You can tell a lot about a city’s people from the drinks they love. The drinks they choose to make famous. What can we glean from the success of the five-olive Martini from Rasputin’s in Hackney? That we’re one the verge of a recession but determined to make something of it.
Rasputin’s bar is situated on the part of Mare Street that’s just a bit difficult to get to. It’s ideal for those of us whose idea of fun is the venue we’re at, rather than where it is – Rasputin’s is all peeling stickers and cool bar staff, hotdogs and scrappy chairs, Fernet and honky tonk.
Because of all these things, Rasputin’s has been plugged as one of the closest things London has to a low-budget dive bar. And what says impending financial crisis like a cheap thrill? Its five-olive Martini is emblematic of this. With bulging green olives strung together on a long cocktail stick, it promises an evening of abundance under austerity. It is a hope for better times ahead.
The drink also does much to build the reputation of Rasputin’s. I think we’re a bit tired of being promised an “authentic” experience of a “dive bar”, a venue that assures a rowdy night of cheap thrills but the drinks start at £18.
“Well, why shouldn’t it be £7?” bar manager Simon Bazeley tells Broadsheet. “You don’t need to make 80 per cent on absolutely everything, sometimes it’s nice to give back to your people. It’s higher in vermouth and sherry, designed to have that saltiness that matches the olives. This Martini doesn’t need to be £14.”
“We always say that Rasputin’s is a bar where you don’t have to worry about your bank balance,” notes Emily Cameron, bartender. “We want you to drink a lot, have a good time and not freak out when you check your bank account the next morning.”
Rasputin’s
171 Mare Street, E8 3RH
The Drink is a regular column from writer Hannah Crosbie about what she’s drinking in London right now.
