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Who's the flapper behind?

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Here's to Monday, cheers from Under Raidar!

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Wet Wednesdays: Death in the Afternoon

Here at Under Raidar we have lots to cheers to this holiday season and, in honor of Wet Wednesdays this week, we're celebrating with the classic Ernest Hemingway cocktail Death in the Afternoon. Some may be more familiar with Hemingway's book titled Death in the Afternoon, but we're thirsting for the liquid version.  

With the holidays around the corner, and the drinking under the table, we found it fitting to feature a bubbly cocktail this Wet Wednesday. This cocktail will certainly add that extra something to your holiday, especially if you follow Hemingway's original instructions: 

"Pour one jigger absinthe into a Champagne glass. Add iced Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness. Drink three to five of these slowly."

Wet Wednesday's Death in the Afternoon Cocktail Recipe

1.5 oz Absinthe

4.5 oz Champagne, chilled

Pour the absinthe into a Champagne flute or coupe.

Top with the Champagne.  

Happy Drinking Holidays from Under Raidar!

Find top shelf, top secret speakeasy and craft cocktail bars at: www.underraidar.com and ‘Like’ us on Facebook HERE!

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Wet Wednesdays: Bee's Knees Cocktail

Thirsty? Knew it! 

It’s Wednesday, after all, which means only one thing at Under Raidar: WET WEDNESDAY! This week we’re staying wet with classic cocktail, the Bee’s Knees.   

Bee’s Knees is reminiscent of the Roaring Twenties, with its name meaning ‘the best' in Prohibition slang. They would say: “this cocktail is the bees knees!" Since bathtub gin was quite pungent during Prohibition, honey and lemon was a quick solution to masquerade gin’s stinging flavor.  Cheers to another Wet Wednesday from Under Raidar where we insist on keeping you wet!

Wet Wednesday’s ‘Bee’s Knees’ Recipe

2 oz Gin

3/4 oz Honey syrup

1/2 oz Fresh lemon juice

Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice

Shake well

Strain into a chilled cocktail glass

You’ll surely find the Bees Knees to be the Cat’s Pajamas.  

Find top shelf, top secret speakeasy and craft cocktail bars at: www.underraidar.com and ‘Like’ us on Facebook HERE!

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The day before the taps ran dry every bottle was $1 so you had to stock up to 'squirrel' the illicit juice. Today's Speakeasy Speak is squirrel, which meant to hide, in 1920s slang. Well, alcohol sounds more appealing than nuts.

Uncover top shelf, top secret speakeasy and craft cocktail bars at: www.underraidar.com 

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Wet Wednesdays: Boulevardier

Happy Wet Wednesday (and Thanksgiving) from your Under Raidar girls, as we now have 2 excuses to drink celebrate. According to our Raidar, the forecast today is looking extra wet with chances of pouring down booze. So read up and sip down, it’s going to be a slippery day out there folks.

In lieu of Thanksgiving Under Raidar found it especially festive to feature a bourbon base (Wild Turkey) cocktail that gives you something to be thankful for. Most of us are familiar with the Negroni, but how about it’s stepbrother the Boulevardier, which is nearly identical replacing gin with bourbon. In fact, the Boulevardier is actually senior to the Negroni by 20 years when appearing in Harry McElhone’s 1927 Barflies and Cocktails. Named after the Parisian magazine Boulevardier, whose editor Erskine Gywnne is claimed to creating this classy tipple.

Boulevardier Recipe

1 1/2 oz. Bourbon 
(Wild Turkey)

1 oz. Campari

1 oz. Sweet Vermouth

Ice cubes

Garnish: orange slice, lemon twist or cherry

Stir long and well with ice in a mixing glass and strain into a cocktail glass

Happy Thanksgiving from Under Raidar!

To find other top shelf, top secret speakeasy and craft cocktail bars visit: www.underraidar.com and like us on FB here: Under Raidar. 

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Wet Wednesdays: Southside

Wet Wednesday is truly a celebrated weekly holiday at Under Raidar and, this Wednesday, we have another festive edition featuring the classic cocktail Southside.

With so many different versions of the Southside it’s hard to know from where exactly this classic beauty originates. Some declare it was at a speakeasy in NYC, known as the 21 Club, or that it was created at the Southside Sportsmen’s Club in Long Island. However, our favorite legend involves Al Capone and his gang who would use mint and citrus in order to mask the pungent bathtub gin they were distributed in Southside Chicago. Nevertheless, we’re just pleased to have the Southside still to this day to aide in our process of getting ossified. 

Wet Wednesday's Southside Recipe

5 Mint leaves

1 oz Fresh lemon juice

2 oz Gin 

1 oz Simple syrup

In a shaker, gently muddle the mint and lemon juice

Add the remaining ingredients and fill with ice

Shake and strain into a chilled Martini glass

Garnish with a mint sprig or lemon twist

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Milk & Honey - Soho's Speakeasy That's Pure To The Pour

Walking in Soho, on a Saturday night, we were looking for Milk & Honey to make our 10.30pm reservation. After scaling streets across the world looking for hidden bars (and considering ourselves experts) we still love the thrill of discovery. We automatically look for suspiciously inconspicuous entrances/doors/windows but Milk & Honey challenged us. We retraced our steps and finally saw an unmarked maroon door; no sign, no number, just a rectangular glass peephole showed us we'd arrived.   As we entered we were lead down a dark hallway to an intimate, candlelit lounge with wooden booths and 1920s jazz wafting in the air. The drinks were superior with flavors, ingredients and expert mixology that make you understand why this bar is award-winning (they also have a branch in New York.) They operate on a members-only basis but welcome non-members providing you make a reservation. The drinks menu is clearly categorized into Pick Me Ups, Lost & Found, Digestives, Cobblers/Fizzes/Fixes and other such luscious libations.

Bar-sque in the bar 

Superior interior

High Bar-ometer 

Non-members only have access to The Ground Floor bar (with reservations), while members have their own private lounge. There, in The Red Room, the bartender doubles as the waiter and manages the entire room and bar -  it’s pretty impressive. Members also have access to The Basement Bar, The Games Room and The Roof Terrace (weather permitting) but who are we kidding? It is London after all!

Prescription Julep

Champagne Champions Milk & Honey's attention to perfection in mixology is astounding. Every afternoon they squeeze oranges, lemons, limes and pineapples by hand. They also press their own ginger beers. Their glassware is kept in freezers set to -30C to keep drinks cold during the delicate preparation phase. As a member, with access to The Red Room, you'll be served drinks containing jagged wedges of ice hand-cut with ice picks from a twice-frozen block of ice made from mineral water.

The Diplomat

Members and non-members alike have to adhere to the House Rules such as: ‘no name dropping or star-fucking' and 'Gentlemen will not introduce themselves to ladies. Ladies, feel free to start a conversation or ask the bartender to introduce you. If a man you don’t know speaks to you, please lift your chin slightly and ignore him.'

We don’t usually like rules but we’re prepared to play by these for the sake of some splendid cocktails and a wonderfully wicked experience. Rule #1: Mix equal parts Milk & Honey, shake (speak)easily and pour yourself into this prime prohibition bar in the heart of London. You'll be safe in the hand of Milk & Honey.

Full Frontal Exposure: underrraidar.com/milkandhoney   

FB: MilkandHoneyLondon

Milk & Honey - 61 Poland St, London W1F 7NU   ([phone]

  See more secret speakeasy bars we uncovered on our London jaunt!