LONG ago, well eight years, when the Beetham Tower first soared above the Manchester skyline it all felt a bit Lord of the Rings to this correspondent. Surely Lord Sauron was up there ready to wreak mayhem on Middle Earth. We huddled in the Shires (actually the Northern Quarter) and felt the tremors.
All this personal fantasy came back to me the other night when Cloud 23’s resident mixologists unleashed their own personal cocktail fantasies for the autumn-winter season to a select gathering surveying Manchester’s lights from the Hilton Deansgate eyrie. The team that brought us such Manchester-inspired concoctions as Here’s To Baby (champagne toast to the first working computer), Collyhurst Cooler (based on a legendary local cucumber), Dalton Is Atomic and Berry’s Black Smog (obvious) more of the heritage same...
The new cocktails celebrate the tallest building in the city; the invention of the ice-cream cone; the Iwakura Mission, which formed the framework of Japan’s modern day industrial success; the development of the Harvey Wallbanger cocktail and the No7 – a drink that pays homage to so many football heroes who plied their trade at Old Trafford.
The 7’s Club cocktail, which wasn’t to my taste (the others were), salutes the long-departed David Beckham with a mix of Haig Club whisky (he advertises it), Dubonnet (remember the brief shopping trip at Paris St Germain?), Rosemary and Demerara Syrup (Milan?) and walnut syrup (Los Angeles). The presentation sold it. Each cocktail comes on a small astroturf pitch, about the size of Tottenham Hotspur’s... and the ice cubes are moulded to look like footballs.
The Cornetto di Cloud, in contrast, is a tribute to Antonio Valvona, the man who created the ice cream cone, just down the road in Ancoats. Based on an indulgent ice cream cocktail, it contains Belvedere Black Raspberry, Cassis, Raspberry, Vanilla cream finished with hundreds and thousands
The Mission to Manchester recalls August 1872 when the Lord Mayor welcomed the Iwakura Mission from Japan. Travelling around the world for ideas and inspiration, Manchester was a particular highlight due to the city’s wealth of industrial heritage. The M to M features Hendricks Gin, Sake, Genmaicha Tea Syrup, Yuzu and rose water.
The 1970s classic Harvey Wallbanger may have been long overdue a revamp, but its history also has a Manchester angle. Developed in 1952 on LA’s iconic Sunset Boulevard it was made famous in the UK in the Seventies, largely as a result of its popularity among Ancoats’ large Italian community. The modern version mixes Ketel One Vodka and Galliano Sweet Herbal liqueur, served on an Orange flavoured block of ice.
The truly spectacular cocktail in this latest batch from head barman Benjamin Williams is the Stratospheric, a homage to the Beetham Tower. It’s probably the tallest cocktail in Britain (the price is petty steep too at £23). I loved the citric onslaught of Citroc Red Berry, Tanqueray 10 gin, hibiscus, raspberry, passion fruit and champagne in a tiny silver goblet at the top of a 3ft plus glass pumping out dry ice.
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