Check In and Check Out 6 Cocktail Recipes from Hotels Around the World

Is there anything like a hotel bar? Whether it’s a dimly-lit, sleek and swanky nook at a property in the heart of the city or an open-air lounge at a beachfront resort, sinking into a stool (or a sofa) at one always feels special. You also can’t beat the people-watching and the opportunity to chat up local and visitors from all over the globe. Hotels have a long tradition of being associated with drinks such as the Singapore Sling, the Sidecar and the Bloody Mary; while you wait to set off on your next adventure, mix up one of these creative concoctions whose element of surprise makes them truly transporting:

Margarita al Pastor

Recipe courtesy of Le Meridien, Mexico City, Mexico

Mexico City is a street food lover’s paradise. This downtown hotel located on the Paseo de la Reformastands, the historic avenue that stretches across the city, pays homage to one of the country’s most beloved handhelds: tacos al pastor, pork corn tortilla tacos topped with grilled pineapple and cilantro. For it, Tequila, Cointreau, and lemon juice and mixed with housemade pineapple juice and cilantro leaves; it’s garnished with salt that’s been mixed with ground seeds from the achiote tree, but feel free to substitute Tajin seasoning, another spicy salt, or plain sea salt.

1 ½ oz. Tequila

1 oz. Cointreau

⅔ oz. fresh lemon juice

1 ½ oz. pineapple juice

5 cilantro leaves plus 1 tsp. finely chopped cilantro, divided

Achiote salt, spiced salt, or sea salt, for rimming

Lemon wedge, for rimming

Orange wedge, for garnish

Chill a cocktail glass, rub a lemon wedge on half of the outer rim of the glass, dip in your preferred rimmer to coat and set aside. Add all the other ingredients except the chopped cilantro into a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake vigorously until well-chilled. Double-strain into the prepared glass and garnish with a sprinkle of chopped cilantro and the orange wedge.

Bora Mary

Recipe courtesy of St. Regis Bora Bora, Bora Bora, French Polynesia

If you can tear yourself away from the unbelievable views and turquoise hues seen from your overwater bungalow--the largest in the South Pacific--brunch at the open-air restaurant Te Pahu and order this take on the Bloody Mary, which was inspired years ago when staff found a watermelon plantation on a nearby motu, or coral island reef. The original Bloody Mary was actually invented at the St. Regis New York and the hotel chain has a signature recipe for the spicy mix; you can also substitute it with your favorite combo or brand.

1 ½ oz. vodka

1 ½ oz. St. Regis Bloody Mary mix (see Note)

1 oz. lime juice

1 ½ oz. watermelon juice

Watermelon cube, for garnish

Add all ingredients except garnish to a blender, add 2 scoops of ice and blend until smooth. (Alternatively, shake with ice and strain.) Pour into a Champagne flute and garnish with the watermelon cube.

For the St. Regis Bloody Mary Mix:

Combine the juice of 1 lemon, 2 ½ cups tomato juice, 1 ¼ oz. Worcestershire Sauce, 2-3 dashes Tabasco Sauce and ½ tbsp. freshly-ground black pepper, ½ tbsp. cayenne pepper, ¾ tsp. celery salt, and ¾ tsp. whole black peppercorns. Shake well and refrigerate until needed and up to 2 weeks, straining out peppercorns before using.

Pisco Sour

Recipe courtesy of Sumaq Machu Picchu Hotel, Aguas Calientes, Peru

The Sumaq is the last hotel visitors encounter before embarking on the winding mountain roads up to the Incan citadel of Machu Picchu. After guests return from a day of hiking and taking photos of this amazing engineering marvel, they often grab a stool at Suquy Cafe & Bar, which overlooks the Vilcanota River and the backside of the mountain. Bartenders have a reverence for pisco there, including its namesake cocktail. Though staff has experimented with different methods including dry shaking without ice to emulsify the egg white, they’ve found that putting it all into the shaker at once with ice does the best job of integrating flavors and giving the drink its luscious silkiness.

3 oz. pisco

1 oz. lime juice

1 oz. simple syrup

1 egg white

2 drops Angostura Bitters, for garnish

Add all ingredients except garnish to a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and add 2 (or more) drops of bitters to the foam on the glass. Leave as is or use a toothpick to decorate bitters.

Japanese Beauty

Recipe adapted from The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Served in The Lobby Lounge of the Midtown luxury hotel, this libation is a twist on the classic American Beauty cocktail, which uses Cognac, dry vermouth, creme de menthe, orange juice and grenadine topped with red wine. While that version is connected with the garden rose variety of the same name, this one is inspired by the beauty of the sakura cherry blossoms which bloom every spring all over Japan. The branch on sakura on top is reminiscent of ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement.

¾ oz. Martell VSOP Cognac

1 oz. Sakura Liqueur

1 tsp. White Port

1 oz. grapefruit juice

1 tsp. simple syrup

Sakura branch with flowers, for garnish, if desired

Add all ingredients except garnish to a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled tall-stemmed coupe and garnish with the flowers.

Tom Yum on a Rock

Recipe courtesy of Six Senses Resort, Koh Yao Noi, Thailand

Thai food is among the most fragrant, colorful and flavorful among all global cuisine, including its aromatic soups made with lemongrass, galangal, ginger and coconut milk. The all-villa island resort on Koh Yao Noi is known for this version of the Thai hot and sour soup called Tom Yum. Staff uses a syrup made from a closely-guarded recipe to mimic the flavors; here it’s replaced with makrut lime, lemongrass, palm sugar and red pepper flakes. While the lip-tingling libation is best enjoyed at the resort’s bar The Den taking in the sunset view of Phang Nga Bay, it’s just as delicious sipped on your patio.

1 lime wedge

1 makrut lime leaf

1 stalk lemongrass, hard outer shell removed, and stalk chopped

1 oz. fresh lime juice

1 ¾ oz. vodka

⅔ oz. Cointreau

⅔ oz. simple syrup or palm sugar syrup (for the latter, boil and cool equal parts palm sugar and water)

Red pepper flakes, sea salt and lime wedge, for rimming

Lime wheel and red chile pepper on a skewer, for garnish

Rub the lime wedge on half of the outer rim of a rocks glass and coat the glass in a mixture of equal parts red pepper flakes and sea salt; set aside the glass. Add the makrut lime leaf, lemongrass and lime juice to a shaker and muddle gently. Add the vodka, Cointreau and palm sugar or simple syrup, add ice and shake until well-chilled. Double-strain into the prepared glass over fresh ice. Garnish with the skewered lime wheel and red chile pepper.

Old Fashioned

Recipe courtesy of The Galt House Hotel, Louisville, Kentucky

Quick: what’s the official cocktail of Louisville? If you said the Mint Julep, you’d be wrong. It’s actually the Old Fashioned. Legend has it that a bartender created the drink at the The Pendennis Club, a gentleman’s club, in honor of Bourbon distiller Colonel James E. Pepper. Renowned cocktail historian David Wondrich disputes this claim, though nonetheless the Mayor of Louisville declared it the city’s official tipple in 2015. For their version, Swizzle Dinner & Drinks at The Galt House reduces Port into a syrup and mixes it bitters and Angel’s Envy, a Bourbon that’s finished in Port casks.

2 oz. Angel’s Envy Bourbon Whiskey

½ oz. Port wine reduction syrup (see Note)

¾ dashes Angostura Bitters

Orange peel, for garnish

Add the first three ingredients to a cocktail glass, add ice, and stir until well-chilled. Strain into a double rocks glass over a large ice cube or ice sphere. Express the orange peel over the drink, rub the peel around the rim of the glass and garnish with the peel.

For the Port wine reduction syrup:

Combine ½ cup ruby port and ½ cup sugar in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer, cook until the sugar fully dissolves and the mixture is reduced by half. Remove it from the heat, let cool completely and store in the refrigerator for up to a month.

CocktailsKelly MagyaricsAugust 4, 2021recipes, up, on the rocksComment