At Malt & Juniper, the name on the tin says it all
Plus, get their two recipes from this year’s Hendrick’s Curious Gin Trail.
The Hendrick’s Curious Gin Trail is back at Adelaide Fringe right now, with 10 great bars to visit showing just how good the cocktail scene is in Adelaide right now.
In the timber-clad room that is Adelaide’s Malt & Juniper, their twin spirit focus is evident on their tall back bar: here, they love their whisky, and they love that juniper stuff, gin.
So for Hendrick’s gin ambassador James MacRae — you may know him as Wee James — Malt & Juniper was a natural fit for their Curious Gin Trail.
In the chat below, James talks to bar manager Aaron about what people can expect from Malt & Juniper, and he talks us through two top cocktails you can get at the bar during Adelaide Fringe.
Tell us about yourself.
My name’s Aaron, I’m the bar manager here at Malt & Juniper. I’ve been here for a while now.
And what is Malt & Juniper all about? Obviously I guess it’s probably in the name, tell me a little bit about the bar.
Malt & Juniper is all about gin and whisky and really trying to know and bring out and get the best out of the products that we stock. Hendrick’s is absolutely one of our favourite products that we stock here. The Grand Cabaret, people have been loving it lately and we absolutely love it ourselves.
And of course you’ve got a couple of cocktails coming up for the Fringe period with Hendrick’s. Tell me a little bit about that.
Wonderful. So we’ve put some little R & D, well, more like a lot of R & D into really highlighting what’s in Hendrick’s with these cocktails. So the Grand Cabaret, we’ve done a beautiful little white chocolate Negroni. So we allow the Grand Cabaret to really show off all of that peach, all of those soft stone fruits that are really in the gin and really make it bright and alive. We add a little bit of white chocolate liqueur, make it that little bit sweeter for people. And then with the vermouth, we end up fat washing that with some raw cacao butter.
Nice.
And that adds this lovely mouthfeel to it that really just ties the whole drink together. Then we put a little peaches and cream on top just for everyone to enjoy.
Our second cocktail, we have slid away a little bit from the Grand Cabaret and we’re going towards the Flora Adora. So much more floral, much more in line with the time of year, with all the dry florals that are going to be around in South Australia at the moment.
So we’ve got 10 beautiful Adelaide venues hereon the Curious Gin Trail. What’s definitely on your list on a night out?
Howling Owl, I love to swing through there. That’s absolutely one of my favourite little hidden spots to get to. And Hains & Co., always have gone there for a lovely little drink on a hot day.
Latteria — a new addition this year. I’ve been stunned with everything they’ve put out, well, ever since they opened.
A Grape Time Sour
- 45ml Hendrick’s Flora Adora Gin
- 10ml elderflower liqueur
- 20ml fresh lime juice
- 10ml sugar syrup
- Red grape air foam to garnish.
Peaches & Cream Negroni
- 25ml Hendrick’s Grand Cabaret Gin
- 25ml Dolin Dry Vermouth
- 25ml De Kuyper White Choc Liqueur
- Peaches & Cream lolly to garnish.