As we walked into the Saatchi Gallery and were greeted by the great and the good of Bacardi Brown Forman Brands (BBFB)…
…a smiling PR told us that Alex Turner was ‘out back’ whipping up cocktails, and would we like one?
This was obviously a silly question, and shortly after two perfectly presented Mojitos arrived.
The room began to fill with assorted drinks hacks and more than one was heard to say: “Mmm, these are nice… Not too sweet.”
Needless to say, as the presentation later unfolded, we were told that Bacardi are launching two RTD cocktails, and we had of course been drinking them.
The products have been called Bacardi Originals; at present the range consists of a Mojito and Cuba Libre, coming in at 5.4 and 5.0 ABV respectively, and will be rolled out to the trade on February 4th.
BBFB say that the Originals range has two objectives: To bring the Mojito and Cuba Libre to every on-trade venue that wants to serve cocktails, and to provide a “refreshing break” for customers who want a mid-evening alternative to beer.
Both variants were very drinkable, with none of the cloying sweetness found in most RTD drinks. This, according to Alex Turner, who was instrumental in creating both drinks, is because they spent a huge amount of time balancing the liquids.
Alex gave us his notes on both variants:
Mojito
Mintiness* – not too peppery, spearmint or chemically-tasting and not too toothpastey either. We designed the liquid to have a great mint aroma and less on the palate (mint tends to be more of a smell than a taste anyway)
Citrus – We didn’t want it to be too limey, so we used different limes to achieve the right balance of acidity, flavour and above all refreshment
Sweetness – This was all about balancing all the other elements with the sweetness so it gives good carry over the tongue and not too sharp or too sweet
Alcohol – Using Bacardi Superior as the base means the liquid gives us a great rum taste without dominating the other flavours. The trick was finding the right ABV of the liquid, we tried a number of different strengths and finally settled on 5.4% as this gave a good sense of alcohol and delivered the best taste when mixed with the other ingredients
Fizz – To make this a very refreshing drink we needed to ensure the right level of effervescence, bubbles help carry flavour around the mouth and we wanted to get a good balance of flavour carry without people feeling too full of gas.
*Mint should not be picked in the morning when it might have dew on it, which dilutes the essence, or picked too late in the afternoon when it might be dried out by the sun. It’s actually often picked at night
Cuba Libre
Alcohol – Using Bacardi Gold meant we were keeping to the original recipe and also giving more depth to the finished drink, 5% also meant that the liquid had a little bit of warmth with out being too rummy
Cola – Not too sweet and not too syrupy was the key to the cola we chose, good depth of flavour and a slight caramel note is what we went for
Citrus – As with the Mojito, we wanted a good balance of lime with out over powering the other flavours. A slight hint that cuts through the cola and brings out the citrus notes in the rum
Fizz – As with the Mojito; not too fizzy and enough to make it thirst quenching and refreshing.
For orders and POS contact the Bacardi Brown Forman Telemarketing team on: 01962 762450