Lady Boldrin

The “Lady Boldrin” is a cocktail created for a special occasion, result of the friendship that binds me to Veronica for quite some years now.

We first met in 2019 during a service as Barman at a Cocktail party between friends, organized for New Year’s Eve at her place.

During the days before the party we defined the various details of the night, such as the personalized cocktail menu, the spices and the ornamental plants that would decorate the bartending station while also being integrated in the preparation of cocktails, like the rosemary for the Gin Tonic.

The evening was conceived and studied in detail by Veronica, not only as far as the Open Bar was concerned but also in the choice of the food. I had the pleasure of tasting excellent cured meats, cheese, cappelletti, lasagne and more. To say “tasting” is to use a euphemism since in reality she “forced” me to eat, as she wanted me to feel part of the night and celebration.

And that is exactly how it went: as the evening drew to a close cocktail after cocktail, a relationship of mutual trust and respect was being forged, which lead me to organize and personalize several other events by Veronica, from girls’ night to her kids’ birthday parties up to her party My first 50 years. A party that meant a lot to her and to which she devoted months of preparation.

Both Salvo (the Bartender colleague helping for the night) and I decided by mutual agreement not to give away any details to Veronica about the personalized cocktail she requested for the occasion. Salvo backed me up and Veronica stopped asking us, mainly because she was overwhelmed by the preparations but also because -we knew it- she knows us, trusts us and is aware we are always ready to surprise her. And so it was!

For Veronica I wanted something that could merge some of her favorite drinks such as Margarita (Tequila base), Moscow Mule (Vodka base) and Gin Tonic (Gin base). For the record, Veronica’s idea of Gin Tonic is that of a personalised, customized drink, not of a simple Gin Tonic with a lemon slice….

So I decided to focus the choice on two alcoholic bases, Gin and Tequila, as coadjuvant lime juice to mix with Ginger Ale or Ginger Beer and as corrector Cranberry Juice, american red berries, which results in a delicate taste as well as color tending to pink hues rather than red -contrary to ours berries-.

As we all know you can’t win them all, so I reported the ingredients to Salvo asking him to mix the various combos in order to have a feedback and an opinion. To obtain a good cocktail you have to try and retry and taste the mix until you reach the right balance and harmony between the ingredients incorporated.

This is how a four-handed cocktail is created. And this is the recipe:

Lady Boldrin

3 cl  Tequila

2, 5 cl Lime Juice

6 cl Ginger Ale

2, 5 cl Cranberry Juice (top) – poured on the surface once the preparation is completed, due to the sugar contained it will drop towards the bottom creating an uneven effect

On the rocks in a low tumbler. As garnish dehydrated orange and mint.

The day of the party we were ready to get out there and share with the birthday girl Her personalized cocktail, a drink with simple, yet complex and refined ingredients once mixed in together. Which is the same way Veronica is: simple and refined, ready to welcome people and act as a link between people.

The night had a dress code and the Lady Boldrin cocktail happened to match perfectly the color of the night, that is to say pink, just like Veronica’s dress.

The drink was the most popular of the cocktail list – which contained 7 different options- and it was also the most replicated.

Useless to say that Salvo and I are extremely proud of the result because when the expectations are met and when the guests are enthusiastic about the event, we know we measured up to the occasion. When saying good-bye we promised ourselves to celebrate My first sixty years but knowing Veronica… she most certainly won’t let pass 10 years before the next event!

Michele, the Personal Bartender