If you’re a Singaporean, you probably would have had a nice crisp piece of Indian roti prata or two. You might even have had a glass of Bandung to go with it. The incredibly sweet but flavourful rose-milk mixture helps to tame any heat from the curry that goes with the prata- both through its sweetness and the dairy content. The drink is more than a little cloying in large quantities, but is otherwise a pleasant closer to a spicy meal.
It was from that pinkish, creamy drink where I got the idea for a cocktail that I would end up making.
While sipping on Singapore’s favourite Indian midnight beverage, I stumbled on the idea of using the rose- a flower that not only looks beautiful (and ruinously expensive in February), but gives off a remarkable fragrance. The scent of sweetness is there, of course, but it’s not light and airy. Instead, it is something rather full-bodied, layered and complex. Sensuous, and more than a little seductive; a symbol of passion and infatuation for the ages. I’m a fool for this kind of romantic notion, so the love affair began right then and there. Fortunately for my cocktail aspirations, taste is more than a little related to smell, and rose just so happens to be a great ingredient in drinks and desserts; we humans have been using it to flavour our libations since the middle ages.
With the central ingredient decided, it was now a matter of choosing its companions, which help to both complement and contrast it much like bridesmaids do. Like true blossom buddies(pun intended), there must be a bit of chemistry (pun also intended) between them. The trick was to find a supporting ingredient that supported the base spirit. In this case, I did it in reverse, choosing the base spirit second. I chose Hendrick’s Gin, a new age botanical-forward spirit which expressed the flavours of the Damascus Roses (ironically grown in Bulgaria) that were used in its making- a perfect match for our rose-themed cocktail.
A short aside here: isn’t it amazing how international our spirits have become? A Scottish take on an English (originally Dutch) spirit, flavoured with Middle Eastern ingredients grown in Eastern Europe. Incredible.
With the base spirit chosen, I also knew that I had to have milk of some sort in the final drink to stay faithful to the original bandung. It just so happens that there is a classic gin cocktail that uses both gin and milk: The Ramos Gin Fizz. With its perfect yin-yang balance of sweet and sour, backed by an incredibly smooth, silky mouthfeel, it’s a perfect example of a cocktail that has stood the test of time. The beautiful thing is that the Ramos Gin Fizz also incorporates floral scents: orange flower water is used to uplift the cocktail from good to simply delicious. A perfect template for us to use to build our new cocktail.
I started by adding in the flowery fragrance through a homemade rose syrup. I preferred adding a stronger taste of lemon to balance out the sweet with sour, so I swapped out the lime juice from the original Ramos Gin Fizz recipe. I also decided to experiment with a bit of French orgeat, a milky almond syrup. The almonds added another layer of complexity to the floral cream concoction and gave the senses a nice workout.
I then adjusted the proportions to create harmony in the glass, and -voila!- I had a delicious new descendant of a classic cocktail. (I’m understating this last part a bit. It involved spending the greater part of a weekend constantly tweaking the measurements till I was satisfied.)
- 1/2 Egg White
- 3/4 oz Cream
- 3/4 oz Rose Syrup
- 1/2 oz Orgeat
- 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
- 2 oz Hendrick's Gin
- A Splash of Soda to top it all off
- Garnish with roses.
- Add the egg white to the mixing tin first, being sure not to get any yolk into mixture
- Add the remaining ingredients except the soda into the mixer
- Shake vigorously for about a minute with no ice to integrate the ingredients (commonly known as a dry shake)
- Add ice and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds
- Strain the mixture into a tall glass almost to the top, then add light splash of soda
- Garnish with rosebuds or rose petals
Above all, make sure you shake the cocktail thoroughly. Too little shaking and you will get a lumpy cocktail that won’t look (or taste) very good. A vigorous and extensive shaking will properly integrate the cream and the rest of the ingredients. The old Ramos Gin Fizz recipe called for 12 minutes of shaking- I think you can get away with about a minute and a half of furiously abusing your shaker. .
I was quite pleased with the final product. It was tasty and captured the original flavours of the rose syrup-condensed milk concoction, but balances the intense saccharine sweetness with a little bit of citrus. I’d be happy to have a few pratas with it!
