Singapore. New York's Long Island. Havana. They all have mean cocktails named after them. Now Copenhagen has planted itself firmly on the cocktail map of the world by inventing, well, just that - The Copenhagen: a delicious new alcoholic concoction dreamed up by one of the city's top bartenders.
What with being the birthplace of Carlsberg, the city has always been synonymous with beer, but the creation of the Copenhagen will be seen as a bit of a departure from the norm. Denmark, home of snazzy cocktail bars as well as traditional old lager-guzzling bodegas? Youbetcha.
The Home of Cherry Heering
In fact, as birthplace of the Heering brand, most famously the Cherry Heering which has been historically used in the Singapore Sling and Blood & Sand, the city has been associated with cocktails for quite awhile, without ever having its very own cocktail. Now, it's stepped out of the shadows. Just at the time Copenhagen's cuisine scene is starting to make big waves internationally, the timing is impeccable. And the Cherry Heering gives the Copenhagen its sharp, northern taste: a drink made with exclusively Danish cherries tracing its history back through being the drink of choice for a series of Russian Tsars and English Kings and Queens to 1818.
How to Make A Copenhagen Cocktail
Ingredients:
- 5cl Bols Genever
- 2cl. Cherry Heering Liqueur
- 2cl. fresh pressed lime juice
- 2cl. sugar syrup
- 1 dash Angostura Bitters
- Orange twist (so that the scent floats on top)
- Ice cubes
Method:
- Mix all ingredients together in the order given. Shake with the ice cubes but strain into glass without the ice.
Bar 1105 - Home of the Copenhagen Cocktail
Bar 1105 is one of the hip new Copenhagen bars, opened in 2008 on Kristen Bernikows Gade to rave reviews from the likes of Conde Nast. "Stylish but comfortable" is the concept according to one of the bar's owners, Morten Drastrup. "Guests must have the same feeling as they would if visiting our house" he said. Cosy the bar may be, but it's the style that is most apparent upon entering - along with the abundance of beautiful people. In any case, 1105 is all about its bartender, mixologist Gromit Eduardsen, who came out on top in the competition to concoct Copenhagen's cocktail and of course serves the drink as one of the bar's top tipples. The bar even holds "spirit sessions" to teach Copenhageners the nitty-gritty of cocktail tasting.
Other places to try Copenhagen's signature drink include Hotel D'Angleterre and Copenhagen Plaza Hotel.
The clever thing about the Copenhagen is that it seems, because of its use of such history-steeped ingredients and its easy, instantly-enjoyable taste, to have already existed and been enjoyed for a very long time, although the competition to invent the drink only took place in 2009. As cocktail critic Phillip Duff said of the drink: "it is balanced...and yes, it tastes of Copenhagen". That, of course, is what a new cocktail needs to do: become an instant hit and, shortly afterwards, a tradition.
Luke Waterson - Author Luke Waterson writes, or has written, for various publications including Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Moon Guidebooks and The ...
Join the Conversation