Fresh flavours

Maloy Mukherjee has a fetish for fresh fruits and herbs. The 30-something senior bartender at The Big Ben, the pub at the Kenilworth Hotel, is taking summer head-on with some interesting cocktails to beat the heat. While he joined the hotel 10 years ago, he’s been manning the bar at this pub for seven years now. He’s conjured up drinks for many celebrity guests including cricketers M. S. Dhoni and Irfan Pathan and film stars Riya Sen and Abhishek Bachchan.

Mukherjee was declared the Best Technical Bartender at the Bacardi Martini Grand Prix 2008-09. He also bagged the title of the Best Bartender of Kolkata 2008-09 at the intercity bartender’s competition held at the Taj Bengal.

He is confident that he can pull off a great drink at all times. “I can often figure out the mood of my guests and make them just the right drink,” he says. Mukherjee, whose forté lies in making vodka-based drinks also teaches at the Kenilworth Academy of Bar Management. He insists that his young students “learn to mix”. Mukherjee is also very mindful of hygiene as he prepares the drinks.

Fresh Kiwi Margarita

Glass: Margarita

Ingredients: 45ml tequila silver 15ml Cointreau 15ml fresh lemon juice 2 pieces of fresh kiwi

Method: Rim the glass with salt and keep aside. Then, put all the ingredients in the cocktail shaker and shake well for 40 seconds. Strain the drink in the glass and garnish with a slice of kiwi.

Basil and Lemon Grass Mojito

Glass: Super shamrock

Ingredients: 60ml white rum 20gm of lemon grass Basil leaves 8 lemon chunks 1 bar spoon sugar Crushed ice Soda to top up

Method: Take the lemon chunks, basil leaves, lemon grass and sugar in the glass and muddle for 40 seconds. Pour white rum and crushed ice (half-a-glass). Top up with soda and stir. Serve with a straw.

Pinky 24 X 7

Glass: Classic

Ingredients: 45ml vodka 10ml Cointreau 10ml Galliano 10ml fresh lemon juice 4 basil leaves 90ml orange juice Strawberry syrup to taste A few strawberries A slice of sweet lime

Method: Pre-chill the cocktail glass, put all the ingredients (except the strawberry syrup and basil leaves) in a cocktail shaker and shake hard for 30 seconds. Add the basil leaves and shake for another 10 seconds. Strain the cocktail into the glass and add four drops of strawberry syrup. Give the drink a little stir. Garnish with strawberries and a slice of sweet lime.


The Personal Telegraph
As told to Nandini Guha