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Cocktail stories: Archimedes Screwdriver
What would Greek mathematician Archimedes’ favourite cocktail have been? Cardiff’s Lab 22 thinks it has the answer with this twist on the Screwdriver.
Max Hayward, bar manager at Lab 22
At Cardiff’s Lab 22, drinkers can taste their way through the Pioneers and Revolutionaries menu, a list of cocktails created in honour of some of the brightest minds in science, engineering and mathematics.
The menu boasts drinks made for English physician Christopher Merret, US astronaut Mae Jemison and English X‐ray crystallographer Rosalind Franklin – plus a Screwdriver twist developed to honour Greek mathematician Archimedes.
“This drink sums up everything we tried to do with this menu,” says Max Hayward, bar manager at Lab 22. “But the question was, how were we going to turn the Screwdriver into something truly exceptional?”
To elevate the original, Hayward clarified the orange juice and added Italicus bergamot liqueur. He says: “A great vodka drink should be light, elegant and fresh. Clarifying the orange juice with agar [[a jelly‐like substance used in clarification] provided all of these elements – slightly lowering the flavour intensity of the orange, without losing any freshness, and making the cocktail beautifully transparent.
“The vodka choice was important too – we landed on Fair Quinoa vodka. Quinoa has a distinctive flavour, and the vodka has a slightly oily mouthfeel, which holds up well in cocktails. We balanced it out with some citric acid solution and sugar.
“The final piece of the puzzle was Italicus – its wonderful aromatic qualities can lift a drink with just a few drops.”
After mixing up this perfectly clear twist on the Screwdriver, Hayward’s attention then turned to the cocktail’s garnish, which he says “had to be striking”.
After trying to top the serve with edible paints, orange‐flavoured tuiles and “other pretty crazy ideas”, the team settled on a pale pink‐coloured dust made using French bitters brand Pampelle.
Click through to the next page for a list of ingredients and how the Archimedes Screwdriver is made.
Lab 22’s Archimedes Screwdriver
Ingredients:
37.5ml Fair Vodka
12.5ml Italicus
50ml Clarified orange juice
25ml Citric acid solution 1
2.5ml Sugar syrup Pampelle dust
Method: Add all the ingredients to an ice‐filled cocktail shaker and shake. Dust the side of a chilled glass with Pampelle dust before filling with ice and straining the cocktail.