The Churchill Cocktail

My hubby made me laugh by saying "ah, those were the days, when you could be pissed and gaga and still be Prime Minister after three strokes".  Wonderful, and this is what's missing in national politics today, I think.  Anyway, this cocktail was named after the great man himself (although he apparently hated Scotch.....).  It consists of (for 1 person) 3 parts of Scotch, 1 part fresh lime juice, 1 part Sweet Vermouth, and 1 part Cointreau.  Sweeten if needed with a teaspoon of sugar syrup.  I'll leave you to decide how big your parts are, fnar, fnar! (forgive me, I'm drunk).  For those concerned with provenance, this is from the Savoy cocktail book, by Harry Craddock (no relation to Fanny!! Fnar, fnar!)

Scorpion Cocktail

Aptly named, as it has a sting in the tail!  The relative length of the drink, with fresh orange and lemon juice and loads of ice, means it is dangerously 'gluggable'.  But refreshing on a warm, dry, sunny evening.  Per person, you need 2 parts of white rum (i.e. Bacardi), 2 parts of good, freshly-squeezed orange juice, 1 and a half parts of fresh lemon juice, 1 part brandy (preferably good Cognac), 2 teaspoons of Amaretto liqueur (or orgeat syrup, if you happen to have any lying around, as you do), 2-3 drops of Angostura Bitters, sugar syrup, to taste, and slices of orange and lemon.  Shake over ice, then strain into highball glasses filled with broken ice and garnish with the fruit slices.  ***Hic! ***

Summer Madness Cocktail

Here I am, with my close friends, drinking this lovely Campari cocktail.  I have a great life.  Yeah, note to self: stop reading 'Fifty Shades of Grey'.  Anyway, this was delicious, comprising of 1 measure each of vodka, Campari, sweet vermouth, 2 measures of Cointreau, and the juice of half a lime and 1 orange.  Serve over lots of ice, and top up with a little soda water.  Great with salmon and dill pâté on blinis.  Warning: quite alcoholic - see delusional photo on the left.

Berlioni Cocktail

We had boiled globe artichokes and tapenade as a starter tonight, and with them came the challenge of what to drink?  Artichokes are notorious for killing wines, but we found the answer in this cocktail, which includes Cynar, made from....globe artichokes!  We love Italian amare and bitters, the best known of which being Campari (to which I am probably addicted) and I realise they are an acquired taste, but I love them.  This was an excellent combination of 2 parts gin, 1 part Cynar and 3/4 part Noilly Prat white dry Vermouth.  Stirred and served over ice with a lemon twist, this was a delicious bitter drink that echoed the artichokes perfectly. 

Balm Cocktail

My husband is a bit OCD when it comes to cocktails - sorry to get all gendered but he does the typical male thing of collecting just about everything he can - books, cocktail accessories, weird liqueurs and bitters, you name it - and he kept passing this one by because we didn't have something called 'Pimento dram', a very obscure concoction from the Caribbean of rum infused with allspice berries.  Anyhow, he read in one of the books from his hero, Dale De Groff, that you can emulate its flavour by mixing Angostura Classic Bitters and Angostura Orange Bitters.  So, tonight, we had his rather delicious interpretation of the 1930's cocktail, 'The Balm' - you need 5 parts of Oloroso/Dry Amontillado sherry, mixed; 1.5 parts Cointreau and 2 parts freshly squeezed orange juice; 2 dashes Angostura Classic Bitters and 4 of Angostura Orange Bitters.  Shake over ice, strain into a martini glass and serve with an orange twist.  It looked a bit muddy, but was a perfect aperitif, and not too alcoholic.  We forgot to take a photo but here is one from an interesting blog, Savoystomp.com, where the author worked their way through the absolute classic, The Savoy Cocktail Book, from A to Zee, as the Yanks would say. 

Blood and Sand Cocktails

I haven't blogged any cocktails for a while - this isn't because we haven't had any (far from it), but because our recent ones have been classics.  This drink is certainly venerable - it is named after a 1922 Rudolph Valentino movie - but it isn't as well known as others from that era.  As the great Dale de Groff says in his book "The Craft of the Cocktail", the ingredients sound unappealing - Scotch whisky, sweet Vermouth, cherry brandy, blood orange juice and orange bitters.  But, BUT, believe me, they blended into a most sublime drink.  Mind you, I have yet to find a drink based on Scotch and Vermouth that I don't like - a Perfect Manhattan is probably my favourite drink ever.  So, this consists of 2 parts each of Scotch and Vermouth (we use Grant's and Carpano Antica Formula Sweet Vermouth), 1 part of cherry brandy and 1.5 parts of freshly squeezed blood orange juice.  Put into a cocktail shaker with a couple of dashes of orange (or Angostura) bitters, add lots of ice, shake well and strain into a Martini glass.  Add a twist of orange peel, flamed if you are brave (we aren't) and ...... relax!

The Derby Daiquiri Cocktail

I haven't blogged many cocktails recently, not because we haven't had any, but they were mostly classics or ones I've mentioned before.  This was a nice variation on the usual Daiquiri, but slightly less alcoholic than usual, as you add fresh orange juice to the fresh lime juice and white rum, along with some Gomme syrup.  Dangerously quaffable........1 measures of freshly squeezed orange juice, 1 measure of freshly squeezed lime juice and 2 measures of Bacardi, with about 1/2 a measure of Gomme syrup or caster sugar to taste.  Shake over lots of crushed ice and pour into a chilled glass, with a sugar-crusted rim if liked (....there's a joke there, but I shall leave it to others).  Anyway, yummy, fruity and, as I say, dangerously drinkable.

The Gallone Cocktail

This is a pretty full-on Italian aperitivo, and pretty delicious too.  It consists of 2 parts gin, stirred with one part each of Campari and Cynar (a funky bitter Italian aperitif made from globe artichokes!) and served over ice, topped with soda water.  Wonderfully refreshing, served with roasted asparagus wrapped in Parma ham.  Cin cin!

Diplomat Cocktails

A very elegant aperitif, showcasing dry and sweet vermouths, in particular the complex and slightly bitter Antico Carpano - shake 1 part of sweet red vermouth and 2 parts of dry white vermouth, along with a teaspoon of maraschino liqueur, in a cocktail shaker with lots of ice.  Strain into a chilled martini glas, add a maraschino cherry and strip of lemon peel, squeezed over the surface.  Relax, and sip whilst listening to Al Bowlly records and pretending to be Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence.  Lovely!

South Coast Cocktails

A recipe from the great Dale DeGroff, in his book 'The Craft of the Cocktail', this is a variation on a whisky sour but without egg white - Dale (who can be trusted in all things cocktail) insists egg whites are wrong.  I quite agree.  This consists of (for 2 people): 4 parts blended Scotch ( a good brand, please, we use Grant's Family Reserve), 1.5 parts curacao (i.e. Cointreau), 1 part fresh lemon juice, 1/2 part gomme syrup, and 2.5 parts soda water.  These should be stirred in a mixing glass over ice (not shaken) and strained into 2 chilled martini glasses.  Serve with an orange twist.  Very nice, and deceptively 'quaffable' because of the soda water.  Beware, though, it packs a punch!

Reform Cocktails

Today's cocktails needed to go with the mushroom pastry puffs, that had a spike of sherry in them, so a sherry cocktail was perfect - 4 parts of dry sherry to 3 parts of dry white vermouth and a couple of shakes of orange bitters.  Shake over ice and pour into martini glasses, then add a Maraschino cherry and a little of the Luxardo Maraschino syrup from the jar.  Very elegant, very dry.

Deauville Cocktails

Hubby just described these as 'Sidecars with Calvados', and I guess that is pretty much what they are - equal measures each of good Cognac, Calvados, Cointreau and freshly-squeezed lemon juice.  We sweetened it with a little gomme sugar syrup, and added a lemon twist.  Shaken over ice and served in a martini glass, this was a classic example of the alchemy of a good cocktail -all the ingredients combine to taste of something different from the individual parts.  Very delicious, and quite potent - hic!

White Lady Cocktails

Looking at previous blog entries, I can't believe I haven't mentioned this one before - perhaps because it is such a timeless classic, I just presume everyone knows it.  But if you don't, do make yourself one, it is such a perfect, delicious drink.  We use 2 parts of Gordon's Gin to 1 part each of Cointreau and freshly-squeezed lemon juice and gomme/sugar syrup to taste - we use around half a part syrup, but start with less and taste until you get the level of acidity you can bear.  Shake on ice, and serve in a martini glass with a lemon twist.  Perfect accompaniment to smoked salmon blinis.

Exploding Etna Cocktails

In honour of Mount Etna, and the beautiful blood oranges we received from Riverford that grew on that volcano's lower slopes.  We invented this cocktail ourselves and originally called them 'Bloody Sicilians' but, given the volcano's disquiet this weekend, we thought we'd placate it and rename the drink in her honour - for a volcano is surely a 'she'!  Take 1 part gin, 1 part Cointreau and 2 parts freshly squeezed blood orange.  Add a couple of dashes of orange bitters.  Shake well over ice and strain into martini glasses.  Add an orange twist or slice of one of the oranges cut before squeezing the rest.

Boulevardier Cocktail

Quite simply, I was too drunk to blog this on Sunday when we drank it, so in a more sober light, let me tell you about this little lovely.  Equal quantities of Bourbon (Woodford Reserve in our case), Campari (of course!), and Rosso Vermouth (the mighty Carpano Antica) - stir on ice (don't shake as it will go cloudy), and pour into a martini glass.  Add a maraschino cherry and a lemon twist.  Totally.  Delicious.  But rather intoxicating.........we got the recipe from 'Dr Cocktail's Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails', a treasure-trove of a book.

Adonis II Cocktail

We are very fond of the classic Adonis cocktail, one of the oldest in the book.  It is a simple mix of dry sherry, sweet vermouth and orange bitters.  This Dale Degroff variation was delicious too, and a little longer with the addition of fresh orange juice.  Take 2 parts sherry (we used dry Amontillado), 1 part sweet vermouth (we use the peerless Carpano Antica Formula), and 1 part freshly squeezed (please) orange juice, with a couple of dashes of orange bitters.  Shake on ice and serve in a martini glass with an orange twist.  Delicious with the Gougeres from the earlier posting before dinner.

Valencia cocktails

Please don't think we are lushes - a high proportion of the recent postings have been for cocktail recipes, but it IS Christmas!  This used up the rest of the bottle of Champagne from Christmas Day and consists of a dessertspoon each of freshly squeezed orange juice and Apricot Brandy, in a Champagne flute - add some orange bitters if you have any, just a couple of drops, and top up with bubbly - a refreshing alternative to Buck's Fizz.

The Goodnight Kiss Cocktail

Few recipes to blog about at this time of year - it is a time for traditional cooking and you don't need ME to tell you how to make roast turkey, bread sauce et al.  However, I thought I'd share our cocktail consumed before the main event - a perfect combination of Campari, Angostura Bitters and Champagne.  In the bottom of a champagne flute, drop a sugar cube that has been soaked with 2 or 3 drops of Angostura bitters.  Add a dessertspoon of Campari and then top up with ice-cold Champagne.  Drink.  Make another one.  Drink. Stagger woozily to the kitchen to get the sprouts on.  Happy Christmas everyone!

Fitzgerald Cocktails

A delicious lemony drink, this, and one we first had at the now defunct Rainbow Room bar on the 65th floor of the Rockefeller Centre in New York nearly 20 years ago.  I shall never forget that experience - it was dark and very foggy, and we were sitting in front of a picture window, with all hopes of seeing the Empire State Building in front of us dashed - suddenly, the fog cleared, and there that wonderful building was, glittering in the dark sky.  Wonderful!  Anyway, we like to think that the now world-famous Dale de Groff might have mixed this, his own invention, for us that evening, as he was the head 'mixologist' there at the time.  It consists of 1.5 parts gin, 1 part of gomme syrup, 3/4 part fresh lemon juice and several good shakes of Angostura Bitters.  Shake together with ice and serve in an Old Fashioned glass over LOTS of ice and a slice of lemon.  Delicious with blinis, creme fraiche and smoked salmon.  A very nice alternative to G&T.

Perfect Manhattans

Is this the best cocktail in the world? In the Universe?  I think so.  It is simply the best drink ever - and yes, it doesn't even have Campari in it!  You need the best ingredients - Woodford Reserve bourbon (2 parts),  then 1/2 part each of Noilly Prat White Vermouth and Antica Formula Carpano Rosso Vermouth, with 2 dashes of Angostura Bitters, a lemon zest twist and a proper Maraschino cherry, stirred (not shaken!) over ice and served in a chilled Martini glass.  One has to be a perfectionist when it comes to perfection!  I was very happy drinking this with the Cheese Palmiers from an earlier entry - very happy indeed.  It helps that the Hubby is a pretty good barman.