Bars entice Kenyan drinkers with fancy cocktails

Served inside the egg of a gander and with a hay nest for a saucer, Kelvin Thairu’s signature cocktail is a mix of tamarind, mint, egg yolk, passion fruit pulp and vodka flavoured with citrus. He has named the cocktail, 'the Nest'.

The Radisson Blu cocktail bartender who sometimes spends all his day watching National Geographic says for him, cocktails are not just alcoholic drinks gobbled down at the end of a tiring day. Nowadays, they also have health benefits.

“I wanted to change the game … I believe there is healing in nature,'' he says.

His vodka cocktail, the 29-year-old says, is rich in vitamins and minerals such as A, B, D and K, iron, potassium and magnesium. He adds that the vodka itself aids in cardiovascular health and is a stress reliever.

With many decades of history behind cocktails, there is a new art to making them that is drawing Kenyans to bars. Bartenders no longer just shake up different alcoholic drinks and serve, says Beryl Akinyi, a cocktail bartender at Hemingways hotel, who has been in the industry for a decade.

Previously, classic cocktails such as martinis, mojitos, Long Island iced tea and old-fashioned were popular. Then came the tourism boom of the 1980s that saw classic cocktails interrupted by disco drinks that were colourful and strong.

“The 80s drink was just alcohol on top of alcohol on top of alcohol. As long as it had colour and looked fancy with an umbrella, it passed off for a good cocktail,” says Alexander Kavita, who has been in the cocktail industry for 10 years and is Diageo’s brand ambassador at East African Breweries Limited (EABL). Today, Kenyans are asking bartenders for the classic cocktails they had momentarily ditched as well as tasking them to imagine new drinks. But they want delicious, fancy, low-alcohol, healthy cocktails that will not knock them down after a few minutes.

“Nowadays people prefer having more classic cocktails. It is like we are going back to the more classical stuff that people were used to even before our time,” says Ms Akinyi, adding that these classic cocktails are also the foundations that guide new, very attractive creations that are smooth on the palate. The 31-year-old finds that new drinkers are the most likely to try experimental cocktails since they tell her what they like in terms of alcohol and ingredients. She then shakes up a delicious alcoholic drink.

Middle-aged Kenyans with a high disposable income also possess the most sophisticated taste for cocktails, the bartenders say. They order about three to four cocktails a night, which ideally contain a maximum of 60 millitres of alcohol.

Young people are more interested in getting drunk than in how stylish a drink is while older people are set in their ways and stick to beer, the bartenders say.

“The guy in the middle with a disposable income who is tired of going out to noisy places is your number one guy when it comes to cocktails. He wants less alcohol and looks for more of a good experience rather than being wasted or hammered. Most of them tell me ‘Please don’t make it so alcoholic’,” says Mr Kavita.

“He is looking for refinement. It is a flavour exploration, so they want to find a drink that is balanced and well-made,” he adds.

Something that remains a favourite among young Kenyans is shots.

“But why would you want to chug something down? If you have something good you usually like to savour it, take time in your mouth so that you enjoy it,” says Mr Kavita.

Yvonne Wairimu, a mixologist who owns Wemix Cocktail Lounge and has been making cocktails for 20 years says most mature Kenyans know a good drink when they see one and will comfortably pay even if it is pricey. A cocktail costs about Sh600 to Sh1,000 depending on pubs.

“Nowadays, guys want to know their names and ingredients, how a good cocktail should look like and taste and this puts pressure on bar owners,” says Ms Wairimu, adding that most Kenyans love mojitos which are easily available.

Although the bartenders say that the cocktail culture in Kenya has a long way to go compared to the rest of the world, it is changing. Ms Wairimu says that the most important thing is that Kenyan bartenders have started “raising the bar.”

Rising demand

The greatest driver of growth in cocktail culture is an increase in information. According to Ms Akinyi, pubs take more time to make their cocktail menus and to market them to stand out to Kenyans as eating out culture grows. Alcohol makers are also investing more in training bartenders.

“Bartenders are actually going to school to improve their knowledge and customers take time to find out and enquire about cocktails as well. Every year, we have more and better quality cocktail competitions and the creativity levels are really high,” says Ms Wairimu.

Additionally, Kenyans are more informed because of the Internet and they are well-travelled.

“Even if you have not travelled, maybe you have a cousin who has travelled so when they come back and they take you out, tell you about this drink that they had in the UK and you go to a pub that is making it,” says Mr Kavita. The Diageo brand ambassador adds that even refined drinkers like to experiment on new cocktails especially if it is made by their favourite bartenders.

In fact, the reigning joke is that Kenyans trust their bartenders with more than just making their cocktails. He says that is why he is unlikely to ditch his crisp waistcoat look. “People tend to come to us to tell us all their problems so I have to be that person that lends customers my ears,'' he says.

In many cases, this kindness is reciprocated. One night, Mr Thairu says, a customer asked him about his 'Nest' drink. He then gave him tips on how to be less camera-shy at the Diageo World Class competition last month where he was a finalist.

“When I presented that cocktail, most of the people had come up with fancy glasses. I wondered ‘What have I done?’” he recalls.

“I was so tense that I thought I had lost this year’s chance again but my cocktail hit everyone by surprise,” says Mr Thairu who had tried his luck at the competition three times before being shortlisted for the finals this year.

Patrick Mutua, a bartender at Villa Rosa Kempinski was the winner. His cocktail called ‘Brandenburg’ contained Tanqueray gin, fermented tea, grapefruit juice and black pepper garnish.

Perfect taste

How should a perfect cocktail taste? To come up with a good cocktail, the bartenders say, one must think like a chef. They must decide if an ingredient will be a purée, a syrup or an infusion while remaining aware which ingredient overpowers which. All the cocktail bartenders sneer at the thought of having their ingredients processed by anyone but themselves.

“I use fresh ingredients. You tell me this is passion juice. I do not want it. I make my own passion juice,” says Mr Thairu.

“I find it absurd that bartenders want someone to squeeze their lemon juice. Lemon juice has a short life. You can learn how to keep it longer but when you get it from someone, you don’t know how they made it,” adds Mr Kavita.

It can take up to a month before a cocktail is put on a menu and Ms Akinyi whose signature cocktail has cinnamon, Amaretto, spiced rum and guava juice adds that a good drink undergoes a lot of experimentation and uncertainty.

“To get the aroma and flavour, a cocktail must be balanced. Someone should taste the mint in the cocktail, the pineapple and the hint of salt,” says Mr Kavita.

How do you order a cocktail? Mr Thairu says, “Not all cocktails are meant to get you very high like when you take a spirit dry. Just feel the flavours, the smoothness, the smoke in the ambience, how refreshing it is and everything else.”

However, he adds that a customer’s wish is his command.

“Kenyans are still Kenyans; it’s hard to change us. The first thing we want is alcohol. If you want me to make you a cocktail that will get you high, I will do so,” he says.

inyayieka@ke.nationmedia.com