Last week I attended Sydney Bar Week. It was a riot as you can imagine. One of my highlights was attending The Barbershop’s ‘Made in Britain’ workshop where I was introduced to the Genever Crusta by Bar Manager Petr.
Crusta’s have been a staple of classic cocktail making for decades and can be made with rum, brandy, bourbon and gin, but in this case it was made with Genever as this was the type of gin used at the time of the cocktail’s creation in the late 1860s.
It doesn’t just taste divine, it’s very pretty to look at and would be a stunning cocktail to serve to party guests. It’s very simple to make and even the garnish is easy to do once you get the hang of it!
Ingredients for the Genever Crusta
60ml Bols Genever (or gin)
2.5ml (1/2 tsp) Cointreau
5ml (1 tsp) freshly squeezed lemon juice
2.5ml (1/2 tsp) simple syrup
2 dashes of Boker’s Bitters (you could try other bitters too)
Garnish
Lemon peel
sugar
Method
First, prepare the glass by slicing a lemon in half and rubbing around the top of the outside of the glass, including the rim. Pour some sugar on a plate and roll the glass in the sugar, ensuring even coverage. Place the glass in the fridge or freezer to chill.
Next put genever, lemon juice, Cointreau and simple syrup into an ice-filled mixing glass and stir together until cold.
Pour into the chilled glass.
Peel a lemon over the glass and give a little twist to impart some of the lemon oil before curling it around the inside rim. Your Genever Crusta is now ready to serve!