Paulo Nutini may have cancelled his gig at the 02 on Thursday, but the stage was rocking at Brooklyn Bowl a few doors down. Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls and Daniel Jeanrenaud – the Camden Cat, belted out the tunes to drown out the clash of skittles in the bowling alley while they provided the perfect accompaniment as we sipped our way through the new cocktail menu.

 

Created by mixologist Tim, his drinks were a labour of love as it took him nine months of shaking and stirring before getting his way, and his cocktails onto the already commended menu. Brooklyn Bowl – the little sis to the institution over in the States – is busy in terms of every nook and cranny having a set purpose; from the bowling lanes, to the stage, to the dining area, even a mini viewing gallery from the ladies, but the cocktail collection was simple. Just five made Tim’s cut, but for the less adventurous, there’s option number six, a Margarita.

 

And as we were there to review them, we ploughed through the list, starting off with the most popular  –Brooklyn Collins, which included fresh ginger shaken with Beefeater Gin, lemon juice sugar syrup, lemonade and Brooklyn beer.

With a distinct root beer taste, it was sweet and refreshing, though I couldn’t handle the whole glass as the mix of gin, ginger and beer was a little too rich for my taste buds. But with floating chunks of ginger, it made me feel like I was drinking for my health, fending off the onset of cold and flu this winter. My friend Nikki was immediately drawn to the Cuban Mistress which included a three year old Havana Club rum ‘shaken hard’ with passionfruit puree, pineapple juice, sugar syrup and passionfruit liquer. Rum being her firm favourite, she said it went down a treat, it was the perfect combination of sweet and fruity.

For round two, I chose Basilico which included Absolut Vodka muddled with fresh basil, half of lemon, sugar syrup and blackberry liquer.

For mojito fans, this is a great alternative. The sweet, sour and herby essence of basil infused to create a fresh concoction which I finished sipping even before the ice had started melting. Nikki opted for Wythe Avenue created with Buffalo Trace Bourbon shaken with fresh raspberries, sugar syrup, fresh lemon and cranberry juice. Not something she often drinks, the bourbon was strong and hit the spot after a long day at the office.

 

Already a little merry, my final choice was The Sting. Martell VS Cognac shaken with fresh mint, lemon juice and sugar syrup. The Cognac warmed my throat as the sweet and sour flavours broke down the richness of the brandy.Nikki played it safe with a Margarita. Frozen with strawberries and cream, her face cringed from its coldness but as it was an alcoholic smoothie-like drink, she savoured each sip.