MADRID’S COCKTAIL CULTURE
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by Margaux Cintrano
Photos: Cybartender Luca Coslovich and photographer Romeo Balancourt
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Strawberry cocktail: Cocktail was first defined as as stimulating liquid composed of spirits of any type, bitters, water, and fruits.
Firstly, the earliest reference to the word “cocktail” appeared in print during the 19th century, exactly in 1808 in the newspaper Hudson, in Manhattan. The word was defined as a stimulating liquid, to be shaken and stirred, composed of spirits of any type, bitters, water, and fruits.
Cream brandy: By the turn of the century, the cocktail culture has undergone significant transformation.
In the beginning of the 21st century, the cocktail culture started to undergo a significant transformation. The focus on high-end ingredients, complexity and traditional recipes with artisanal ingredients and rare liquors has become a craft movement throughout Spain and major cities around the world.
CHICOTE
Gran Vía 9
Metro: Gran Via or Banco España
Often entitled El museo de bebidas y licores (“the museum of drinks and liqueurs”), in which well-knowns such as Robert De Niro, Antonio Banderas, Pedro Almodóvar, Ernest Hemmingway, Sophia Loren, Ava Gardner, Frank Sinatra, Natalie Portman and Hugh Grant amongst numerous others, frequented the establishment whose 11,000 bottles of liquors are among the best-known worldwide.
Espresso Martini: among the vodkas served at Chicote
Gin cocktails served at Chicote’s include Gin Fizz, Tom Collins, Singapore Sling and Gin & Tonic. Vermuts include Negroni and Chicote brand. Vodka: Espresso Martini, Bloody Mary, Moscow Mule and the famous James Bond Martini. Rum Cocktails include Mojito, Piña Colada and Mai Tai. Italian Cocktails include Aperol Spritz, the renowned Venetian Bellini and Mimosas.
Coffee cocktail
This is just a tiny selection of what awaits its visitors.
Though elsewhere it has been around for sometime, the latest rage in the Madrid capital is the Espresso Martini, prepared with Café Espresso, vodka, sugar and Tía Maria. The cocktail was created in 1984 by Dick Bradsell, the bartender at the Soho Brassierie in London. Fashion model Naomi Campbell was the first to sample this London classic.
