Located in the heart of Adelaide’s CBD and overlooking the beautiful redeveloped Victoria Square, The Collins Bar has been one of the prime destinations for great food and drink since opening their doors in 2013.
The Collins Bar, part of the Hilton Hotel is known for introducing signature and bespoke cocktail collections each season, with ‘Settlers Gin’ inspiring a cocktail menu earlier this year.
A bartender makes the Rhubarb Bliss
“Gin is seeing a fantastic resurgence,” explains General Manager Peer Norsell after commenting on the success of the previous menu and thanking the guests for their continued support.
The Collins Bar, along with their neighbours in the Hilton Hotel have always focused on the ‘constant evolution’ of food and drink, introducing limited edition menus for each new season.
“2016 marks the second year we are doing a martini collection,” says Norsell. “The team has worked very hard”.
The (assembled) Noble Experience
This winter prepare to be dazzled by their new Shaken and Stirred Martini Collection.
“Shaken, not stirred” of course is the catchphrase recognized as the preferred drink preparation by our everyone’s favourite hunky agent James Bond. At the Collins Bar however, they invite you to be more adventurous with a list of cocktails some shaken and some stirred, but all just as charming as 007.
Black Forrest
The first decadent cocktail, sure to please the sweet tooth was The Black Forrest, containing house infused cherry liqueur, brandy and crème de cacao, garnished with whipped cream, diced cherries and chocolate flakes.
The Noble Experience allows the drinker to play bartender and assemble their own martini from the ingredients provided. With a test tube of shaken gin and two shot glasses filled with lillet vermouth and grapefruit bitters and olives to garnish, it certainly is a strong experience.
Rhubarb Bliss
The Rhubarb Bliss was one of the standouts for us, due to the fairy floss garnishing on the glass, which disappeared faster than I could say, “Cheers!” The cocktail combines house made rhubarb syrup, vodka, dolin rouge vermouth and pressed lemon juice. The concoction was sweet, sugary and very Instagrammable.
The Green Tea Martini was a hit with guests combining muddled fresh kiwi, yuzu, midori, green tea syrup, and madagascan ketel one vodka. Sweet but refreshing, this cocktail was a highlight of the collection and one I would be happy to order at any time of the day. If the drink is green, it’s healthy right?
Green Tea Martini
Lastly, The Smoking Scottsman, which consisted of dolin dry vermouth, gin and stirred over block ice was sprayed with peated scotch which produced an impressive amount of smoke, leaving a pleasant aroma and had heads turning.
The cocktails were all complimented with an array of tasty canapés including arancini balls, sliders and delicious macarons. Lets just say we were on a first name basis with the person carrying the tray of macarons.
Smoking Scotsman
The Martini Collection is available from The Collins Bar until the end of August.
The Collins Bar is located in the Hilton Hotel, 233 Victoria Square, Adelaide.
