Honolulu Weekly

Christian Self is almost too good to be true. He is a drink-inventing genius, offers impeccable service and never fails to blow our minds with his artful approach to mixology. Plus, he has a British accent. He might actually be James Bond. Picture the guy in a tuxedo. We’re just saying. We asked Self to list four trendy ingredients that will give our cocktails a kick this summer–and one that he wishes he could 86.

1. One trend that hasn’t really hit Hawaii yet–I expect it to be big this summer–is elderflower. It’s unique and it has an almost lychee-like flavor but it’s still floral. I expect it to be hot out here, especially with me making the drinks.

2. With everything going toward the return of culinary in cocktails–you know, first it was mint, then basil–I think we’ll see a lot of sage. I like to use Square One Organic Cucumber Vodka, that with ginger ale, then you take a big thing of sage and you shock it–you know, smack it–and drop it into the drink, give it a stir and that releases the essential oils of the sage really, really nicely.

3. One thing I was toying with this spring was rhubarb, which can be hard to find really fresh. That hint of rhubarb, it goes along with the tradition of bringing bitters back into drinks. A cocktail is not a cocktail unless you have bitters.

4. The world continues to see the trend of very fruity cocktails. I did what I called a Holy Molé. I put molé–enchilada sauce–into an organic tequila with fresh lime, agave and a splash of Cointreau–so it’s like a margarita with molé. Then I serve it with a chocolate salted rim. So you roll the glass in chocolate and then you roll it in salt. It goes really nicely with an aged tequila, one with a lot more depth.

Ready to retire

5. What are people doing? Everyone’s just using substandard, inferior ingredients. You have to go fresh. You can’t use lychee syrup for a lychee martini. How can you call it a martini if you’re giving people sugar water? That one needs to stop.

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