vodka, fresh lemon juice, homemade berry syrup
Served: Over crushed ice with an ice-basket of frozen berries

Jingjing
Interesting fact: Jingjing came in as a last-minute substitute.
The resulting drink: The Light Fruity Long Drink With No Name …
Ingredients: Grasovka bison grass vodka, fresh apple juice, fresh passionfruit, lemon juice, Grand Marnier
Served: Long with an apple leaf and passionfruit garnish

Jens
Interesting fact: “I am the distributor with a magic touch.”
The resulting drink: Treacle
Ingredients: Zacapa 23 rum, maple syrup, chocolate and orange bitters, apple juice ice ball, orange twist
Served: With a spoon to stir as you drink

Click here to see the October issue of the Beijinger in full.

Photos: Mitchell Pe Masilun