While most of us are staying at home responsibly nowadays, it means most of us are responsibly drinking at home too. We’re running a special series, What to Drink Now, and checking in with our Tastemakers who travel the world and have some of the best inspiration for food and drink.
The Tastemaker: Rossana Swart, Finance
What to Drink: A Smoked Old Fashioned with Bourbon, not whiskey or rye.
While most of us are staying at home responsibly nowadays, it means most of us are responsibly drinking at home too. We’re running a special series, What to Drink Now, and checking in with our Tastemakers who travel the world and have some of the best inspiration for food and drink.
The Tastemaker: Rossana Swart, Finance
What to Drink: A Smoked Old Fashioned with Bourbon, not whiskey or rye.
To say that work has been intense lately as a value investor, is an understatement. But we’re all in the same boat. I’ve actually still been going into the office daily as there’s not a soul in sight, and I live two blocks away. This time has been some of the most productive as I’m just cranking through work. The bright spots in all this have been spending lots of time with my daughter, Eva in the early evenings and my husband Pierre, who has been a saint in doing the lion’s share and looking after Eva during the day. Pierre is from South Africa, so the art of the sundowner is in his DNA. Together we’ve become the cocktail experts for our evenings at home. In our Old Fashioneds, we like Woodford Bourbon for that extra smoke and depth. Jefferson’s is also nice but it goes down a bit too easy for my taste.
The Tastemaker: Stephen Hammond, Writer
What to Drink: Garret Richard's Mai Tai
My favorite cocktail is the Mai Tai. Out in the sun by a hotel pool in Hawaii I’m perfectly happy to have one with pineapple juice and a dark rum float, but at home I try to stick a little closer to the original version developed by Trader Vic in 1944. I’ve tried a lot of recipes over the years and by far the best is the one developed by Garret Richard of the amazing and innovative Existing Conditions bar in New York City. I hate to admit messing with perfection, but when I’m feeling fancy I replace Garret’s rums with 1 oz of Appleton 12 and 1.25 oz of El Dorado 21. I then leave the Grand Marnier out and reduce the orgeat and lime juice to 0.5 oz each so those premium rums really shine through.
The Galavante House Drink by Christine Drinan, Galavante Founder
What to Drink: Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste 2014
This has been a staple in my wine rotation since I had it for the first time at The Grill and then totally separately when one of my friends Alicia, who runs her own real estate fund, brought it over for a girl’s dinner at my place. I consider Alicia and The Grill experts in wine, but even without their endorsement, I just love the taste of this Pauillac. It’s low in tannins, deep berry aromas and is elegant, with just enough subtle force to let you know it’s a serious wine. It’s only made better because a lot of wine for me is about the experience, the atmosphere and especially the memory of who I shared the bottle with. .One of my first dinners out when we all go back to normal will be with Alicia at The Grill.
