In homage to the Commonwealth Games currently underway in Glasgow, a local mixologist has created a monster cocktail made with 71 ingredients sourced from every competing Commonwealth country.
For his Commonwealth Cocktail, Mal Spence of the Kelvingrove Cafe in Glasgow used exotic ingredients like Tanzanian cloves, dragon fruit from Belize and galangal from Malaysia in an elixir anchored with blended Scotch whisky.
Commissioned by the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, the cocktail is billed as a record-breaker for the sheer number of ingredients used in the coral pink drink.
The drink is the result of six months of research and experimentation that included working with 300 ingredients before the final 71 were chosen.
“To find a recipe that could combine all these different flavours and also taste good was a challenge I couldn't resist,” Spence said.
“It's been a case of trial and error as many of the combinations of ingredients just didn't work. I went through over 300 different ingredients before finding the final perfect blend.”
Visitors to Glasgow can sample the cocktail themselves at the Kelvingrove Cafe where the bartender will give away samples of the drink for a limited run during the games.
Here’s the full list of ingredients for the cocktail and the country they’re meant to represent:
Africa
Botswana: devils claw (genus clerodendrum)
Cameroon: bitter leaf (piper umbellatum)
Ghana: taro (psidium guajava)
Kenya: chives
Lesotho: rosehip
Malawi: cacao (pycreus cyperaceae)
Mauritius: wild raspberry (rubus rosifolius)
Mozambique: cassava
Namibia: prickly pear
Nigeria: utazi leaves
Rwanda: papaya
Seychelles: citronella
Sierra Leone: cashew nut (piassava)
South Africa: roobus
Swaziland: sycamore fig
Tanzania: cloves
Uganda: nakati eggplant
Zambia: sorrel
Americas
Belize: dragonfruit
Bermuda: arabica coffee beans
Canada: logan berry
Falkland Islands: bitter cress
Guyana: sugar cane
St. Helena: St. Helena tea plant
Asia
Bangladesh: jujubi
Brunei Darussalam: durian fruit
India: mangosteen
Malaysia: galangal
Maldives: pomegranate (annaaru)
Pakistan: saffron
Singapore: rambutan
Sri Lanka: ripe jakfruit
Caribbean
Anguilla: mango
Antigua & Barbuda: tamarind
Bahamas: egg fruit
Barbados: sour cherry
British Virgin Islands: noni
Cayman Islands: sage (salvia caymanensis)
Dominica: guava leaf
Grenada: lemon grass
Jamaica: okra
Montserrat: devil's horse whip
St. Kitts & Nevis: tamon
St. Lucia: sweet basiI
St. Vincent & The Grenadines: arrowroot
Trinidad & Tobago: tonka bean
Turks & Caicos Islands: sapodilla
Europe
Cyprus: basil-thyme (Άκινος)
England: red apple
Gibraltar: maqui berry
Guernsey: blueberries
Isle of Man: new potatoes
Jersey: lavender
Malta: star anise
Northern Ireland: bog rosemary
Scotland: wild Scottish strawberry
Wales: wild cotoneaster
Oceania
Australia: aniseed myrtle (syzygium anisatum) (gundabluie) (bardi bush)
Cook Islands: custard apple seeds (annona reticulata)
Kiribati: dried coconut meat (copra)
Nauru: pumpkin seeds
New Zealand: manuka honey
Niue: paw paw
Norfolk Island: yam
Papua New Guinea: taro (colocasia esculenta)
Samoa: ladies finger (small, sweet banana)
Solomon Islands: taro leaves
Tonga: avocado (avoka)
Tuvalu: breadfruit
Vanuatu: plantain
Fiji: kava root
The Commonwealth Cocktail Recipe:
Ingredients -
50ml blended Scotch whisky
40ml Hawthorn Drinks Honey and Lavender Shrub
10ml Hawthorn Drinks Dandelion & Burdock Syrup
3-4 Drops Commonwealth Bitters (contains 71 ingredients)
Method -
Add ingredients to shaker, shake with ice and double strain into pre-chilled coupe.
Spence has also created a more at-home friendly version of the cocktail that whittles down the list of 71 ingredients to a more doable five.
Ingredients -
50ml blended Scotch whisky
25ml lemon juice
20ml dandelion and burdock cordial
Half a mango
Rambutan
Method -
Slice the fruit and place in a shaker tin, muddle with muffler or flat end of a rolling pin. Add ingredients and ice and shake. Strain into a tall glass with ice and serve.
Glasgow mixologist creates cocktail with ingredients from 71 countries for Commonwealth Games
In homage to the Commonwealth Games currently underway in Glasgow, a local mixologist has created a monster cocktail made with 71 ingredients sourced from every competing Commonwealth country.
For his Commonwealth Cocktail, Mal Spence of the Kelvingrove Cafe in Glasgow used exotic ingredients like Tanzanian cloves, dragon fruit from Belize and galangal from Malaysia in an elixir anchored with blended Scotch whisky.
Commissioned by the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, the cocktail is billed as a record-breaker for the sheer number of ingredients used in the coral pink drink.
The drink is the result of six months of research and experimentation that included working with 300 ingredients before the final 71 were chosen.
“To find a recipe that could combine all these different flavours and also taste good was a challenge I couldn't resist,” Spence said.
“It's been a case of trial and error as many of the combinations of ingredients just didn't work. I went through over 300 different ingredients before finding the final perfect blend.”
Visitors to Glasgow can sample the cocktail themselves at the Kelvingrove Cafe where the bartender will give away samples of the drink for a limited run during the games.
Here’s the full list of ingredients for the cocktail and the country they’re meant to represent:
Africa
Botswana: devils claw (genus clerodendrum)
Cameroon: bitter leaf (piper umbellatum)
Ghana: taro (psidium guajava)
Kenya: chives
Lesotho: rosehip
Malawi: cacao (pycreus cyperaceae)
Mauritius: wild raspberry (rubus rosifolius)
Mozambique: cassava
Namibia: prickly pear
Nigeria: utazi leaves
Rwanda: papaya
Seychelles: citronella
Sierra Leone: cashew nut (piassava)
South Africa: roobus
Swaziland: sycamore fig
Tanzania: cloves
Uganda: nakati eggplant
Zambia: sorrel
Americas
Belize: dragonfruit
Bermuda: arabica coffee beans
Canada: logan berry
Falkland Islands: bitter cress
Guyana: sugar cane
St. Helena: St. Helena tea plant
Asia
Bangladesh: jujubi
Brunei Darussalam: durian fruit
India: mangosteen
Malaysia: galangal
Maldives: pomegranate (annaaru)
Pakistan: saffron
Singapore: rambutan
Sri Lanka: ripe jakfruit
Caribbean
Anguilla: mango
Antigua & Barbuda: tamarind
Bahamas: egg fruit
Barbados: sour cherry
British Virgin Islands: noni
Cayman Islands: sage (salvia caymanensis)
Dominica: guava leaf
Grenada: lemon grass
Jamaica: okra
Montserrat: devil's horse whip
St. Kitts & Nevis: tamon
St. Lucia: sweet basiI
St. Vincent & The Grenadines: arrowroot
Trinidad & Tobago: tonka bean
Turks & Caicos Islands: sapodilla
Europe
Cyprus: basil-thyme (Άκινος)
England: red apple
Gibraltar: maqui berry
Guernsey: blueberries
Isle of Man: new potatoes
Jersey: lavender
Malta: star anise
Northern Ireland: bog rosemary
Scotland: wild Scottish strawberry
Wales: wild cotoneaster
Oceania
Australia: aniseed myrtle (syzygium anisatum) (gundabluie) (bardi bush)
Cook Islands: custard apple seeds (annona reticulata)
Kiribati: dried coconut meat (copra)
Nauru: pumpkin seeds
New Zealand: manuka honey
Niue: paw paw
Norfolk Island: yam
Papua New Guinea: taro (colocasia esculenta)
Samoa: ladies finger (small, sweet banana)
Solomon Islands: taro leaves
Tonga: avocado (avoka)
Tuvalu: breadfruit
Vanuatu: plantain
Fiji: kava root
The Commonwealth Cocktail Recipe:
Ingredients -
50ml blended Scotch whisky
40ml Hawthorn Drinks Honey and Lavender Shrub
10ml Hawthorn Drinks Dandelion & Burdock Syrup
3-4 Drops Commonwealth Bitters (contains 71 ingredients)
Method -
Add ingredients to shaker, shake with ice and double strain into pre-chilled coupe.
Spence has also created a more at-home friendly version of the cocktail that whittles down the list of 71 ingredients to a more doable five.
Ingredients -
50ml blended Scotch whisky
25ml lemon juice
20ml dandelion and burdock cordial
Half a mango
Rambutan
Method -
Slice the fruit and place in a shaker tin, muddle with muffler or flat end of a rolling pin. Add ingredients and ice and shake. Strain into a tall glass with ice and serve.