Clinton Cawood brings us the story behind the Hawksmoor classic: Shaky Pete’s Ginger Brew.
The most enduring drink in Hawksmoor’s history – the only cocktail to remain on the list since the day it was added – was nearly called the Hay’s Ginger Brew. But it’s the Shaky Pete’s that we know and love today, named after its creator, Pete Jeary, and his hands “like the Waco Kid” in bartending comps.
Inspired by London’s Hay’s Wharf, where goods such as lemons and ginger were once imported into the country, the drink borrowed from a fresh lemonade made at Pinchito in Shoreditch, where Jeary worked at the time. Adding ginger, switching out the water for gin, and adding London Pride, he entered it into a Beefeater cocktail comp in 2008, coming second, ironically, to Hawksmoor bar manager Nick Strangeway.
Jeary brought the drink with him when he started at Hawksmoor Spitalfields, where co-founder Huw Gott christened it the Shaky Pete’s Ginger Brew. “The reception was mental – I still can’t get over how bloody popular it was,” says Jeary, who now lives in Australia. “Condé Nast Traveller cited it as the one cocktail to drink in London.”
The restaurant chain now also offers a non-alcoholic version: Steady Pete’s Ginger Brew.
Shaky Pete’s Ginger Brew (Pete Jeary)
Glass: Trigger beer glass
Garnish: None
Method: Blend all ingredients except beer with a small scoop of ice. Coarse strain into chilled trigger beer glass so that ice chunks remain and top
with beer.
35ml Beefeater Dry Gin
50ml fresh lemon juice
50ml ginger syrup*
Approximately 120ml London Pride Beer
*Blend 500g peeled root ginger, 500g caster sugar and 250ml water. Strain through muslin/cloth, bottle and refrigerate.