The Melbourne hospo duo is back with a tropical take on spiced rum – extra garnishes fully encouraged.
About the cocktail
Among the wide, leafy avenues and cosy cafes of Melbourne’s Carlton, there is a cocktail scene quietly taking shape. While nearby neighbourhoods like Fitzroy and Collingwood have long carried the torch for the city’s cocktail scene, Oska and Dani Whitehart are doing their best to change that – first with their Martini-slinging bistro, Bar Bellamy, and now with Melitta Next Door. While Bar Bellamy leans a little more towards the French side of things, Melitta Next Door slots easily into Carlton’s historical Mediterranean vibe – a style the duo have happily carried into their cocktail Il Polpo, designed just for us. How lucky are we? As Oska explains, Il Polpo means ‘the octopus’ in Italian – a nod to the Kraken rum at the heart of this sweet, bitter and fruity cocktail, which is named for the legendary sea monster from ancient folklore said to resemble a giant squid or octopus. “The Kraken really forms the base that everything else plays off here,” Oska says. “Rum and pineapple are always a good time, and the vanilla, clove and ginger spice of the Kraken work really well with the chinotto.” The sweet spices of The Kraken bring complexity, fresh pineapple juice adds tropical flavours and moreish acidity, while Italy’s favourite soda, chinotto, rounds things off with bubbly length and a pleasantly bittersweet flavour profile. Add some sugar syrup, lime juice and a little dash of orange bitters, and it all adds up to what Oska calls a ‘tropical banger’ of a cocktail with plenty of summer vibes. “This is definitely a bit of a rooftop/patio party people-pleaser,” he says. And how are the Whiteharts serving this summery, octopus-themed cocktail? In classic (if slightly controversial) Mediterranean style, of course. “Alongside some charcuterie – yes I believe pineapple does belong on pizza!” says Oska. “Go nuts with the garnish to have a bit of fun with your friends. Cocktail umbrellas, mint sprigs, cherries, cinnamon powder set on fire, sparklers, glitter – the whole shebang!”
Watch: How to make the Il Polpo cocktail
Ingredients
50mL Kraken Black Spiced Rum
1 dash orange bitters 15mL lime juice 15mL sugar syrup 30mL pineapple juice 50mL chinotto Glass: Collins Garnish: pineapple leaves and skewered cherry and pineapple wedge
Method
Add all ingredients, except chinotto, to a cocktail tin with two ice cubes and shake until you can’t hear them Pour it into your glass, add ice and gently top with chinotto Garnish with the pineapple leaves, cherry and pineapple wedge
Oska and Dani’s top tips
The star of this show is The Kraken, which is loaded with spices like cloves, ginger and cinnamon – but there are other tentacles on this octopus, too. As Oska explains, another key to nailing Il Polpo is to get the best pineapple juice you can, and that means ideally using a cold-press juicer to extract the juice from a ripe pineapple. There is a shortcut, though, if you need it.
“If you can’t be bothered with this, use pineapple juice in a tin,” Oska says. “There is an electrochemical reaction within canned juice where the tin sacrifices itself to oxygen molecules, stopping the juice itself from oxidising and spoiling. It’s a bit nerdy but what it means is super-yum juice!”
As for mixing it up, the technique used here really makes a big difference. It’s called a ‘whip shake’ in the biz, and it’s basically just adding a single ice cube to the shaker when making longer drinks like this and shaking until it melts. “This technique allows you to get max aeration into the drink with as little dilution as possible,” says Oska. “We employ this technique when we're utilising dilution in another form like with soda, or chinotto in this instance. This allows for a more full-bodied drink that has some punch rather than over diluting the cocktail and having a watery mess.”
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