Prohibition-era cocktails are flowing at Delano Wine Bar, the sexy, upscale Lake Charles modernist hub with lavender lighting, live music and a courtyard suited for spring bliss.
New owner, Remy Deville, is a devoted mixologist who created the retro craft cocktail, Forbidden Fizz, with mixologist Amber Jay. Notes of grapefruit (aka “forbidden fruit”) vodka, lemon, lavender and a tinge of effervescence bring an invigorating, refreshingly tart balance of bitterness, aromatics and fizz.
“Due to its history, I thought naming this grapefruit-based vodka cocktail ‘Forbidden’ would be in line with my classic cocktail theme,” Deville says.
Although vodka didn’t arrive until a year after Prohibition ended in 1934, it’s America’s top spirit today (32% of the market). Mixologists find its use to be far-reaching. Case in point: “The Lannisters Send Their Regards” vodka-sherry craft cocktail, imbibed in an iron throne at Washington D.C.’s Game of Thrones pop-up bar.
“I chose the Prohibition era because drinking was more about the liquor and less about the mixers,” says Deville. “My goal is to bring back the classics with a boozier twist.”
Carve out a garnish wheel from a pamplemousse (French for “grapefruit”), shake up a Forbidden Fizz and imagine those cocktail-drinking flappers kicking off the Jazz Age as you savor the flavor.
recipe
Fobidden Fizz
1. Place 1½ ounce Skyy Texas Grapefruit Vodka, ½ ounce lavender simple syrup, ½ ounce fresh lemon juice and ¼ ounce Rabarbaro Zucca aperitif in a rocks glass.
2. Add one scoop of ice and shake vigorously for 6 seconds. Then double strain over a rocks glass filled with fresh ice.
3. Top with 2-3 oz. Q Sparkling Grapefruit soda to fill the glass. Garnish with a fresh grapefruit wheel and 3 leaves of fresh basil.
