Instant cocktail: Putting the products to the test
The Clifton in St John's Wood, London, has been selling cocktails made with Funkin mixers for around two years. Licensee Richard Kavanagh has found them so profitable and easy to make that he was happy to try out a number of competitor brands. We presented him with the products and challenged him to make us a speedy cocktail from behind his bar.
Finest Call Bloody Mary: The pub already offers Bloody Marys, made with ingredients including Spanish sherry and celery salt. Kavanagh found that using the pre-mix shaved around 20 seconds off the time it took to make the drink with the full set of ingredients. "It's not quite peppy enough, but you could definitely get away with serving that," he says.
West Eleven Mojito: Kavanagh was initially a bit confused by the cocktail-in-a-bottle nature of the product. After consulting the instructions, he noted that no alcohol needed to be added - it just needed to be poured from the bottle over ice. Kavanagh says: "We like shaking the cocktails though, because it looks good and it's that action that macerates the liquid. However, with the gas in these bottles, that would be messy."
Jose Cuervo Margarita Mix: Kavanagh says: "I like it. It's light, with a zesty freshness. It's very easy to use, but you still have the big problem that stops pubs from making Margaritas: crushing the ice. The solution is to use a muddler like a pestle and mortar. And I would rim the glass with a bit of salt and lemon or lime, which the instructions don't suggest."
Stirrings Cosmopolitan: Kavanagh had a little difficulty adjusting to the volumes required. The product, produced in the US, requires a much more equal proportion of spirit and the mixer. However, he says: "The colour of it looks good and it has a nice thickness, which some of the others didn't."
