You have to love a bartender who would create a cocktail to “celebrate” a mugging – and such a refreshing cocktail at that! The East 8 Hold Up mixes vodka, Aperol, passionfruit, lime juice, and pineapple juice to create a modern classic!
Originating in London, it was created by bartender Kevin Armstrong and here is how he described its origin, “The first aim was to put some cocktails on a new Milk & Honey menu that stylistically were served in a more traditional way but actually had real consumer appeal. All the previous menu writers had written old school menus just for the sake of it and lots of the drinks just never sold and just weren’t very good. The world needs more good vodka cocktails and clearly it was a good move because they sell loads of them!
Secondly, and the best bit, is how it got its name. I’ve lived in E8 for ages and when I moved there it was rough as nuts so hold ups were pretty frequent, however, Sam Jeveons and I went out one night and I was heading home in a different direction so dropped him off in a taxi. He was walking through towards Hackney and stopped off to take a leak. He dropped his trousers and whilst pissing this guy came up behind him, stepped on his trousers (which were down by his feet) and told him to hand over his wallet.
It was also the beginnings of something we now know as the Hackney reach-around! Essentially though, Sam ended up chasing this guy down the street, trousers around his ankles and his belt wrapped round his fist. Premium funny and also a vintage East 8 Hold Up. Hence the name.”
Definitely a crowd pleasure, let’s hope you don’t have as much stress drinking it as there was in conceiving it.
Here is the recipe
East 8 Holdup
Ingredients
- 1.5 ounces vodka
- ½ ounce Aperol
- ¾ ounce pineapple juice
- ½ ounce lime juice
- ½ ounce simple syrup
- ⅛ ounce passionfruit syrup
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a shaker
- Add ice
- Shake until cold and frosty on the outside
- Double strain into a rocks glass filled with ice
- Garnish with half a passionfruit and a mint sprig