The Tippling House, Aberdeen: 4 great cocktails to try

The Tippling House in Aberdeen launches its new cocktail menu.

A project two years in the making, The Tippling House’s new cocktail menu is a labour of love. 

Owner, Adrian Gomes, and the bartenders responsible for the new offering took the time to perfect flavour combinations until they found just the selection of cocktails they were looking for to create the venue’s first ever dedicated cocktail menu.

Owner Adrian Gomes. Credit: Sam Sharp

‘Nothing is an afterthought,’ Gomes tells us as he introduces the new menu. This partly refers to the alcohol-free section being up front and centre within the menu, highlighting that just as much effort went into crafting these drinks as well as promoting the partnership with Friends of ANCHOR to raise money for the charity and its service users (donating £1 from every non-alcoholic drink sale). 

And non-alcoholic cocktails are nothing to shake a stick at, they sound delicious.

Once you hit the alcoholic beverages, the menu is designed in such a way that you begin with more aperitif style drinks and work your way through to the digestifs. I managed to sample four of the many cocktails – don’t worry, I didn’t attend alone, I had company and we had two cocktails each – and I would happily order each of them again.

Here are the tipples I was lucky enough to try:

Settle Petal

The ‘Settle Petal’ was the first I tried and would definitely be high on my list to order again. The gin paired well with the Amaro, lychee and rose water flavours and came beautifully presented. Overall, this cocktail had a fresh zip to it and herbal notes, ideal for anyone who loves a G&T.

Clem Fandango

For anyone who wants to try something a bit more tropical, I can recommend the ‘Clem Fandango’. Rum, dragon fruit, passion fruit, vanilla and lime are accompanied by an Absinthe rinse and herbal pineapple foam; definitely bringing those tropical flavours while the herbal foam keeps the sweetness in check.

Credit: Sam Sharp

Rhu Paul

If you, like me, have never seen Malbec in a cocktail then look no further than the ‘Rhu Paul’. The Malbec paired well with rhubarb, egg yolk and lemon for this and it didn’t taste how you would expect. Look past the Malbec and egg yolk combination if it freaks you out a little and you will be treated to a drink that has reminiscences of a rhubarb and custard sweetie with a hint of sophistication.

Sakura

The ‘Sakura’ I would definitely recommend as a close-of-the-night cocktail. With cognac, port, maraschino, lychee, condensed milk and Japanese cherry tea, this creamy cocktail is on the sweeter side, while once again, the sweetness is kept at bay by the floral notes. It even came served in a lovely little milk jug to be poured into a chilled glass.

Gomes and the team at The Tippling House have done a great job curating this menu. Perhaps next time I visit I will be brave enough to try the ‘Say Cheese’ (smoky whisky, Tokaji Aszú, cacao, bitters, white miso, egg white, lemon and parmesan). I’m still trepidatious about cheese in a cocktail, but after tasting the calibre of those I sampled tonight, I trust The Tippling House to have made a tasty cocktail featuring parmesan.

To find out more visit The Tippling House.

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