Your guide to the latest trends in spirits and cocktails
Raisingthebar
The Connaught Bar in London’s Mayfair has won a string of awards since it opened in 2008, including being named on the World’s 50 Best Bars list for 14 consecutive years since 2010. Anew book takes readers behind the scenes at this iconic establishment, which adheres to the hotel motto placere placet: ‘it pleases to give pleasure’. The Connaught Bar: Recipes and Iconic Creations contains 100 stylishly photographed cocktails and their recipes, with an entire chapter devoted to the legendary Connaught Martini, plus 120 additional recipes for the homemade syrups, infused spirits and garnishes that help to create the signature style of Connaught libations. Written by master mixologist Agostino Perrone, with Maura Milia (bar manager) and Giorgio Bargiani (assistant director of mixology), it would make an elegant addition to your bookshelf and is a must-read for fans of cocktail culture. £29.95 Phaidon
WHAT IS... tripledistillation?
Atechnique particularly associated with whisky production – especially Irish whiskey and Scotch – triple distillation involves using three separate pot stills. The first distillation in a wash still heats a fermented mixture of grains, water and yeast (the wash) to capture the alcohol. This is released as vapour, then cooled to condense it back to a liquid called ‘low wine’. The low wine is distilled in a second still, using the same heating and condensing technique to produce ‘high wine’. This is distilled in a third still to produce the final spirit. At each stage of distillation the alcohol content increases: low wine is about 25% abv, high wine about 60% and the final spirit about 80%. The higher alcohol content helps to create more complexity in the final spirit; mea
