New generation of cocktail enthusiasts

Media release
3 December 2007

New generation of cocktail enthusiasts

Forget chardonnay, cocktails are now the drink of preference for office workers and public servants on The Terrace in Wellington … and the cocktail hour has increased to two hours.

Come 6 pm on a Friday night and Sojourn, the ground floor cafe and bar at the James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor, transforms into a cocktail bar for a new generation of cocktail enthusiasts. Up on the 17th floor in Whitby’s, the only high-rise cocktail bar in the city, cocktail waiters are also busy.

While Mai Tais, Cosmopolitans, Margaritas and Martinis are being shaken and stirred, hotel general manager, John Primmer, says there is a keen following for the not-so-well-known drinks.

“Banana Banshees, Last Impressions, Velvet Hues and Watermelon Crawls are proving popular with cocktail staff usually mixing over 200 drinks during the two-hour cocktail period,” says John Primmer.

One of the most ordered cocktails is The Jimmy, a concoction of tropical liqueurs and fresh fruit juices, garnished and served in a glass for two.

Resident pianist, Shaun Johnson belts out the music conducive to cocktail drinking and the generation gap disappears with Dr Zhivago, Mack the Knife and New York New York still the most requested tunes.

Complimentary bar snacks are welcomed by this new generation of cocktail enthusiasts.

ends

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