Mixer Step into the bar
Spice up your life with our own Cuban cocktail recipe
Goodbye gin
How to win your bartender’s heart and other secrets from behind the bar
Get ready for the rum revolution
Can I get you a drink?
Editors’note Do you remember the first time you went to a bar? The first time you had a drink?
Menu
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Viva la venue The Libertine
What are the odds that you went there by yourself? That you kept it a secret and didn’t tell anyone? Not very high.
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Sipping on a cocktail for the first time is a personal experience. Every new drink you try should be one to remember. From flicking through the menu, to chatting to the bartender about concoctions you never knew existed, to finally taking that first sip.
Behind the Bar
At Mixer we hope you get the same experience exploring our magazine, hopefully with one of our delicious Canchanchara Sours in your hand.
Ahead of the Curve
Within these pages we have created a magazine for people whose love of cocktails extends beyond a good drink. We’re going to take a look behind the bar and chat to the people that make Cardiff’s cocktail culture and community unique.
Bar secrets
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The Rise of Rum
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Mix It Up Canchanchara Sour
Welcome to the mix.
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Samantha, Louella, Juliette & Hannah
Last Orders Make our cover cocktails
Samantha sips on: A Pomegranate bellini Like this pomegranate bellini, Sam is a bubbly gal full of surprises.
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Louella loves: A Tall negroni Louella’s face lights up when she hears that there’s hidden gin in a tall negroni (or anywhere).
VIVA LA VENUE
Mood
Whatever your
We’ve got a bar
This issue, let us introduce The Libertine
T
jo step inside The
Libertine is to stumble into a hidden pocket of history on Cardiff’s High Street. The lights are low, the armchairs deep and the walls lined with a small library of books. Choosing a cocktail here is almost as much fun as drinking it. The menu is written in eloquent, looping calligraphy and includes quirky names like the Lord Byron – infused with maraschino syrup – or the Hatter’s Tea Party, said to induce the drinker to “take a trip, stumble and fall down the rabbit hole …” They all add to the sense of having left modern day Cardiff’s chilly streets for a misty, mysterious 19th century hideaway. This is somewhere you come not merely to drink, but lose yourself in a secret
Image: The Libertine Step inside The Libertine to be transported to a 19th century style hideaway
place, free from cares. For those seeking something more fanciful, The Libertine offers a selection of “Teapots and Whimsies”, which swap generic glasses for cute little tea sets. A fun drinking game might be to count the miniature golden monkeys who peek out from above doorways and behind the bar. The flickering lamps are lit
Hannah has: A Lychee sake-tini Hannah travelled to Tokyo, and she didn’t get the chance to try sake, so we made her this sake-tini.
from 12pm to past midnight every night. You can sneak away from work to curl up on one of the velvety armchairs and sip a Smoked Old Fashioned until the stars come out. Order one more drink and you might see the painted pirate skulls in the entrance wink as you take your leave. They know you’ll be back soon.
Juliette’s favourite juice: A Coconut white russian If there’s anything Juliette enjoys in life, it’s coconuts, caffiene and drinking vokda.
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Bar secrets
Behind the
bar
We all know what it’s like to drink at a bar, but what’s it like to work behind the bar at one of Cardiff’s most lucrative independents? We speak to Elliott Skehel from Lab 22 to find out
B
artenders: cocktail experts and flies on the wall. From the safety of the bar, they’ve seen it all. They’ve seen us at our most glamorous, and they’ve seen us at the end of a night when we’ve had one cocktail too many. Lab 22 are at the heart of Cardiff’s independent cocktail scene, having recently won an award for the best themed menu in the UK. This makes them not only one of the best bars in Wales, but also helps firmly establish Cardiff as a UK cocktail hotspot. The secret behind having a successful independent bar? It’s not about the alcohol. “I’m a firm believer that when you go out for a drink you don’t go out to get drunk, you go out to have a good time,” says Elliott Skehel, the general manager of Lab 22. “Because we’re
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Image: Yony Photography Bartender Elliott Skehel is here to make your hour a happy one
a small independently run business, we get to know a lot of our guests in a personal manner. When you’re going to a nice cocktail bar that’s kind of what you’re looking for, you’re not looking to spend £8.50 then fuck off.”
Tonic for the soul
While we often think of bars as a place of celebration, they are as much a place we go when we need support as simply a place for uncomplicated fun. “We had a family come in a few years ago for their daughter’s 21st. She had a package cocktail option which was unicorn, rainbow and glitter themed,” Elliott says. “However, she then unfortunately passed away a couple of months later. Each year since, they’ve come
Bar secrets Smells like Welsh spirit
A sense of community is integral to Lab 22’s ethos, and the bar firmly believes in supporting other independent Welsh businesses. They use coffee from Uncommon Ground, an independent Cardiff coffee roastery, and gin from Aber Falls, a Welsh distillery. Elliott says, “The Welsh are really patriotic in keeping things Welsh. I think it’s important to people from Wales and Cardiff to have that bit of culture running throughout the city.” Beyond this, Lab 22 even have “where to go to next” cards at the back of their menu, recommending other independent Cardiff bars. Elliott says how it is important for the bars to support each other: “If we can unite together, we can provide a better service as one, as a team.” Cardiff’s independent bars are a meeting point of culture, skill and creativity. Next time you want a cocktail, make sure to drink at one of Cardiff’s independents.
HOW TO WIN YOUR BARTENDER’S HEART back and they’ve had the same cocktails ever since.” In fact, Elliott says that they didn’t know that she’d died when her parents began frequenting the bar, but they were humbled on discovering the news. “It’s one of the last family memories they have together. If we can aid and facilitate that to such an extent and help to reclaim that memory of their daughter, then that’s something really special and really wholesome for us to be a part of.” Bars are more than just a night out: they’re an experience.
While we were at it, we asked Elliott his top tips on how to win the heart of your bartender when you’re at the bar
Tip 1
Just be nice. Pls.
Tip 2
Know what you want before you get to the bar. Dont keep everyone waiting.
Tip 3
Don’t tell your bartender you know the owner.
Cool, same. Wanna hangout sometime?
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ahead of the curve
Image: Barti Ddu Pass us the rum
The rise of
Rum
Artisan rum is in the spotlight and we’ll cheers to that
I
t’s been a gin-filled year for the spirits industry. Over 51 million bottles were sold in the UK in 2017, but it’s time for gin to move over. Rum is making waves in Wales and beyond. Whiskey needs to watch out too Glasgow opened its first rum
Rum spots Rum & Fizz St Mary Street
Wally’s Deli Royal Arcade
Mumbles Fine Wines Swansea
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distillery in early November. Business is booming for one Pembrokeshire based rum company, Barti Ddu. Their spiced rum is inspired by the swashbuckling tales of Black Bart, a young Welshman who abandoned his work on a Royal Naval ship to join a band of fearsome pirates. Barti Ddu packs in flavour by using seaweed from the windswept coastline of west Wales to infuse their rum. The four-person team is run by Jonathan Williams, founder of The Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company and Barti Ddu. Like Black Bart, Jonathan’s rum has a powerful, spicy kick balanced by a saline hint of
the sea. Jonathan uses laver, a type seaweed picked fresh from the beach, to flavour the rum. However, infusing the rum doesn’t always go to plan. “I’ve tasted a lot of very salty rum,” says Jonathan. According to the chef-cumrum maker, the success of independent gin distilleries paved the way for other artisan spirits. However, market is looking tough for new manufacturers. Cardiff’s new rum bar, Rum & Fizz, has over 40 rums available on its menu, providing ample competition for new producers. You can still create a successful spirits business in this saturated industry, says Jonathan: “The trick is simply to create a product that outlives the fashion.”
mix it up
Got your spiced rum? It’s time to make a
Canchanchara Sour
“What the hell is a Canchanchara Sour?” Meet the classic Cuban cocktail from the steamy, racous city of Trinidad. The original recipe simply combines white rum, runny honey, lemon juice and a couple of cubes of ice. Trinidadian locals will tell you that the best way to drink spiced rum
is with a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of honey, so we’ve created our own cocktail inspired by this Cuban tradition. We’ve put a twist on the classic by turning the Canchanchara base into a sour using plenty of lemon juice and the water from a can of chickpeas for a silky smooth texture.
1.
First, chill your glass by loading it with ice. Then fill a cocktail shaker with more ice and add 35ml spiced rum, 35ml lemon juice, 15ml chickpea water and 15ml runny honey.
2.
Shake for a minute or so until the cocktail shaker feels really cold. Then empty the ice from your glasses and use a cocktail strainer to pour the sour into the glass.
3.
Garnish the cocktail with a little twist of lemon peel and down it in two.
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Last Orders Learn how to make our cover cocktails
Pomegranate bellini
Lychee sake-tini In a mixing glass, stir together 50ml vodka, 15ml sake, 15ml lychee juice and ice. Strain over a chilled martini glass and garnish with a sprig of fresh thyme.
Tall negroni Fill a highball glass with ice. Tip in 50ml gin, 25ml campari, 25ml orange juice and top with soda water. Give it a good stir and add a slice of fresh orange to the glass.
Pour 50ml pomegranate juice into a tall prosecco glass. Top with fizz and scatter in a few pomegranate seeds.
Coconut white
russian Fill your favourite tumbler with ice, pour over 50ml vodka and 25ml coffee liqueur. Top with 50ml coconut milk and give it a good stir. For a festive twist, sprinkle over a pinch of mixed spice.