People who are reading this blog will likely come away with the idea that I am a terrible lush.  And if I’m honest, I have to agree that I am a bit of a lush.  I do enjoy my booze very much.  So does Bill.  Despite my love of beer and wine, it’s actually not that often that I drink hard liquor.  That is more Bill’s department than mine.  Give me a beer or some vino and I’m golden.  Nevertheless, every once in awhile, I like to try new cocktails.  When I stay in hotels, I also like to try stuff out so I can blog about them.

Since Bill and I weren’t so successful at Sofitel’s nice restaurant, Ticino, and we had such a lovely late French lunch, we decided to try the bar, interestingly named Seven Heads.  If you want to, you can order food at the bar.  I was thinking it could be possible that we’d do that.  But then we sat down on a stool and a very cheerful bartender started chatting us up.  You’ll understand that my memories are a little fuzzy.  Of course, they give you spicy snacks so you’ll drink more, too.

I was thinking I might have a glass of bubbly… or maybe try a wine flight.  Seven Heads actually has an impressive menu filled with cocktails, beers, and wines.  But the bartender was eager to have me try a new cocktail.  First, he made me a Cucumber Gin Mule.  Okay, it actually has a different name… but I can’t remember it now.  The drink is made with gin, ginger beer (the non alcoholic-soda kind, not the British alcoholic beer kind), lime juice, simple syrup, and cucumber.  He served it in a copper cup with a straw.  It was very refreshing, though I think it would be even better during the hot summer months.  Bill had a gin cocktail made with celery bitters and garnished with cucumber that he also liked.

My “mule”…

Bill’s cocktail…

I liked the “mule” just fine, but I wanted something with tequila since I am very partial to it.  Bill wanted to try a gin basil smash, which is apparently a “hot” cocktail in Hamburg because it was supposedly invented there.  So I ordered an Agave Basil Smash and he had a Gin Basil Smash, made with Hendrick’s gin.  I must say, I liked my drink better than Bill’s.  The agave and basil blend beautifully together, probably because tequila has sort of a limey tart flavor.  The gin smash was also very good, but more subtle.

Our “smashes”.  My cocktail is on the left.  

I still wasn’t ready to call it a night after our second cocktail, so Bill had a gin and tonic made with Monkey 47 dry gin, made right here in our area…  I had a ginger beer margarita made with tequila and mint.  The bartender who was making us these pricey designer cocktails was great at his job and was telling us about the local gins being made in Germany.  Aside from Monkey 47, the Sofitel also had Munich’s The Duke gin, and Gin Sul, which is made in Hamburg.  Bill was totally into the lesson, since he loves exotic gins.  I was content to drink the nectar of Mexico.

This was pretty good.  I still finished it before Bill finished his gin and tonic.

I ended up having a Jever beer while Bill finished his drink.  I know… I drink like a fish.  Still, all was not lost.  I learned about German gins and got to try a few very nice designer cocktails.  It’s not often that we get to go to bars.  Even when we do go, Bill rarely drinks much because he’s usually driving.  So since we were staying in the hotel, we took full advantage.

I don’t even want to think about the check…