Two of Scarborough’s finest team up for a sexy, spicy, summer-ready bottled cocktail

To paraphrase The A-Team’s fearless leader, John “Hannibal” Smith, we love it when a plan comes together.

Earlier this year Julian Phillips (El Grotto) and Nick Francis (St Brigid) got together for their usual mid-week catch-up over a pint of Guinness, and hatched a plan so audacious, so outrageous, the likes of which we had never seen before.

And so a collaborative cocktail was born, a chance to welcome new peeps into their respective venues while simultaneously celebrating what makes them different, along with learning a few new skills in the WA hospo industry.

With the help of the distillery and mixology maestros at Republic of Fremantle, the Tropico Spritz was born – a seriously smash-able spritz that blends Republic of Fremantle’s Aromatic Gin, passionfruit, jalapeño and kaffir lime.

And having had a naughty little tipple ourselves, we can confirm it’s the spicy, smash-ready hit of the summer you didn’t know you needed.

St Brigid venue manager, Nick Francis, breaks it down for us:

“The brains behind Republic of Fremantle’s cocktail program, Max Giudice, infused the Aromatic Gin with fresh passionfruit and created a pineapple distillate with the help from head distiller Tom Hutchings…

“We then made an intense infusion of jalapeño into the aromatic gin once again (don’t worry it’s not going to blow your head off), added kaffir lime cordial and then lengthened it with some quality H20.”

All three venues will be celebrating over the next few weeks with some Sunday soirees to celebrate the launch of the cocktail, the powerful bonds of friendship that exist between the three, and also you – happy customers!

The Republic of Fremantle cocktail cart will be parked up in the Scarborough courtyards, while St Brigid and El Grotto staff will be taking over the Republic of Fremantle for some special cocktails of their own:

Bring your friends, enjoy the benefits – the Tropico Spritz will be available all summer long at each of the venues.

Image Credit: Cyrus Todd