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SB’s top pun-filled cocktail names

The fun side of cocktail creation can get lost in a bartender’s search for perfection. Here we round up our favourite cocktail names that are out to show the on-trade’s humour.

A funny cocktail name is the quickest route to SB‘s heart

With the on-trade focused on creating the best drinks possible while also tackling issues around waste and sustainability, it can be easy to forget that drinking cocktails is meant to be fun.

The humour in cocktails can show itself through a garish garnish or a tacky tiki mug, but here at The Spirits Business we think the best way to make imbibers smile is with a witty cocktail name.

From the Llama Del Rey on offer at New York’s Llama Inn to the Gin Wilder served up at London’s Callooh Callay, bartenders around the world have been scratching their heads to concoct a host of pun-filled names for their creations.

SB has scoured the globe to find some of its favourite named cocktails, including creations at high-brow London drinking dens and Australian tiki hubs.

Click through our gallery to see some of SB‘s favourite cocktail names from the world’s best bars.

Pear Necessities

Famed Amsterdam bar Tales & Spirits created this Jungle Book-inspired cocktail by mixing pear liqueur and Irish whiskey. The lightly spiced creation has become a firm favourite on the menu with its distinctive pear-shaped copper cup and its chuckle-inducing title.

Ingredients: Roe & Co Irish whiskey, Xanté pear liqueur, Ancho Reyes, cardamom and bergamot sherbet, fresh lemon juice and ginger ale.

Dizzee Rye-scal

London-based Sherry bar Sack has been mixing up creative cocktails since it launched in 2017, and its latest menu is once again full of Sherry-based delights. This cocktail, made with pastis, Sherry and rye whiskey, stood out to us for its homage to east London rapper Dizzee Rascal.

Ingredients: Minor Case Rye Whiskey, Alfonso Oloroso and Bloomsbury Pastis.

The Floor is Guava

For anyone that played ‘the floor is lava’ growing up, and we assume that’s most people, this cocktail from The Lobo Plantation in Sydney is sure to make you smile. The summery blend of rum, coconut and guava on offer at the Australian tiki den should brighten any imbiber’s mood.

Ingredients: El Dorado 51 Rum, coconut rum, guava, honey mead and lemon.

Loch, Stock and Barrel

Renowned London cocktail bar The Gibson lists the Loch, Stock & Barrel on its latest cocktail menu, and it instantly jumped into SB‘s heart with its Scotland-inspired word play. The cocktail brings together Islay Scotch whisky, honey and smokey flavours from bamboo and tobacco smoke.

Ingredients: Bruchladdie whisky, crystallised ginger, fresh lemon, tobacco leaf smoked honey, damson wine with, Scottish thistle and heather, Grand Marnier, bamboo charcoal and salty cacao butter ice.

Kale in Comparison

Apothéke in New York created this vegetable-based cocktail for its latest drinks menu, and what better way to sell a veg-filled drink than with an excellent pun. The blend of vodka, kale and pineapple may not be for the faint-hearted but its name is sure to bring a smile to the face of any discerning drinker.

Ingredients: Organic quinoa vodka, kale juice, ginger, pineapple, lime and agave.

Ibranka Trump

The Spare Room in Los Angeles is home to this brilliantly named creation, which brings together the flavours of banana, coconut and Italian liqueur Branca Menta. With a name inspired by the daughter of teetotal president Donald Trump, the sight of this cocktail on the menu is sure to turn a few heads.

Ingredients: Banana rum, Branca Menta, coconut milk, matcha colada and pandan leaf

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