Enjoy The Spirit Of South Africa With Classic Cocktails At Cape Town's One&Only
The contemporary One&Only is but a few feet away from the rush and hub of the V&A waterfront in Cape Town, yet once you walk through their sleek front door you feel worlds away. That is its allure. It’s why the celeb set from heads of state to singers and soccer stars flock to the hot spot if kicking it in South Africa’s sexiest city.
As you walk through the modern lobby in to the open Vista Bar, it feels like a cross between Vegas and L.A., in a good way. The design-driven property hints at that hip sexy sensibility, boasts some of the largest rooms in the city and has a signature chef restaurant with Nobu on site.
Yet African accents are seen throughout. From the fabrics to the furnishings, to the warm tones of the African savannah together with that splash of vibrant color, which reflect the land and the people’s personality, it reminds you that you are clearly in an African oasis. The best way to celebrate your sensual surroundings is with a Cape Town cocktail and there is no better place in the city to sip and swirl than at One&Only’s Vista Bar.
A few flips in and it is easy to be wowed by their espansive 20+ page cocktail and bar menu. They cover a lot of ground leaving very little to the libation imagination with spirit specific pages including blended scotch whisky, single malt whisky, Irish whiskey, American tennessee whiskey, American blended bourbon whiskey, single barrel bourbon whiskey, American rye whisky, Kentucky straight bourbon, Canadian whisky, Japanese whisky, brandy, cognac, Armagnac & Calvados, Eau de Vie, grappa, pisco, port, apéritif, bitter, digestif, vermouth, absinthe and sherry and a series of liqueurs including cognac, rum, tequila and whisky liqueurs. The intoxicants are endless.
Best way to dive in to their mad menu and experience their expertise behind the bar is through their Vista Evolution Cocktails. They introduce the past, present and future, three distinctly different versions of each of their twelve classic cocktails offering rich and interesting history tidbits on each cocktail and three different ways in which they can be enjoyed.
Vista Bar’s past version’s highlight original incarnations of the drinks as intended by their creators; the present versions incorporate current trends, merging the original recipes with modern flavor combinations, while the future employs emerging trends with several drinks using experimental techniques for their creation.
The Bellini kicks off the Vista Evolution Cocktail Menu with its past: Bellini. The classic Italian combination is made with white peach puree and sparkling wine. The present: Sundown Bellini is made with white peach puree blended beautifully with fresh lemon juice and their homemade herbal sundown syrup and finished of with Méthode Cap Classique. Finally the future: Peachy Foam Bellini is made with your choice of sparkles served with white peach and herbal sundown foam.
No brunch bar is complete without the classic Bloody Mary. Their past: Bloody Mary is a blend of Finlandia vodka, seasoned with tomato juice a classic recipe based on Fernand Petoit’s original creation in Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. Their present: Bloody Veggie is the traditional combination of Finlandia vodka and seasoned tomato juice with fresh local rocket leaves, carrot and beetroot juice. The future: Bloody Lekker is the quintessential South African Bloody Mary made with biltong-infused Finlandia vodka and seasoned tomato juice with a splash of homemade roasted gazpacho.
The Mojito is hard to ignore on any bar menu as it tends to be the top seller at bars across the globe. The Mojito with all of its modern mixology charm can be traced as far back as 1586 when it is believed that Richard Drake, a pirate of the Caribbean, mixed local sugar cane spirit with mint, lime and sugar. The drink was known as El Draque, meaning ‘The Dragon.’ The earliest use of the modern name is by Cuban playwright Federico Villoch who claimed when the local spirit was replaced with rum, the Draque was then called a Mojito.
Their past: Mojito is made with Bacardi Superior rum pressed with fresh mint and lime and finished with a splash of sparkling water. Their present: The Blushing Rose Mojito is by far Vista Bar’s number one seller and is made with Bacardi Superior rum pressed with fresh mint, Rose petals and lime juice and finished with a splash of pink grapefruit. The future: Honeyed Foam Mojito is their signature twist on a mojito. Made with a combination of Bacardi Gold aged rum, fresh lime and apple juices served straight up and finished with a mint and wild flower honey foam.
Continue to tipple in to the past, present and future of other great classics; The Sazerac, Manhattan, Aviation and others. Make sure you don't leave Cape Town without sampling One&Only’s Vista Bar's ever-evolving cocktails.
