Well, it's been a busy old time; so busy, in fact, that it has been almost a year since I last shared my love of cocktails with the blogosphere. On the positive side, this is because I am kept so busy painting that it's hard to find the time to drink, let alone, create cocktails, but rest assured, my love of a libation, remains strong, if infrequent.
This week, I've been creating a range of simple, classic, cocktail tumblers, so it seemed only correct, that they should be thoroughly road tested before I unleash them on the world. Each one will come with a handwritten, little recipe card, but you can try them out here and see which is your favourite. I love them all!
None of the above recipes, specify a particular brand of alcohol (other than Campari), so if you find a new, favourite cocktail, here, why not try it with a couple of different ones and do a taste test. As a huge fan of the Negroni cocktail, I can attest that it can taste completely different, depending on the brand of gin you use.
Negroni
1oz Gin
1oz Sweet Vermouth (the red one)
1oz Campari
Garnish - orange zest
Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail tumbler with a few cubes of ice and stir.
Garnish with a slice of orange zest (cut straight from the peel of an orange, avoiding the pith). Squeeze gently over the glass, to release the aroma, before popping it in.
Mojito
2oz Rum
2 teaspoons sugar
6-8 mint leaves
1 fresh lime - chopped
Garnish - sprig of mint
Gently muddle (squish) the ingredients in the cocktail tumbler until the sugar is dissolved.
Add plenty of ice and a little sparkling water to top up.
Stir to mix.
The most important thing with a cocktail like the Old Fashioned, is to use a great quality bourbon or rye that you love. With so few ingredients, there's no hiding from the whiskey, so make sure it's a good one!
Old Fashioned
2oz Bourbon or Rye Whiskey
1 sugar cube
3 drops of bitters (your choice)
Garnish - orange zest
Pop the sugar cube in the cocktail tumbler and shake a few drops of bitters on top and let the sugar dissolve.
Pour in the bourbon or rye and stir to mix.
Add a cube or two of ice and garnish with orange zest as before.
Margarita
2oz Tequila
1oz Triple Sec
Juice of 2 freshly squeezed limes
Garnish - crushed salt flakes, lime slice
Place the crushed, salt flakes on a small plate.Wet the rim of the glass with the slice of lime and roll it gently through the salt so that the rim becomes salt encrusted.
Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail tumbler with ice (crushed, if possible) and stir.
Garnish with the lime slice.
Julep
3oz Bourbon
1 tsp sugar
5-6 mint leaves
Garnish - mint sprigs
Pre-chill the cocktail tumbler in the freezer.
Add the mint leaves and sugar to the chilled tumbler and gently muddle.
Pack the tumbler with crushed ice and pour on the bourbon.
Stir and add more ice.
Garnish with lots of mint, slapping it gently in your palms, beforehand, to release the minty loveliness.
Cachaça, a Brazilian spirit, akin to firewater, is more widely available these days, but if you don't have any, why not try Caipiroska instead, substituting the Cachaça for vodka.
2oz Cachaça
2 teaspoons sugar
1 lime - chopped
Muddle the lime and sugar in the bottom of the glass, allowing the sugar to dissolve.
Add a generous amount of ice (crushed if possible) and top up with Cachaça.
Stir to mix.
I really hope you try some of these classic recipes and if you are thinking of ordering a tumbler for your favourite cocktail, have a little gift from me - enter the code COCKTAIL at the end of the payment process and get 10% off that product. You can use the code as often as you like and on as many cocktail tumblers as you fancy. Enjoy!
