Know your Algonguin from your El Diablo

The Glossary

Sometimes it can appear that us bartenders are speaking in a foreign tongue, this page helps to get us all speaking the same language.

R

Rhubarb Puree

There are of course commercially available rhubarb purees, but they're not always the easiest thing to get your hands on, which is why I suggest making your own.

Chop a bunch of rhubarb into 1cm chunks, place it in a saucepan over a medium heat, add in 300g of caster sugar and stir continually.  What will happen is that the water naturally present in the rhubarb will escape as it softens and breaksdown, if this doesn't occur naturally try adding a small splash of water to get it going.

In a matter of minutes you'll have something resembling a rhubarb mush, add a teaspoon of ground ginger and stir that in, once you're happy it's broken down enough turn off the heat and leave to cool.

Once cool simply whiz it through a blender and then you can use it straight away, or freeze it in an old ice cream container or something similar, until you need it.

Rocks Glass

A universal glass used for cocktails and for enjoying spirits on-the-rocks (with ice).

Although these glasses come in a range of sizes I personally recommend getting one around 12oz (340ml).

Rum

The most dynamic of spirit categories in my opinion.  The styles can range from light, dry and crisp white rums, through floral Rhum Agricoles, to beautifully aged gold rums, deep, rich, pungent demerara rums, even spiced rums or powerful over-proof varieties.

Rum Swizzle

Created at the Georgetown Club in British Guiana, a combination of rum, bitters, lime and cracked ice in a rocks glass, mixed by 'swizzling' a long stick with branches on the end between the palms of the hands (in a manner similar to attempting to create a spark with a wooden stick and block) until the outside of the glass frosts over.