Commune Social’s Beatween The Sheets. By Jonathan White.
What is it? A riff on top of an already sideways spin of the Sidecar, the Between The Sheets. Rick Starr at Commune Social bigs up beetroot to leave drinkers in the pink.
How is it made? To quote Run DMC, who you might well hear on the Commune Social speakers while you’re enjoying the cocktail, “it goes a little something like this”:
40 ml Cinnamon infused tequila reposado (you can also use anejo)
15 ml Fernando Castilla PX sherry vinegar
15 ml Homemade beetroot cordial
15 ml Dry curacao
1ds Burlesque bitters
It goes exactly like that, in fact. Starr’s only instruction? “Shake and strain all day, my brother.” The glass is then garnished with rice paper and an orange is floated inside.
How does it taste? The drink’s name might be Beatween The Sheets (sic) but the drink itself is sick. In not the bad-meaning-bad but bad-meaning-good way, you know. It’s very easy to look past the pun when the cocktail plays to the venue’s strengths as a bar-kitchen. Starr says the drink came about when he was brainstorming with the chef and they cooked up the beetroot cordial idea together. You can really feel the beets. The vegetable’s presence offers a counterpoint to the agave of the tequila while the sherry vinegar cuts through both for balance. It’s a little unexpected but it works and it is lovely to see dining influencing drinks. Plus it feels like it might even be healthy and this is as close as I ever want to get to the juicing trend. The presentation’s a delight too. Peep the sheets that look like the type Marilyn Monroe might have wrapped herself up in.
The Commune Social / 511 Jiangning Lu, near Kangding Lu, Jingan district, Shanghai / 021 6047 7638