Come in early for an 'Early Day' at 223
New Israeli cocktail is in the running to be the next Bacardi Legacy; called 'Early Days,' barman Omri Blutstein mixes this rum based cocktail using a combination of fruit juices and his own home made Earl Gray vanilla syrup. It’s hard to just have one.
However, despite the atmosphere of a classic bar from the turn of the 20th century, the drinks and food themselves are anything but, taking older well known cocktails and putting a modern Israeli spin on them.
The bar itself has won numerous national and international awards for its ability to mix the old with the new, creating drinks which put new twists crowd favorites. They say “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” yet the bar tenders here are able to find new ways to keep even the most classic cocktail exciting, while also creating their own creations.
Cocktails range in price from NIS 42 to NIS 56, and there is a 1+1 happy hour every day from 6:00pm to 8:00pm.
Going over to the bar, seasoned bartender Omri Blutstein is working his magic. With half a decade of experience, and working at 223 for over a year and a half, Blutstein has already made a name for himself, and is currently in the national finals for the Bacardi Legacy Challenge.
The Challenge seeks to find a new specialty cocktail simple enough to be emulated all over the world, but still have a special twist, unique twist.
Blutstein’s cocktail is called Early Days, drawing inspiration from his first days as a barman.
"It was a time when I was inexperienced not only in terms of bartending, but also in terms of mixology and understanding how bars function as a business," he said
The cocktail itself is comprised of:
Bacardi Carta Blanca 60 Ml
Homemade Earl Grey-Vanilla Syrup 30 Ml
Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice 20 Ml
Eggwhite 15 Ml
Orange liquer 10 Ml
Essential oils from a lemon peel
Put into a shaker, the ingredients are first given a few dry shakes, then shook with ice.
After the drink is strained into a coup glass, oils from a lemon peel are released to give a final added touch to the drink. It was then garnished with a diamond lemon twist.
Upon drinking the cocktail, the velvety texture of the egg white infused with lemon oils hits the tongue. However, the coup de gras of the drink is the homemade Earl Gray Vanilla Syrup, made in house by Omri himself. The syrup helps tie together the taste of the Bacardi with the lemon juices and orange liqueur, thereby enabling all the flavors of the drink to wash over the palate evenly.
I arrived at 223 during happy hour, giving me the ability to have two different cocktails of my choosing. I chose Early Days twice.
Early Days goes for NIS 50
223 Dizengoff Street, Tel Aviv
Not Kosher
03-544-6537
