Whether you’re lucky or unlucky in love, this touchy-feely time of year is as good as any to drink a damn fine cocktail. We asked seven of our favourite bartenders in Saigon what they think people should order this Valentine’s Day.
CLOVER CLUB
Peter Nguyen of Rabbit Hole and new venture ET Lounge on Dong Khoi Street recommends this pre-Prohibition fruity tipple consisting of gin, dry vermouth, lemon juice, raspberry syrup and egg white. The Clover Club cocktail emerged from the eponymously-named Clover Club inside the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, an all-male salon that attracted those who wanted to see and be seen. These days, it can and should be enjoyed by anyone and everyone.
Ingredients
45ml gin
15ml dry vermouth
15ml lemon juice
15ml raspberry syrup
1 egg white
Garnish: 2 or 3 raspberries
19TH CENTURY
Flamboyant bartender Nicola Cinelli of Vesper suggests this bourbon-based cocktail we hear little about in our neck of the woods. Created at New York’s Pegu Club, this shaken number has found a home on the other side of the world and in the hearts and minds of drinkers at one of Saigon’s most popular lounges.
Ingredients
45ml bourbon
20ml creme de cacao (white)
20ml Lillet Rouge
20ml lemon juice
STRAWBERRY CAIPIROSKA
Aussie good vibe engineer Jay Moir from uber-popular Layla in Saigon reckons this little vodka-based sweetie is the way to go for Valentine’s. A “Russia-fied” twist on the Brazilian classic caipirinha, it’s also tweaked by replacing lime with that loviest-of-doviest of fruits, strawberries.
Ingredients
60ml vodka
1 tbs sugar
1 cup strawberries
Half a quartered lime
Soda (optional)
MARY PICKFORD
Kata Simon of Below takes us back in time with her selection of this Prohibition Era cocktail made with white rum. Named after America’s first modern silver screen celebrity of the silent movie era, this drink is guaranteed to create some noise beneath the sheets come Valentine’s Day this year.
Ingredients
45ml white rum
45ml fresh pineapple juice
1 tsp maraschino liqueur
1 tsp grenadine
Garnish: 1 maraschino cherry
ALEXANDER
Plucky Drinking & Healing bartender Du, affectionately called Zoo, takes us a step back before the more famous Brandy Alexander was even conceived with his Valentine’s selection that replaces brandy with gin. There are no theatrics or pyrotechnics involved here, but with a few of these lush tipples under the belt, expect there to be fireworks sometime during the night.
Ingredients
50ml gin
25ml creme de cacao
25ml cream
Garnish: Fresh nutmeg
CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL
The debonair Matyas Busek of new Saigon bar ET Lounge has chosen to keep things simple but classy with this classic for Valentine’s. Who doesn’t like being handed a champagne flute at the beginning of the night with the promise of bigger things to come?
Ingredients
90ml champagne
10ml cognac
2 dashes of Angostura
1 sugar cube
Garnish: 1 maraschino cherry, orange peel
OLD FASHIONED
Champion bartender Nguyen Toan My of Firkin suggests something sweet and creamy for the ladies, but for the gentlemen, he recommends a classic whiskey cocktail like the famous Old Fashioned, something that needs very little introduction here.
Ingredients
50ml bourbon or rye whiskey
2-3 dashes Angostura bitters
1 sugar cube
Splash of warm water
Garnish: Orange peel
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