Travel the World One Cocktail at a Time
Impress your guests with these legendary hotel bar cocktails.
One of the pleasures of travel is having a cocktail at the hotel bar after a long day of meetings or sightseeing.
Hotel bartenders not only welcome you back like a long-lost friend, they also create some of the most iconic cocktails, signature drinks that not only reflect a place and a time but whose reputations reach well beyond where they were invented.
1
BELLINI > BELMOND HOTEL CIPRIANI – VENICE, ITALY
Invented in Venice, Italy, in 1948 by the founder of Belmond Hotel Cipriani, this refreshing mix of peach nectar and Prosecco is a toast to the beginning of summer.
INGREDIENTS: Ripe white peaches, high-quality Prosecco.
WATCH: Head barman Walter Bolzonella of Belmond Cipriani Hotel make a Bellini.
2
SAZERAC > THE SAZERAC BAR, THE ROOSEVELT – NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
This herbaceous cocktail, considered by many to be America’s first, dates back to the late 1800s. The Sazerac Bar, where Louisiana’s flamboyant former governor Huey P. Long once held court, makes one of the best.
INGREDIENTS: Sugar cube, Peychaud’s bitters (3 dashes), rye whiskey (1.5 oz), Herbsaint (.25 oz).
WATCH: Bartender Russ Bergeron at The Sazerac bar make a Sazerac.
3
SIDECAR > BAR HEMINGWAY, RITZ PARIS – PARIS, FRANCE
The Sidecar, a cognac-based sour, was created near the end of WWI. While there’s a debate about whether it was first made in Paris or London, the Ritz Paris claims it was born at the Bar Hemingway.
INGREDIENTS: Cognac (1.5 oz), Cointreau (1 oz), juice of half a lemon.
WATCH: Colin Field, who has spent more than a quarter of a century at the Bar Hemingway at Ritz Paris and was twice named “Best Head Barman in the World,” make a Sidecar.
4
SINGAPORE SLING > LONG BAR, RAFFLES – SINGAPORE
The Singapore Sling was invented in 1951 at the Long Bar during colonial times when ladies weren’t supposed to be seen drinking in public. The bartender created this fruity cocktail so nobody would know that they were drinking alcohol.
INGREDIENTS: Gin (1 oz), cherry (.5 oz), Cointreau (.25 oz), Bénédictine D.O.M. (.25 oz), Angostura Bitters (dash), grenadine (.33 oz), fresh lime juice (.5 oz), fresh pineapple juice (4 oz).
WATCH: Bartender Aron Manzanillo at the Long Bar make a Singapore Sling.
