Cocktail stories: Forget Me Nots, Saikindō
Music inspires a classy take on fruit Martinis at Abu Dhabi’s Saikindō, with the bar creating its own glassware to match.
*This feature was first published in the March issue of The Spirits Business magazine.
“What are the worst fruity Martinis you can order in a bar?” asks Marco Corallo, beverage director of Four Seasons Abu Dhabi’s new hi-fi cocktail lounge Saikindō. The answer, he says, is the Pornstar Martini, the Watermelon Martini, the Lychee Martini, and the Apple Martini – four serves that actually have very little in common with the iconic two-ingredient classic that inspired them. But from these Martini ‘impostors’ comes Corallo’s innovation that allows patrons of his Japanese-inspired listening bar to “make the best out of the situation”, by offering a unique solution that allows for molecular table-side customisation of their fruity Martini.
To do this, a custom-designed four-piece glassware set is presented to the guest. “We created these different glasses,” he explains. They have been 3D-printed by Italian design company 3D Vault. These “very Instagrammable” vessels were inspired by a wooden speaker, and feature a wide mouth that leads down to a hollow tube through which the cocktail travels into a serving glass waiting beneath, picking up flavour on the way.
This is done with the spray of a natural hydrosol mist – an essence of each of the four fruit Martinis – into each glass: passion fruit and vanilla for the Pornstar, lychee and almond for the Lychee. The Watermelon essence includes mint, and the apple essence is joined by lemongrass. With the essence sprayed into the base of each glass, all that is left is to pour in the bar’s own Martini concoction – a blend of Roku gin, dry Sherry, and sake – allowing the liquid to pick up the essence as it passes through the tubes into the glass below.
The serve is found on the bar’s debut cocktail menu, Aji No Hibiki, which features 12 signature creations inspired by the phenomenon of sound-taste synaesthesia, where tones evoke distinct flavours. Forget Me Nots translates the sound and flavour of the 115 beats-per-minute post-disco funk track of the same name by Patrice Rushen.
Forget Me Nots
Ingredients
10ml Roku Gin
15ml Sake
15ml Shochu
10ml Dry Sherry (Tío Pepe)
15ml Sakura vermouth
10ml Sansho pepper cordial
Method
Shake with ice and fine strain.
Garnish
Hydrosol mist – guest’s choice:
- Passion fruit and vanilla
- Lychee and almond
- Apple and lemongrass
- Watermelon and mint
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