Sip & Tell is a series where our barman introduces you to the artisan cocktails of our renewed Fono cocktail bar and shares insights into their creation
Orange, gin, tonic. It’s a simple drink, one meant to fill another highball gap in the menu. This drink started with the idea of making orange syrup, or some kind of orangecello; essentially, an orange ingredient that actually had a proper orange taste.
“This led me to experimenting with mandarins instead of oranges, to see if their sweeter taste would make for a better syrup. In making that, I thought more oranges in general. Oranges are an easy fruit, but there are layers to them – the orange essence or zest, on its surface; the bitter white pith, underneath it; and the juicy fruit itself. I got the idea for a drink that would incorporate all of these elements at once – leading to something slightly unconventional. It’s like a tom collins with tonic, or a gin and tonic with syrup, depending on who you ask. but they’ll both agree – the proper essence of orange is unmistakable.”
Clementine
While the process of making syrups can be complicated, the drink itself is rather simple – just all around orange.
“I felt the name should reflect that. orange highball? Too generic. Valencia, after Valencia oranges? It sounded somewhat… exotic. Mandarin? It’s already associated with Mandarin Chinese. Navel, again, like Navel oranges? Again, already associated with something – belly buttons and weak spots. But clementine – it’s just orange. With every other name, it either didn’t bring enough to mind, or brought too much to mind. But this brought just enough. It’s a female name, and the name of an orange. When I hear clementine, I just think of orange, and nothing more. What a better name for a cocktail that’s orange – and nothing more?”
