Inventory for July 20th, 2014

Welcome to our latest inventory! This week White Lyan announced it’d be selling pre-bottled cocktails at Selfridges, Singapore is in a middle of a Cocktail Renaissance and Appenzeller Alpenbitter is now available in Germany.

Greetings from New Orleans! The city is sweltering, loud and beautiful and we’re on the last leg of Tales of the Cocktail. We’ve probably drank too much bourbon and had too much fun on Main Street, all of which you’ll hear about soon, promise! For now enjoy our latest gathering of international bar news.

1)  Selfridges sells White Lyan’s pre-bottled Cocktails
Although readymade cocktails will never win in a fight with freshly prepared ones, made by your bartender of choice to your specifications, it might not be half bad to have a ready-to-drink cocktail at hand when the sun is out and you need a cool, alcoholic refreshment. Time Out’s daily London Blog Now.Here.This reports that a range of pre-made drinks from Hoxton’s White Lyan went on sale at Selfridges last week. Packaged in 50cl bottles the flavors range from the Rainy Day Spritz, made with a rhubarb distillate, vermouth and rhubarb liqueur and designed to be mixed with prosecco or drunk neat, to the Bonfire Old Fashioned which contains White Lyan’s own Scotch, smoky lapsang tea and homemade cola bitters.
 
2) Singapore’s Cocktail Renaissance

Back in Issue 3 of Mixology Magazine, we profiled Singapore’s cocktail scene. This week, Evelyn Chen wrote about how the birthplace of the Singapore Sling is experiencing a cocktail renaissance for CNN. In the last year over 20 new bars have opened their doors in the city which was once described as sterile. The author interviewed several local cocktail aficionados who insist that Singapore is at the forefront of Asia’s cocktail scene and UK-based liquor producer Diageo reports a 58% spike in spirits sale in Singapore over the previous fiscal year. Colin Chia, Asia Pacific manager of Diageo Reserve World Class notes that the “scene has moved toward the opening of independent bars with talents concentrating on craft cocktails and introducing the consumer to new techniques, ingredients and spirits, while still keeping true to the classics. They have collectively invested time and energy in putting Singapore on the global cocktail map.”
Hotels are following suit. Recent openings include the Anti:dote at the Fairmont Hotel and Manhattan Bar at Regent Singapore while the Four Seasons hired Javier de lad Muelas, who the author names as one of the greatest bartenders in history, to consult on its beverage and cocktail at the One Ninety bar. Spencer Forhart of Proof & Company Spirits concludes that “Singapore is enjoying a cocktail boom that New York and London experienced over the last 15 years”. CNN continues to list a roundup of Singapore’s best new cocktail bars.

 
3) Heritage Liqueur Appenzeller Alpenbitter distributed by Bremer Spirituosen Contors
Earlier this week the Bremer Spirituosen Contor announced that beginning this July it would start distributing the iconic Swiss herb liqueur Appenzeller Alpenbitter in Germany. First made in 1901 by the 20-year old Apenzeller Emil Ebneter the recipe, which includes 42 herbs, is still kept on strict lockdown. Only two family members know the whole list of ingredients and are personally held responsible for mixing them. Adam Dittrich, marketing manger at BSC, emphasized that by taking on the Alpebetter, as it is often lovingly called by locals, the distributor expanded its portfolio by a true Swiss heritage icon.