Taste CHEERS
A STAR IS BORN Gin Bar’s Gin Tonic No. 4 is No. 1
BY ALISON BAILIN BATZ / PHOTO BY ELIZABETH MARIE
Talavera, the signature restaurant of the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North relaunched as a Spanish steakhouse this past summer. “As part of the relaunch, our beverage team had an opportunity to dream up a new Spanish bar adjacent to Talavera,” says Kelsey Jordan, the resort’s food and beverage assistant manager. Enter Gin Bar. “Spain is the No. 1 consumer of gin per capita,” Jordan says. “A chief reason is their love of the gin tonic, not to be confused with gin and tonic.” Gin tonics are far more aromatic and botanically forward than traditional gin and tonics, and Gin Bar’s menu boasts half a dozen varieties as well as custom, made-on-the-fly options based on a guest’s palate. The Gin Tonic No. 4 ($14) was one of Jordan’s first creations to really take off. “This is a stirred cocktail, built directly in a specialty Riedel gin tonic glass,” says Jordan, who uses No. 209 Gin as the base spirit. He then adds a dehydrated orange wheel, cloves, and both orange and lemon peels to add dimension and create a heavenly perfume wafting from the glass. The addition of Contratto – a bitter, red-hued liqueur with grapefruit notes – pulls out the gin’s botanicals while star anise adds a distinct hint of licorice. “We stir them gently in the glass to open up the flavors and then add FeverTree Tonic Water, which creates a beautiful bitterness and rounds out everything,” Jordan says. The resulting cocktail is equal parts citrusy, bitter, sweet and 100 percent refreshing. Gin Bar at Four Seasons Scottsdale, 10600 E. Crescent Moon Drive, Scottsdale; 480.515.5700; www.fourseasonsscottsdale.com.
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So Scottsdale! October ‘18