“Always the bendy straw,” says Shelby, adding that everyone has their own preference for bending and knotting it. In addition to the organic materials that correspond with ingredients in the drink (a pineapple crescent in pineapple drinks, Luxardo cherries with drinks that have maraschino, and so forth), Lost Lake likes to add 2-3 other items to each garnish. Garnishes can get complicated, so simplify with a basic template. The prettier it looks, the better it tastes.”Ĥ. “You see the tray coming towards you, and the very first sip you take is with your eyes: It’s a big mug, colorful, filled to the brim with all kinds of stuff. “The reason why we use inorganic materials in our garnishes is because we really think that you taste with your eyes first,” says Shelby. Lost Lake classifies their garnish material as organic - your standard pineapple, orange peel, cinnamon sticks, and so on - and inorganic, which are the paper parasols, fans, flamingos, lobster picks, and custom piranha-shaped swizzle sticks (not to mention the ceramic glassware). Paper and wood are just as important as fruit and spice. “As long as things are staying in the glass and not prohibiting you from getting every last sip, I think it’s fine.”ģ. While Lost Lake does follow the “more is more” approach, Shelby adds a cautionary note: “If it makes drinking the drink impossible, that’s when it’s too much.” She adds that Lost Lake uses bamboo picks to anchor the more top-heavy garnishes into the cocktails so that the whole thing doesn’t plop out of your drink and onto the table as soon as you take a sip. But, don’t forget to keep your guest in mind. It makes it a lot of fun but makes it a lot of work, too.”Ģ. “One of the ways to do that is to go completely overboard with the garnishes. “The fun thing about tiki is that it’s really over-the-top, you really have to commit to doing something that’s completely different from your typical pre-Prohibition cocktail era bar,” Paul says. Nothing for you to take out and put in your hair.” But, as we all know, tiki has plenty of frivolity, which is what makes it so enjoyable. Usually you’re just expressing some oils and discarding and there’s a much cleaner look,” says Paul. “When we’re making classic cocktails like a Negroni or an Old Fashioned, we’re trying to be a little bit more minimal where there’s not 3-4 ingredients our garnish is in the glass itself. One of the things that really differentiates tiki or tropical cocktail garnishes from standard classic garnishes is a more “maximalist” approach. When it comes to tiki garnishing, remember: more is more. Photo courtesy of Shelby Allison/Lost Lake.ġ. Paul McGee says that the orchid is “the workhorse” of floral garnishes: Lost Lake goes through about 3,000 of them each week. Read on to see what they had to say - and for a couple GIF tutorials of their favorite garnishes. So, we asked the duo to join us for a shakeup and walk us through some of the ins and outs of crowning a cocktail with piranha-shaped swizzle sticks, sailboats made of limes and lemons, and of course, the beloved banana dolphin. Partners Paul McGee and Shelby Allison ensure that the bar has a seriously impressive garnish game, without ever taking it too seriously. From the classic paper umbrella to the more modern banana dolphin, tiki has been at the forefront of garnish innovation since Harry Yee first plucked an orchid flower and placed it in a drink.įew pay homage to this legacy quite like Lost Lake, Chicago’s beloved tiki bar that opened in January 2015. We love a simple lemon twist or a subtle, restrained expression of orange oil over a classic cocktail, but there’s just something about a drink served with a bright, whimsical, completely over-the-top array of florals, fruits, swizzle sticks and paper goods that just feels like pure, old-fashioned fun. Fact: no one does a garnish like a tiki bar.
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