The Hide Bar - Newsletter

Number 10, December 2007 

‘Tis the Silly Season once again. The time of year when nights are long, days pass in a blur of shopping and meeting final work deadlines, old friends get together to celebrate and the boss gets out his company card for the staff party. Most of London seems to have entered into the spirit again and the parties have started in earnest at The Hide. We’re even putting the Christmas tree up today.

While you’re busy having so much fun, I’d ask you to spare a thought for the bartender. Whilst it’s a time for relaxing and partying for most, we’re working flat out to make sure it’s perfect for you. Think business year end/annual reporting deadline/that case or pitch you’ve been working on all year kind of busy. So while you’re partying, spare a thought for us and instead of ordering another vodka & coke or your 11 th mojito, ask for a recommendation and try something different. Nothing makes a bartender’s day like an interested customer and an interesting cocktail.

I’ll keep it short this month as the parties are gathering at the door, but please try and squeeze in to see us at some point. After all, you’re our favourites!

One quick quote that somehow seemed to fit the season, from Dickens story of the Baron of Grogzwig:

[the Baron to the Genius of Despair and Suicide]

“Do you drink?”
“Nine times out of ten,” came the reply, “and then very hard.”
“Don’t you ever drink in moderation?”
“No,” replied the dread spirit with a shudder, “that breeds cheerfulness.”  

I hope you have a very cheerful December without too many hangovers, and would like to remind you, life’s too short to drink rubbish, so please let us serve you something delicious this month.    

Cheers!

Paul

EVENTS

Tuesday tastings: Last roughly an hour and include random facts, helpful hints and a little bit of tasting. They are free to attend for the moment and you don’t need to book. Just turn up and see what’s going on.

Due to the large number of Christmas parties in December, I’m afraid we will only be having the one tasting before January. As it’s our last in 2007, we’ll make sure it’s a good one!

Tuesday the 4 th December, 7pm
Rum cocktails; our favourite spirit (probably), we’re going to get out our favourite recipes, cocktail books and rums and make a few tasty things to welcome in the season of good cheer. Space in the back bar is limited  

If there are any Tuesday Tastings you’d like to see in 2008, please drop me an email (paul@thehidebar.com) and I’ll do my best to find somebody knowledgeable to fulfil requirements. We’ve already had a request for New Zealand Pinot Noir, Spanish red wines, Speyside whiskies and vodkas (of all things), so I’ll get on to those for starters. I think there’s probably some mileage in cocktails named after American presidents too!  

DECEMBER OPENING HOURS
We have a few late opening nights in the run up to the holidays, as well as a few nights during which we will be shut for private events. Our apologies for any inconvenience caused on those evenings we’re closed to the public. The diary looks like this:

Weds 5 th – 10 till 1
Thurs 6 th – 10 till 1
Fri 7 th – 10 till 2
Sat 8 th – 12 till 2
Sun 9 th – 12 till 11
Mon 10 th – 10 till midnight
Tues 11 th – 10 till midnight
Weds 12 th – 10 till 3
Thurs 13 th – closed for private function from 5pm
Fri 14 th – 10 till 3
Sat 15 th – 12 till 2
Sun 16 th – 12 till 11
Mon 17 th – 10 till midnight
Tues 18 th – 10 till midnight
Weds 19 th – 10 till 3
Thurs 20 th – closed for private function from 5pm
Fri 21 st – 10 till 3
Sat 22 nd – 10 till 2
Sun 23 rd –CLOSED
Mon 24 th –CLOSED
CLOSED UNTIL
Sat 29 th – 5pm till 2am
Sun 30 th – CLOSED
Mon 31 st – 6pm till 2am
Tuesday 1st – CLOSED
Wednesday 2nd – AS USUAL

New Year’s Eve

We have a really busy December for Christmas parties, so instead of packing the place to the rafters for New Year’s Eve, we thought we’d limit numbers and just invite people we like; that definitely includes all newsletter subscribers! To limit it, we’re going to have to sell tickets, either in advance or on the night.

£20 to include a glass of Ayala Champagne and a cold buffet served early and late during the evening.

Dress code is in the style we like our cocktails – ‘up’.

We will have an open music policy for the night, with people granted a half hour slot for their CDs, MP3 players, or possibly even the decks. Bar manager’s decision is final; no country & western, trance or opera.

Sundays
Our Bloody Mary offer still stands – please bring a copy of this page or one of our flyers for a free Ketel One Bloody Mary on a Sunday. We have a DJ playing jazz, funk & soul, plus poker chips and other bits and pieces to keep you amused. The back room makes a pretty good afternoon poker den I’m told – as long as you’re not playing for cash of course.

Last bit

Hangovers.

After my first Christmas drinks party last night (Monday nights – big in the bartending world!), I have been suffering behind the bar today. Given a number of you will probably be in a similar way this month, I thought I’d scan through some of our old bar books to see what cures I could find.

Firstly, the classic Bloody Mary, as made at The Hide:

20ml chilli infused Ketel One vodka
20ml Ketel One (adjust according to the strength of the infusion)
Worcester Sauce and Tabasco to taste
A splash of manzanilla sherry
A few drops of sesame seed oil (binds the flavours together well)
Dash salt and pepper
Rolled without ice to blend the flavours, then poured over ice.
Stick of celery

In a similar vein, and not for the squeamish, comes the Prairie Oyster. This recipe from the Savoy Cocktail Book of 1930:

2 dashes vinegar
The yolk of one egg
1 teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon tomato catsup (ketchup)
1 dash pepper on top
Do not break the yolk of the egg

No alcohol, but you can always add vodka. The idea was to get all the vitamins and nutrients back into the system. I had one the other day and it certainly feels like it’s doing something!

One without the vitamins, but guaranteed to pick you up, as the name suggests, the Corpse Reviver #2.

25ml gin
12.5ml Cointreau
12.5ml Lillet Blonde
20ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
Shake hard and strain into a cocktail glass that has been chilled with ice and a drop or two of absinthe

Next up come the flips and fizzes. All originally designed as restoratives, they have the body to help revive. A couple of examples:

Firstly from Jerry Thomas (1887 edition), the Cold Rum Flip:

Take 1 teaspoon of powdered sugar, dissolved in a little water.
1 wine-glass of Jamaica rum
1 fresh egg
2 or 3 lumps of ice
Shake up thoroughly, strain in a medium glass, and grate a little nutmeg on top.

Secondly, from George Kappeler’s Modern American Drinks (1895), the Morning Glory Fizz.

50ml Scotch
20ml lemon juice
20ml sugar syrup
a few drops of absinthe
the white of an egg
Shake hard, firstly without ice, then with. Serve short without ice and with a splash of soda.

 

Business card draw
To try and spread word a little more, we’re inviting all our customers to drop their business cards in the pot by the front door so we can add them to this newsletter mailing list. As a little incentive, we’re offering a bottle of something tasty to a random card pulled out of the hat once a month.

Congratulations to Lincoln Blair for winning November’s twin prize of a bottle each of dry Manzanilla and a slightly sweeter sherry from Bodegas Hidalgo. Something to go with the salmon (the former) and the mince pies (the latter). Or just to leave out for Father Christmas.

Other stuff
Our back room is available for hire, and we’d love to hold tailored wine tastings or cocktail classes. Just get in touch and let us know what you’d like to do. We have a couple of buffet options for parties, available at www.thehidebar.com/food.htm.

Likewise please get in touch if you have any comments and suggestions, please email everyone@thehidebar.com. You can also sign up to keep in touch at ‘people who like to drink at The Hide Bar’ on Facebook.

The Hide

39-45 Bermondsey Street , London . SE1 3XF
t: 0207 403 6655; f: 0207 117 4173
www.thehidebar.com; everyone@thehidebar.com