In their 1968 hit Fan the Flame, The Temptations sing to “Always keep her hopes up high, make her laugh don't make her cry / and don't let her love die, so fan the flame.” While these lyrics refer to keeping the flame of a relationship burning hot, modernist cocktail bar Bridges & Bourbon takes a more direct approach to fans and flames. Their latest cocktail creation, Fan the Flame, is, quite literally, on fire:  a skewered lemon slice, soaked in rum and placed precariously across a coupe glass filled with their sweet, tart whiskey concoction, burns both energetically and artistically as the cocktail’s garnish – a foldable fan is served on the side. 

Bridges & Bourbon doesn't always light cocktails on fire. They do, however, consistently bring the heat with innovative, out-of-this-world cocktail experiences, earning the nickname of a “mad scientist’s laboratory” by local reviewers. The restaurant tackles all five senses with their drinks – I’ll never forget my first visit, when a cocktail came with a small bonfire of wood chips next to it, giving the full experience of a campfire.

Try your hand at pyrotechnics by making Fan the Flame at home. Who knows, a combination of The Temptations and Bridges & Bourbon may be just the right recipe to keep the fire of your relationship burning hot. 

Fan the Flame

Ingredients

1 ½ oz Suntory Toki Japanese Whisky

½ oz Penfold’s Tawny Port

½ oz Honey Syrup

½ oz Byrrh Grand Quinquina

¼ oz Lemon Juice

2 dashes Apple bitters 

Instructions

Add all ingredients into a shaker with ice.  Shake for 10-15 seconds, then double strain the cocktail into a coupe glass. For presentation, add a dehydrated lemon (a regular lemon will work as well). Soak the lemon in 151 rum and place on a metal pick.  Lay the pick across the coupe glass and light the lemon for the flame effect.  Serve with a hand fan.

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY MAGGIE WEAVER