How To Make A Nostalgic Balinese Cocktail, According To An Award-Winning Mixologist

Forbes Lifestyle Travel How To Make A Nostalgic Balinese Cocktail, According To An Award-Winning Mixologist Wendy Altschuler Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I cover travel, adventure, and culture across the globe, specializing in nature and the great outdoors. Following Oct 30, 2023, 03:09pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Head mixologist, Panji Wisrawan, and his team Apéritif Bar If you’re someone who enjoys a well-crafted alcoholic drink, Instagram-worthy and presented with pomp and circumstance, then you can’t go wrong with anything you might select from Apéritif Bar’s cocktail anthology.

Each libation at this trend-setting Balinese speakeasy is created with a playful nod to the 1920s and 1930s, where glamour and a splash of rebellion reign supreme. The best part is that if you’re not able to take part in The Cocktail Masterclass at Apéritif Bar while staying at Viceroy Bali, you can recreate these classic cocktails with a twist while at home. Head mixologist, Panji Wisrawan, has been in the bar industry for over a decade, including positions in hotels, restaurants, and cruise ships.

“Throughout my career, I was lucky enough to always be on the opening team; it gives me deep experiences setting up a bar,” says Wisrawan. While hosting whiskey tastings and mixology classes for guests on Viking Ocean Cruises for over two years, Wisrawan gained valuable insights that he still uses today when developing cocktail programs. “It was exciting to be the only bartender that was coming from a country where the cocktail culture is yet to be developed,” says Wisrawan.

“I was given the opportunity to share whiskey and mixology tastings, which was quite a challenge. ” A cocktail journey through the grandeur of the 1930’s Apéritif Bar Taking full advantage of his newfangled opportunity to travel, Wisrawan frequented distilleries to learn about the whisky making process directly from master distillers and he visited bars located in some of the top mixology cities in Europe and the US: Barcelona, London, Stockholm, New York, etc. “This was my base experience that helped me to shape my understanding about whiskey and later I shared it with my guests in whiskey tastings,” says Wisrawan.

MORE FOR YOU Ivanka Trump Helped Her Dad Lie About His Net Worth Two Months Later Starfield Continued Performance Is Kind Of Unbelievable See Jupiter At Its Biggest And Best: The Night Sky This Week Now, as the head mixologist at Apéritif Bar, Wisrawan is able to see his imaginative visions come to life and materialize into delicious cocktails. “What I love the most is the freedom to express my creativity; I’m lucky to get full support from the owner and the team who all have the same vision as me to not only present delicious cocktails, but also, an unforgettable and enriching experience as a destination bar,” says Wisrawan. Winner of the Campari Bartender Competition with his “Jack & Rose”, Wisrawan has many accolades under his belt.

“This cocktail is inspired from Negroni Sbagliato—it’s basically a Negroni but gin is swapped with Prosecco,” says Wisrawan. “It is a low alcohol by volume cocktail where the Campari gets more of a highlight. What’s special is that I infused Campari with jackfruit and Pandan leaf with sweet vermouth, with a dash rose water, and I top the drink with Prosecco.

Jackfruit and rose were a killer combination that helped me win the competition. ” Wisrawan’s Jack & Rose Recipe Jackfruit Infused Campari: 30ml Pandan Leaf Infused Sweet Vermouth: 30ml Rose Water: 4 Dashes Top: Prosecco Garnish: Rose Petal Glass: Wine Glass A speakeasy vibe in Ubud, Bali Apéritif Bar Wisrawan’s favorite cocktail is the Boulevardier, “Bourbon is always my favorite spirit, and the combination with Campari and sweet vermouth brings a Negroni into another level—it’s bittersweet, with oak and a rich mouthfeel, a treat any time of the day. ” Many of the cocktails on the current menu at Apéritif Bar nod to 30s nostalgia specifically, which is interesting because most people in the U.

S. are more familiar with the roaring twenties as the golden era. “People always remember the 1920s as a glorious decade, and it’s less about 1930s as it’s the depression era,” says Wisrawan.

“Little do people know that it was the glorious decade for Bali because that was the decade where Bali started to become known by Westerners—that is something we would like to bring up as our goal is to create an unforgettable and enriching experience in Aperitif, not only by having our delicious cocktails, but also, by showing Bali through our rich history via our cocktail menu. ” Another favorite 30s-style cocktail of Wisrawans is The Prince, which is “inspired by Tjokorda Gde Agung Sukawati, the prince of Ubud Royal Family, who in the 1930s invited and hosted all the international artists and celebrities that came to Bali, especially Ubud,” Wisrawan says. “He became friends with Walter Spies, a German artist and later a host to some of the biggest names such as Charlie Chaplin, Barbara Hutton, and Noel Coward.

For his dedication, we created a Boulevardier Twist cocktail. ” Wisrawan goes on to say: “We swap bourbon with cognac, since cognac is identical to the spirit of choice for royalty and we infuse it with banana flesh and clarify it, resulting in fresh banana flavored cognac. The peel of banana is infused with Campari to tone down the bitterness and bring out more fruitiness in it.

The last and very important part is we create our own Mesoyi wine. Mesoyi is a type of bark that grows in Indonesia that has similarities with cinnamon but with a nutty aroma. We use a local wine liqueur called Pino de Bali and mix it with sherry before infusing it with Mesoyi wood.

We blend it all together and serve it with block ice and an ice-cold glass. What makes it even more special is that we put the cocktail in a wooden box and smoke it with dried wormwood that we cultivated in our own green house. The herbal smoke that comes from the wormwood elevates the drink—it’s fruity, smoky and nutty.

” Wisrawan’s The Prince Recipe Cognac Vsop Banana Justino: 30ml Banana Peel Campari: 15ml Mesoyi Wine (50:50 Pino de Bali and Px Sherry Infused with Mesoyi Wood): 15ml Glass: Old Fashioned Garnish: Dried Wormwood Smoke Check out my website . Wendy Altschuler Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.