Essential Madeira went out for a cocktail and looked into why these drinks are so ‘in’ right now.
Drinking is not without its fads and it seems that, in recent years, people in Madeira have acquired a taste for the exotic when it comes to choosing their drinks in a night out.
After ruling night life and the world of bars for a while, gin appears to have lost its throne to cocktails. In trying to understand why these drinks made a comeback, Essential went out to meet the top three of the National Cocktail Championship held last February in the Algarve.
Vivid colours, singular adornments, varied aromas and a flair of the unconventional, such is the world of cocktails. When it comes to the art of combining new flavours, Madeira has its own tale to tell: all four Portuguese world cocktail champions are Madeirans. Not to mention that in the last national championship seven spots in the top ten were awarded to representatives from Madeira.
Some may still see them as old-fashioned posh drinks with the little pink umbrella standing out of the glass but gone are the days when cocktails were the drinks for holidaymakers and were confined within the walls of hotels.
Quinta da Casa Branca’s barman, César Figueira, took the second place in the competition with his ‘Unforgettable’ cocktail. He says that Madeirans used to look at cocktails as something overly complicated and misjudged the mixing of drinks. Nowadays, that idea has been debunked, ‘there are more people drinking cocktails’.
Barmen are increasingly required to have gone through high level training and this shows in how these professionals try to please their customers. They pour their heart and soul into creating tasty as well as beautiful drinks and go about doing so in a way that is a treat to the eyes of their customers, a real show.
With his measure, shaker, bar spoon and strainer in the background, Luís Soares, barman at Quinta Jardins do Lago, who placed third with his ‘Surprise me’ cocktail, tells us how what really matters is to arouse the customer’s interest. Be it through the mixing, the hurling of bottles or the appealing colours, it is the barman’s duty ‘to catch the eye of whoever enters the space’.
Alberto Silva, Chairman of the Madeira Barmen Association, says that cocktails are becoming trendier and points out how their decorations illustrate exactly that. In the old days, they were ‘only decorated in hotels’ but nowadays, some bars are also paying attention to that. From floral arrangements to fruits, you can see a bit of everything being used to make a difference when it comes to serving cocktails.
The championship on the Algarve had for its main challenge, the creation of a sweet and short cocktail. The winner, named Eusebius Bar, though, was not really that sweet, at least when compared to the other contenders… Made with Bulldog Gin, Mango and Vanilla Monin and Strawberry Liqueur, the further addition of fresh passionfruit juice elevated this cocktail far beyond what you would expect and gave it a flavour well above the others.
Eusébio Silva, national champion and Portugal’s representative in the next World Cocktail Championship to be held in October, in Japan, believes his victory was due to this touch of difference. Add to it the award for Best Decoration and there you go, we have ourselves a new champion.
With four championships already under his belt and a status of his own, Eusébio made the decision to open his own bar in Estrada Monumental, the Eusebius Bar. It was a done deal, ‘cocktails are becoming more and more fashionable’ and the art of mixing is bound to stick around.
Many Madeirans stop there for a drink and tourists make it their priority to have a taste of the award winning cocktail. This is not to say that you cannot find other more conventional cocktails such as the eternal cosmopolitan, the mojito or, the choice of a true gentleman, the Martini. The goal, though, is to offer a wider selection of special and custom made cocktails.
For the more receptive, Funchal has its Flair Spot Bar, located in the oldtown, where there is always a show to be seen. The quest for the perfect flavour, a true art.
