The Collins Bar in Adelaide Hilton Hotel has just recently launched a limited edition cocktail collection that takes modern spins on old classics to the absolute extreme (in a good way, might we add!). The all-new ‘Prohibition Collection’ showcases a range of truly unique cocktail concoctions, demonstrating a sense of old-school class and complexity in flavour that you can’t just find at any bar in Adelaide.
For a little bit of context in history, The Collins’ cocktail connoisseurs gave us a little run down of the era in time that sparked their inspiration. We were enlightened about the details of the ‘Prohibition era’: a notable period in the 1920’s that saw the banning of alcohol take place nationwide in the US. People were left to work with what they had or could get their hands on illegally, resulting in the need to creatively mix various kinds of liquors and flavours (often making large use of bourbon and whiskey). Thus, the ‘Prohibiton Collection’ is just that: a series of handcrafted cocktails mixing and matching different liquors, bourbons and whiskeys to create unconventionally delicious flavour combinations.
The menu comprises of five aptly named cocktails: The Chicago Crew, Honey Butter Old Fashioned, Al Capone’s Jules, Fancy Bourbon & Coke and Enoch’s Empire. Being giving the chance to sample each of these, we found we particularly favoured the Fancy Bourbon & Coke, mixing Gentleman Jack with popcorn infusion and Fever Tree coke served in a bottle and presented beside a bowl of popcorn and a ticket. This one was a crowd favourite due to its flavour profile seamlessly mimicking that of popcorn itself; the smell and aftertaste were so strong of popcorn that you’d have actually thought you might actually be eating a box of it at the movies! It had us questioning if we were even drinking bourbon, or if it was just some kind of liquefied version of popcorn in a glass.
The sweet Honey Butter Old Fashioned was also a delight to the senses, combining Buffalo Trace bourbon fat washed with butter, honey and lemon syrup and house made chocolate bitters served short over hand carved ice with honey dipper and lemon twist. The honey and lemon syrup completely smoothed over any harshness left in the bourbon, making this a friendly drink to suit everyone, even the bourbon/whiskey haters! Seeing as Buffalo Trace itself is normally quite a sweet bourbon with hints of caramel and creamy toffee, pairing it with honey worked ever so well, and the chocolate bitters quite simply acted as one might say, the ‘cherry on top of the cake’.
To stay in the loop with The Collins Bar, follow through to their website here. The Collins is always doing something fancy and fabulous, and being situated in such an accessible location at the heart of the CBD, you’d be silly not to check it out at least once if you haven’t already!
