Prologue
Why Cocktail Consol?
The creation of cocktails and consol shipments have more in common than you might think. It’s all about putting the components together in such a way that you get the most out of your consolidation – containers as well as cocktail glasses. One essential difference between consol shipments and cocktails is that consol shipments are delivered from A to B while cocktails are delivered from B to C – Bartender to Customer. Just as in logistics in perfect condition, impeccable and on time.
Air Waybill
An Air Waybill should be 100% “e”. Not only for the sake of digitalization and environmental friendliness. The transportation of paper is as useless as reading a cocktail recipe to enjoy the taste. Although the recipe is usually written on paper, like this one for the Air Waybill cocktail. Sounds like a contradiction in itself? Not really. A cocktail will never be “e”, but should always be paperless. Nobody wants to have the recipe on paper in his glass instead of the spirits.
■ 5 cl Shochu Japanese rice schnapps
■ 1 cl Luxardo maraschino cherry■ 1-2 fresh red cherry plums
■ 3 cl lime juice
■ 2 cl sugar syrup
■ 1 egg white
Gently press the red cherry plum in the shaker. Add the the remaining ingredients and blend. Strain into a cocktail bowl. As decoration, skewer a few thin slices of a cherry plum and place on top of the glass. Optionally, add a white edible flower.
Aircraft On Ground
AOG – Aircraft on Ground disrupts processes and messes up any planning. Fortunately, specialized forwarders are able to react quickly, ship swiftly and thus deliver everything for the repair. COG – Cocktail on Ground is not repairable, spirits on the floor, shards at your feet, stains on your trousers, spare parts unavailable. You have to get a brand new one – be glad it’s not an aircraft. So you’d better hold your drink well and keep your glass up in the air.
■ 6 cl Zudiam oude Genever
■ 2 cl Noilly Prat vermouth syrup
200 ml white cane sugar
100 ml Noilly Prat
Boil gently until the sugar has dissolved.
■ 3 cl lemon juice
■ 2 dashes Orange Bitters
■ 1 dash La Fee Absinthe
■ 1 egg white
■ 1 lemon zest (finely grated peel)
Mix all ingredients together in a cocktail shaker. Arrange the contents in a cocktail bowl, take the lemon zest and twist its essential oils over the cocktail. Then garnish with the lemon zest.
Bill of Lading
The Bill of Lading is essentially a contract of carriage between the Shipper, Consignee, and Carrier stating the terms and conditions of carriage. A cocktail list serves a similar purpose, except that you can freely choose what to take from the load and what to exclude. Still the bartender will always make sure you receive your order in an immaculate, perfect condition, with no reason to complain. Why then should you? You don’t get a bill anyway.
■ 5 cl Laphroig Islay Scotch
■ 5 cl blackcurrant juice
■ 2 cl lemon juice
■ 1 cl sugar syrup
Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Serve on fresh ice, in a wide tumbler glass. Use a currant twig as decoration.
Break Bulk
How do you get a pear tree, a grapefruit tree, wormwood grounds, an anise field and a fennel farm into a vessel named tumbler? A standard container won’t do. Not even five of them. It's all break bulk. But of course, as an expert in break bulk forwarding you know the solution to the problem – divide them into Colli. Divergent from a classical shipment, perfectly mixed and fully condensed to get them all into one bowl. A perfect fit, a perfect load. Time to unload.
■ 5 cl Fassbind Vieille Prune
■ 1 cl La Fee Absinthe■ 2 teaspoons still water
■ 5 dashes Peyshaud Bitters
■ Grapefruit zest (finely grated peel)
Stir the ingredients in a large tumbler over ice. Add the other ingredients and mix everything until the jar mists up. Then drizzle the oils from the grapefruit zest over the glass and decorate with a slice of pear.
Consigner
It is an old consigners’ rule to require the best service for the best price. Then it’s up to the forwarder, hunting high and low for the best offer. Not rarely searching for the squaring of the circle. Fortunately, this Consigner cocktail is remarkably different. It’s gentle, smooth, and the only requirement it might set, is that you appreciate its extraordinarily good taste. Maybe accompanied by a compliment to the bartender, although in this case, he’s a kind of consigner, too.
■ 5 cl King Korn Wheat Grain
■ 1.5 cl Aalborg Dild (Dill) Akvavit
■ a hint of fresh dill
■ a hint of basil
■ 3.5 cl lime juice
■ 1.5 cl sugar syrup
■ Pink Grapefruit lemonade
Shake all ingredients except the lemonade in a cocktail shaker. Pour through a sieve into a highball glass on ice. Fill up with Pink Grapefruit lemonade and stir carefully. Garnish with a sprig of dill.
Customs Clearing
If everything was as elementary as doing customs clearing using of one of the recognized best customs systems, customs clearance could be done in the shortest time possible. If that's not yet the case for your declarations, try the Customs Clearing cocktail as an interim alternative. Refined, complex, multi-layered. Prepared and served by a professional bartender in no time at all. Plus the bonus to you: Any duties owed are already paid.
■ 5 cl Wild Turkey Bourbon
■ 1.5 cl Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge
■ 2 cl Carpano Antica Formula red vermouth
■ 2 dashes Peach Bitters
Stir all ingredients in a mixing glass and strain into a tumbler. Apply the essential oils of an orange peel on the cocktail and add the orange peel.
Dangerous Good
You don’t necessarily recognize a Dangerous Good just by looking at it or reading its name. Dry Ice is one, dangerous because of its carbon dioxide. Ice cubes, as found in your tumbler, are made of water and therefore not dangerous at all. But beware of some of the other ingredients. They may taste temptingly good, but bear a dangerous core once you overindulge. So be careful with this drink, before you get one too many. That’s dangerous and not good.
■ 5 cl Montelobos Mezcal Espadin
■ 3 sprays of basil
■ 1 small piece of fresh green paprika
■ 1 pinch of sea salt
■ Lime juice
■ Sugar syrup
Squash the paprika together with the basil and sugar. Add a small pinch of sea salt and the other ingredients. Blend sturdily and pour through a sieve onto fresh ice cubes. Place a large basil leaf on top for decoration.
Forwarder
Have you ever seen a bartender letting a shaker fly through the air, finishing the act with safe landing and reliable delivery? What at first sight looks like a piece of artistry is, in fact, professionalism. It’s like in logistics where sometimes things are juggled to get them done against all the odds. Show off responsibly. At cocktail receptions this might be the forwarding of your cocktail from the goblet to the palate. Or as connoisseurs say, from the bowl to the soul.
■ 5 cl Bombay Sapphire Star of Bombay
■ 1.5 cl St. Germain elderflower liqueur■ 1-2 red cherry plums
■ 4 cl naturally cloudy apple juice
■ 2 cl lemon juice
■ 1 cl sugar syrup
Pit the red cherry plum and mash it in a cocktail shaker with the sugar syrup. Then add the remaining ingredients and mix together. Serve on fresh ice cubes, in a wide tumbler glass. As decoration, skewer a few thin slices of a cherry plum and place on top of the glass.
Ground Handler
Not to bother you too much with common knowledge, but the ground handler is the link between the forwarder and an airline. The same is true for the bartender. He is the indispensable institution between you and the selection of spirits and other ingredients for your cocktail. Fixing this drink, the bartender is in his element, shaking the Ground Handler cocktail while playing the part of the ground handler. Sounds exciting? You’d better stay grounded. He does.
■ 6 cl Flor de Cana rum from Nicaragua
■ 2 cl rose syrup
■ 3 cl lime juice
■ 3 fresh lychees
■ 1 cl sugar syrup
Mix all ingredients in a blender with crushed ice until smooth. Then pour into a tall glass and decorate with a dark edible flower.
Ocean Carrier
Ocean carriers move the largest amount of goods from one point of the world to another – with one exception. It’s the carrier that sails Linie Aquavit cross the equator and returns to its home port with Linie still on board. As a friend of nordic taste you’ll appreciate it as the heart of this astonishingly smooth cocktail, but with a pleasantly bitter aftertaste. While Linie is widely known, the ocean carrier taking care of it, is not. Skål to the deserving ocean carrier.
■ 6 cl Linie Akvavit Double Cask Port
■ 2 teaspoons bitter orange marmalade
■ 3 cl lemon juice
■ 1.5 cl sugar syrup
■ 1 egg white
■ Orange zest (finely grated peel)
Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Strain through a sieve over fresh ice cubes in a tall tumbler. Add a slice of orange to the glass as decoration.
Dark wood interior, neon lights, a large counter, dimmed corners with comfortable lounge chairs and good drinks; all of these features characterize a good bar, where you stumble across other night owls and enjoy your favourite drinks in good companionship. For the audience in the Rhine area, the Ellington Bar in Dusseldorf’s city center is one of those go-to places. Not far from the main station, Ellington is definitely a bar as it should be: authentic, popular, with brilliant staff adding that extra bit of spice to their high-quality cocktails. The perfect mix of outstanding and unique cocktail recipes accompanied by the barkeepers’ excellent service qualities and Robert Potthoff’s years of experience as the owner of the Ellington Bar creates a charming attraction to visitors away from the old city center.
Bar Ellington
Scheurenstr. 5
40215 Dusseldorf
The Crew
Mitko “The Creative Mind”
When creating new cocktail recipes, there’s always this one person trying out unconventional stuff and coming up with the craziest ideas. Mitko has been a barkeeper for over ten years and has seen a lot of trends coming and going. If you expect him to mix you a Piña Colada, you better be somewhere else. Mitko perfectly understands how herbs, spices, berries and liquors create a flavour-symbiosis made in heaven. He is the creative mind behind the recipes in this edition and well known for his unique cocktails in the Ellington Bar.
Marcus “The One who does the Dirty Jobs”
Nothing can stop Marcus from getting the job done. Not even ramen noodles flying out of a third story apartment. He is the perfect depiction of a hands-on guy: reliable, driven, ambitious, but resting within himself. Marcus and Robert have worked together for almost 20 years. His humor is darker than his black shirt, but his heart is pure gold. He is the second irreplaceable character, making Ellington Bar an unforgettable place. If you like a bartender with personality, you should definitely meet Marcus.
Marcus and Mitko (f.l.t.r.)
Epilogue
Cheers to you
A very special thanks to the Virtual Cocktail Group who literally have been a source of inspiration for Cocktail Consol. Namely, Arnaud, Klaas, Matthias, Caba, Anne, Ale, Jackson, Jonathan, Christian, Lothar, Joakim. I am proud and honored to be part of this community that exemplifies true human nearness, regardless of physical distance. A cheers to all of you – and may the circle be unbroken.
Contributors
Design
Lucas Buchholz & Maren Endler, weissraum.de(sign)°
Photography
Tim Fahlbusch, blaubisrot
Copywriting
Harald Kuhlmeier & Anastasia Kazantzis, Riege Software
Cocktail recipes
Mitko Voigt, Bar Ellington