Google Barbara West Cocktail, and you’ll learn two things:
- No one has any idea why this cocktail is named Barbara West
- Most people don’t find this cocktail particularly memorable.
Like many obscure cocktails, these aren’t exactly positive signs. So what goes in to this classic cocktail, and should you bother making one?
Barbara West
Tasting the cocktail, it becomes somewhat evident why Barbara West (or the Creole cocktail with bitters) isn’t particularly loved. While the sherry provides a beautiful nuttiness, the lemon is a pretty sharp kick in the pants. The gin kind of just is. The bitters ties the whole thing together, and the perception ends up somewhere in the realm of, ‘that’s a cocktail’.
Drink Notes & Recommendations:
The biggest recommendation I can make for the Barbara West is to consider the sweetness level of your sherry. Most individuals suggest using some form of dry sherry (Amontillado, Manzanilla, etc), but one of the core struggles I have with this cocktail in this form is the lack of component to balance the brightness. Both the sherry and the lemon add a fair amount of acidity, and sweetness would go a long way toward tempering that. Sherries like Oloroso, Cream Sherry, and Pedro Ximenez also add more complexity and typically raisined fruit flavors. This will greatly change the dynamic of the cocktail, and offer new ways for the bitters and gin to interact.
- Gin – London Dry is the recommendation – we used Beefeaters here.
- Sherry – This is probably the single biggest decision you can make. A fino or amontillado will add nuttiness but very little to no sweetness. An Oloroso or Pedro Ximenez sherry will add more complexity and sweetness.
- Lemon – Use fresh squeezed lemon juice.
- Bitters – Angostura would be standard here.