When Alex Younger first floated the concept of opening a cocktail bar within the Dorset market city of Blandford Discussion board, it was met with scepticism. “They stated cocktails wouldn’t work on the town,” however, he provides, “I’m a cussed bastard.”
Three years later, Younger has dispelled that fable in type. Launched along with his spouse Emma Woodward in Could 2019, Ginger Viking (a nickname Younger and his big beard acquired from some Danish buddies) has discovered a loyal viewers amongst discerning locals typically pleasantly bemused to discover a common at nationwide bartending competitions mixing drinks in Blandford. That their goodwill has translated into OFM’s 2022 Finest Place to Drink award “nonetheless hasn’t sunk in but”.
In a former Baptist gospel corridor out previous East Avenue’s takeaways, Ginger’s ground-floor operates as deli-cafe by day and 10-tap beer bar by evening. On the upper-floor, Younger’s crew work their mixology magic in a table-service lounge that the 43-year-old describes as “very civilised”.
A former hydraulic engineer, Younger had been fascinated by cocktails for years. It wasn’t till he took a profession break aged 36 (“to be honest, it was a midlife disaster”) that he turned his data right into a enterprise making Victorian-style fruit cordials, traditionally used as gin mixers. Success at cocktail competitions led to Ginger Viking pop-ups in 2018, paving the way in which for a everlasting venue.
Opened for simply £15,000, upcycling, sustainability and DIY are key tenets at Ginger Viking. “The whole lot might be accomplished on a shoestring. It relies upon how fancy you wish to make it,” says Younger, who spent lockdown gluing and epoxy-coating 7,270 1p items to create his craft beer bar-top: “It seems super-cool.”.
Ginger Viking makes all its personal cordials (together with conventional fruit and vinegar-based “shrubs”), sugar syrups, espresso liqueurs and concentrated tinctures, created by infusing alcohol with numerous substances. Garnishes and flavourings are sometimes foraged in what Younger calls the “outdoors larder”. The fields round Blandford are ample with red- and blackcurrants, rosemary and mint: “You’ll be able to decide contemporary lemon verbena and there’s samphire throughout the county.”
Dorset has an additional walk-on function in Younger’s beloved creation, Smokey and the Bandit, a mixture of Johnnie Walker Black Label, lemon juice and Angostura bitters shaken to a foam with egg white, and completed with “actually dry” Smuggler from Cranborne Chase Cider. Dry, smoky, candy and apple-y, he declares it “a banger”.
Different stand-outs, such because the “crystal clear Margarita; it seems like water”, are advanced, requiring confectioner’s lime oil, citric acid and repeated heating. Younger, who additionally smokes one Outdated Original below a cloche on the desk, “Heston Blumenthal-style”, loves the theatre of such drinks.
Drinkers might sit on secondhand restaurant chairs, purchased as a £700 job lot, however Younger might be extravagant. In Ginger Viking’s dearer drinks (costs vary from £7 to £25.50), he’s not afraid to incorporate spirits not generally utilized in combined drinks. One daiquiri makes use of a £75 bottle of darkish rum: “It makes the perfect daiquiri. It’s not losing it. It’s elevating it to the following stage.”
Younger tries to waft. The shopper is sort of at all times proper. You want your espresso martini additional candy? No downside. However he refuses to serve his tequilas with lime and salt: “The tequila’s too good.” As an alternative, he presents orange slices which create a “totally different chemical response”, opening up your again style buds for a fuller, cleaner flavour. On this means and lots of others, Ginger Viking is broadening Blandford’s ingesting horizons.
Alex Younger’s Smokey and the Bandit
Named after the Burt Reynolds film and impressed by our love of cider in Dorset, this drink has an incredible stability between substances that shouldn’t work collectively, however do.
Makes 1 glass
Johnnie Walker Black Label 50ml
lemon juice 25ml
egg white 1
Angostura bitters 4 dashes
sturdy dry cider 100-125ml, or until it tops the glass
lemon peel to garnish
Place all of the substances, aside from the cider and lemon peel, in a shaker, shake onerous and pour into a big whisky tumbler. Let the froth settle to a crisp line, then high up with the dry cider. Garnish with lemon peel.
Alex Younger is the proprietor of Ginger Viking, 28 East Avenue, Blandford Discussion board DT11 7DR
