THE BRANDY SOUR STORY

 THE BARMAN, THE ROYAL & THE BOTTLE OF BRANDY

The Brandy Sour story begins in a mountain retreat of Cyprus in the early 1950’s. The story involves a hotel barman, a royal guest and a bottle of Cyprus brandy. The royal guest was a regular patron of the ‘Forest Park Hotel’ in the mountain retreat of Platres village. He often spent his days and many evenings drinking his beloved Cyprus brandy in the public bar. This was frowned upon at the time and peer pressure, as well as numerous raised eyebrows forced him to hatch a plan of action with the head barman of the hotel.

A DRINK FOR ROYALTY

The royal guest decided that he had to disguise himself or the brandy. He chose to disguise the latter, and he charged the head barman to create a new brandy based cocktail to look like iced tea. His main aim was to drink his favourite tipple incognito. Embraced by the royal challenge, the head barman endeavoured to create a new drink. Defined by a unique blend of locally produced ingredients, this ultimately led to the creation a typical Cypriot cocktail with an easy to remember recipe.

LOCAL INGREDIENTS

The base for the alcoholic element of the drink is Cyprus brandy and the addition of locally produced lemon squash gives the drink its distinctive sweet and sour taste. Soda water and ice act as a natural nutraliser to the sharpness of lemon squash and the angostura bitters enhance the flavour and gives the drink its distinctive reddish hue. Eagerly approved by royalty, the ‘Brandy Sour’ was born..

EASY TO MAKE

A typical ‘Brandy Sour’ uses a simple blend of Cypriot ingredients and a subtle recipe. Served in a sugar rimmed tall cocktail glass, the drink consists of two parts Cyprus brandy. One part lemon squash and one part soda water are added and this is poured over crushed ice. The drink is carefully stirred whilst a few drops of angostura bitters are applied. A single slice of lemon and a maraschino cherry act as a typical garnish for the drink.

THE COCKTAIL OF CHOICE

The new cocktail became a bestseller amongst other guests at the hotel. It was promptly added to the top of the hotel’s cocktail menu. Hotel guests began asking for the drink at other establishments in the resort and other bars, hotels and restaurants began regularly serving the drink. The ‘Brandy Sour’ revolution was firmly underway when it became the drink of choice for most locals. The ‘Brandy Sour’ quickly spread to other areas of Cyprus and reached even the most remote parts of the island.

CYPRUS’S UNOFFICIAL NATIONAL COCKTAIL

Today, the Brandy Sour makes up part of Cyprus’s unique identity. It is generally the preferred cocktail of choice on the island. The light and breezy alcoholic drink, created to look like iced tea to appease royalty, firmly retains its title as Cyprus’s unofficial national cocktail.