An apple a day...

Apple Julep

Apparently the old adage of, 'an apple an day...' is no longer sufficient to keep the doctor away. In fact, if recent press is to be believed, then your 'five a day' needs to be at least seven, and ideally, should be twelve. It's enough to drive anyone to drink, particularly if your idea of fruit and veg includes the slice of lemon in your gin and tonic (that does count, right?) Mr TG and I are tireless in our quest to up our vitamin intake through the medium of cocktails and we calculate that if you drink all of these, you should be at least two portions of fruit closer to your daily goal. The naysayers among you may spot the potential flaws in this plan, but if you actually manage to drink them all, the chances are, you won't care too much...

The inspiration for this week's post came from my friends at Pinkster whose deliciously pink gin recently crossed the ocean, popping up in New York City by the Empire State building (click here to see the picture). Pinkster Gin in the Big Apple immediately suggested a cocktail opportunity and the Big Pink was conceived - a fresh and simple combination of Pinkster Gin, raspberry, fresh mint and cloudy apple juice. 

The Big Pink

2oz Pinkster Gin

4 fresh raspberries

6 mint leaves

Cloudy apple juice

Sprig of mint to garnish

Add the gin, raspberries and mint to the bottom of a tall glass and gently muddle together - the object is not to really squish them together but just to slightly bruise the mint and fruit to release the flavours.

Add a handful of ice and top up with cloudy apple juice.

Stir with a swizzle to mix and garnish with a sprig of mint.

The Big Pink - glass by Toasted Glass

My inspiration for the next cocktail came from a little further down south in the US of A, from the state of Kentucky - home to the world renowned Kentucky Derby where the drink of choice is the Julep. Derby day falls on May the 10th of this year and I always like to mark the occasion with a Julep or two, although this time, I am playing pretty fast and loose with the traditional Julep formula (click here for the traditional Mint Julep and the alternative, Lavender Julep recipes). I like this apple version as it is a little less alcoholic and fruitier than the traditional Mint Julep.

Apple Julep

2oz bourbon (I used my favourite Buffalo Trace)
10 - 15 mint leaves
2oz cloudy apple juice
Sprig of mint to garnish

Muddle the mint and bourbon in the bottom of a Julep tin or tall glass.
Fill with crushed ice and pour over the cloudy apple juice.
Use a swizzle stick to mix the drink thoroughly and garnish with a sprig of mint (gently slapping the mint between your palms beforehand, will release the minty aroma).

Apple Julep - Julep Tin by Toasted Glass

This next cocktail combines the sharp, sweet flavour of apples with the fiery kick of ginger. Here we get a double shot of fresh apple flavour from both cloudy apple juice and the exceptional, Chase Sharp Bramley Apple Vodka. This vodka was distilled in a small, limited edition batch and is nigh on impossible to get hold of. However, I live in hope that with enough demand, the clever people at Chase Distillery will decide to create another batch, so please feel free to make enquiries at their website and perhaps we can collectively make it happen...

Chase Apple and Ginger 

2oz Chase Sharp Bramley Apple Vodka
5 mint leaves
1 strawberry (quartered)
1oz cloudy apple juice
2oz Fever Tree Naturally Light Ginger Beer

Gently muddle the mint, strawberry and vodka in the bottom of a glass, taking care not to overly bruise the fruit.
Add a handful of ice, the ginger beer and juice and stir with a swizzle stick to mix the drink.

Chase Apple and Ginger - glass by Toasted Glass

Finally, we come full circle and back to Pinkster Gin who inspired the post in the first place with their appearance in The Big Apple. This cocktail, The Big Pink Martini isn't a martini in the traditional sense, but is served in the martini style. In place of dry vermouth, we are using Sauvignon Blanc and cloudy apple juice with just a dash of simple syrup to approximate the intensity. The result is much lighter and of course, fruitier...

The Big Pink Martini

2oz Pinkster Gin

1oz Sauvignon Blanc

1oz cloudy apple juice

3 raspberries

Dash of simple syrup

Muddle the raspberries with the gin in the bottom of a shaker.

Add the remaining ingredients with a handful of ice and shake hard to mix.

Double strain the contents into a chilled martini glass.

Up in Smoke

Smokey Bourbon Bramble - glass by Toasted Glass

A recent visit to Asia de Cuba in London for their fusion tea experience with the Secret Tea Society served to remind me how much I enjoy the wonderful, rich, smokey flavour of Lapsang Souchong tea, particularly when it's as fine as the Jing Tea lapsang that is served there. The aroma is quite savoury, like smoked meat or fish, but the taste is incredibly smooth and fresh. The mouth is left feeling smokey yet clean. It's an oddly compelling sensation and one I wanted to explore further.

Smokey cocktails have been popping up in trendy bars, worldwide; some using liquid smoke to not only impart some smokey flavour but to create an incredibly dramatic look and some, using ingredients that have been smoked in advance. Smoked ice cubes have been tantalising the tastebuds of cocktalians, along with smoked lemons, chillis and herbs. All very clever and very interesting, but not necessarily something that can be easily replicated at home.

This is where the smokey flavour of a high quality Lapsang Souchong tea comes in - not only can the cold tea be used as a cocktail ingredient, but it is incredibly easy to make an intensely flavoured syrup from the tea, that can be used to sweeten and enhance your drinks.

Lapsang Souchong Syrup

The trick is to make the tea far stronger than you would normally as you want maximum flavour for a minimal amount of syrup. I used 1 tsp of good quality Lapsang teas to each ounce of liquid and let it steep for no more than 3 minutes to avoid it becoming bitter.

3 tsp Lapsang Souchong leaves
3oz boiled water
6oz caster sugar

Make the tea as directed above, then strain and discard the leaves.
Stir in the sugar while the tea is still very hot and continue to stir until all the sugar has dissolved.
Allow to cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge until needed.

Another, 'must try' ingredient if you want to get the full smoke experience, is Chase Smoked Vodka. It's made from their top notch, smooth and creamy tasting potato vodka and has won numerous awards. From personal experience, I can attest that it makes an amazing Smoked Espresso Martini and Smoked Mary (like a Bloody Mary) which you must try, should you treat yourself to a bottle. This week I decided to pair its clean, smoked flavour with the herbal sweetness of a rosemary syrup, contrasted against the sharp citrus of freshly squeezed lemon in a martini style drink. It's a nice combination even with regular vodka, but the smoke really adds another dimension - a perfect aperitif for those summer barbecues...

Smoked Rosemary Sour

2oz Chase Smoked Vodka
1oz lemon juice
3/4oz rosemary syrup
sprig of rosemary to garnish

Add all the liquid to a shaker with ice and shake hard until the shaker frosts over.
Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish.

Smoked Rosemary Sour - glass by Toasted Glass

This next cocktail uses Lapsang Souchong tea to compliment the many tasting notes of Jura Superstition single malt. It's lightly peated with hints of honey and pine, so has a great deal in common with Jing Tea's Lapsang. To balance out the drink I added a touch of heather honey and some freshly squeezed clementine juice which bring a delicate, fragrant sweetness and just enough citrus to keep it fresh. The final touch was a dash or two of Angostura orange bitters which adds a subtle, but discernible note of aromatic spice.

Bonnie Lassie 

2oz Jura Superstition

1oz cold lapsang souchong tea
1oz freshly squeezed clementine juice
1 tsp Tiptree Heather Honey
2 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters
Clementine wheel to garnish

Add everything but the garnish to a shaker with ice and shake hard to mix.
Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish.

Bonnie Lassie - glass by Toasted Glass

This next drink uses the quite remarkable Gin Mare which has an incredibly distinctive taste unlike any other gin. Of course there is juniper and citrus, but the rosemary and thyme really stand out, blending with olive to create an unusual and unique spirit that evokes the mediterranean in every sip. In fact, the flavour is so wonderfully overwhelming that the addition of Lapsang Souchong syrup (see above) just added a subtle, smokey aftertaste as though it were being sipped whilst sat around a campfire on the beach.

Smoked Mare

2oz Gin Mare
1oz lemon juice
3/4oz Lapsang Syrup
dash of soda

Add the gin, syrup and lemon to the bottom of a shaker with ice and stir to combine until the outside of the shaker frosts over.
Strain into an ice filled glass, add a dash of soda and stir gently to combine.

Smoked Mare - glass by Toasted Glass

Finally, and possibly my favourite of the lot, was this Smokey Bourbon Bramble; sweet, sour, smokey and quaffable - a great one to scale up and serve in pitchers on a sunny afternoon (a girl can dream...)

Smokey Bourbon Bramble

2oz Buffalo Chase Bourbon
3/4oz Creme de Cassis
1oz cold lapsing souchong tea
1/2oz lemon juice
6 fresh blackberries

Press the blackberries through a fine sieve to remove the pips and collect the juice.
Add the juice, along with all the other ingredients to the bottom of a shaker with ice and shake hard.
Strain into an ice filled glass and garnish with a whole blackberry.

Smokey Bourbon Bramble - glass by Toasted Glass

Dark Side of the Cocktail Cabinet

Since having children, Hallow'een takes on a very different light, possibly more terrifying than I could ever have imagined. Gone are the quandaries as to which party I should attend and whether or not I should go, 'sexy witch' or 'slutty vampire' and instead, it becomes an evening of cursing every time the door knocker sounds, interrupting my busy sofa surfing schedule with a parade of stunted grotesques, demanding sweets. I am ashamed to admit that despite my children's pleas, I refuse to decorate the doorway or furnish the front step with a pumpkin, lest it should lend further encouragement to  the little blighters to come begging for confectionary. I have noticed that some enlightened recluses actually leave a bucket of sweets outside the door, thus avoiding the awkward shuffling on the doorstep, accompanied by unintelligible mumbling through a (fake) bloodstained, skeleton mask. I am tempted to adopt this approach myself, except that my boys are quite concerned that there would be no sweets left for them....

To mark the spookiness of the occasion (and to ease the pain of social interaction with minors), Mr TG and I will be taking a trip to the dark side of the cocktail cabinet and drinking a couple of bourbon cocktails that look suitably gothic, without veering into parody. Both are drinks I had been meaning to try for some time, having come across them whilst researching material for previous posts and although I do like create my own cocktails a lot of the time, sometimes it is nice to try out what's hot right now.

'Hot' is definitely an appropriate description for our first cocktail, the spookily monikered, 'Satan's Circus', which contains a thai red birdseye chilli infusion that certainly awakens the senses. The original drink was created at the NoMad Hotel in New York and named after the area which was known as 'Satan's Circus' in the 19th Century due to the profusion of brothels and speakeasies that sprang up there. According to Bar Manager, Leo Robitschek, the cocktail was created as a homage to that history and certainly, there is an air of danger to the drink.

I have replicated the recipe as best I can, but the original does call for Aperol rather than Campari, so if you have some, do use that instead. However, I think it's an equally marvellous drink with Campari and Campari does tend to be easier to get hold of. Both Campari and Aperol are Bitters and taste fairly similar, although Campari is higher in alcohol content and not quite so sweet. The most obvious difference to most, however, is in their colour; Aperol is an intense orangey red and Campari, a bright ruby.

The only preparation needed for this cocktail, is to infuse the Campari/Aperol with the thai birdseye chilli, which is simple enough to do.

Chilli Infused Campari

Ingredients
6 oz Campari
1 red thai birdseye chilli

Slice the chilli lengthways and pop it in the Campari with the stalk still on.
Leave to infuse for 1 hour and then remove the chilli.
Strain to remove any seeds and store in a sealed container indefinitely.

Chilli infused Campari - cup by Toasted Glass

Satan's Circus

Ingredients

2 oz rye bourbon (I used Buffalo Chase)

3/4 oz chilli infused Campari

3/4 oz Cherry Heering

3/4 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice

Add all of the ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake hard until the outside of the shaker frosts over.

Strain into a chilled martini glass.

Satan's Circus - cocktail glass by Toasted Glass

This next drink also hails from New York and is an unusual, but rather wonderful take on a Whisky Sour. The idea of combining wine and spirits in cocktails is very popular in cool bars, but actually, this drink dates back to the 1870's when there was a trend for creating drinks with a 'claret snap'. Although claret refers to a particular type of wine nowadays, back then, it could be used to mean any type of red wine. The best wine to use for this drink is something rich and fruity like a Shiraz or Malbec and I have used one of my favourites, Yellow Tail Shiraz, which is so fruity and chocolately, it's hard to stop at just one glass. The idea is to float the red wine on the top of the drink so that it sits in two distinct layers, but I recommend that once you have admired your skill at cocktail creation, take a swizzle stick and give it a mix, as it tastes even better that way.

New York Sour

Ingredients

2 oz rye or bourbon whiskey (I used Buffalo Chase)

1 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 oz simple syrup

1/2 oz Shiraz or Malbec red wine

Add the bourbon, lemon and syrup to a shaker with ice and shake hard for 30 secs.

Strain into a tumbler filled with ice and carefully pour the red wine over the back of a spoon so that it floats on the surface in a separate layer. 

New York Sour - glass by Toasted Glass

If you would like to try something suitably spooky looking this Hallow'een, I can highly recommend you try the 'Ruby in the Weiss' cocktail from my Beer Cocktail post, but to give a special eerie twist, use blue curaçao instead of triple sec. This will taste equally delicious, but the colour will turn from deep ruby to almost black.

Hallow'een 'Ruby in the Weiss' cocktail

Southern Belles

Kentucky Peach cocktail - glass by Toasted Glass

This week, my thoughts have turned back to bourbon. Perhaps it's the chill in the air that makes the smooth vanilla and spice of a rye bourbon seem so appealing right now...? Perhaps I'm running out of Gin-spiration...? Whatever the reason, it felt like the time was right to crack open the bottle of Buffalo Trace (again) and mix up some new drinks.

Any regular readers will know that bourbon is not necessarily my drink of choice, but I have mixed up the occasional Manhattan and in an earlier post, (Kentucky Fried) discovered that given enough of a cocktail makeover, bourbon has what it takes to be a tip top tipple. Obviously, hardened bourbon drinkers may crack their hairy knuckles in consternation, but that's just fine; they can continue to swig it neat from a chipped mug and good luck to them. I, on the other hand, will be taking my medicine with a large spoonful of sugar and probably some lemon and mint. It might not be macho, but it sure does taste swell.

Bourbon is a grain spirit, made, using predominantly corn (at least 51%), but the remaining 49% can come from a combination of barley, rye and wheat. Using more wheat than rye will result in a smoother, creamier bourbon as wheat allows the sweetness of the corn and the vanilla (from ageing in oak barrels) to shine through. A bourbon made with rye will have a higher concentration of  spice notes such as pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon. It typically has more 'bite' than it's wheatier counterparts and the end result of your cocktails will vary depending on the type of bourbon you use. Buffalo Trace contains rye and is therefore a little spicier, but is by no means at the spiciest end of the spectrum. It's a good, all round bourbon that adds a little bite without totally overpowering. That said, don't be afraid to experiment with other bourbons - you might just find your new, favourite drink.

One of my favourite cocktail ingredients, of late, has turned out to be ruby port. It seems that barely a week goes by when I'm not sneaking in yet another port based beverage and surprise surprise, I'm at it again.

My inspiration originally came from a cocktail recipe I stumbled across, that used red wine and bourbon. I had made a mental note to give it a try and then got sidetracked and forgot all about it. When I tried to recall it, the details were hazy, but I knew that some kind of sweetening would be necessary to bring the flavours together. That's when I realised that using port would bring the flavour I was looking for, along with the sweetness that was required. The addition of triple sec brings a bittersweet orange note that blends with spice of the bourbon and the brambly fruitiness of the ruby port. A spot of fresh lemon juice prevents the cocktail from descending into cloying sweetness - perfect...

Scarlett O'Hara

Ingredients
1 oz Buffalo Chase bourbon
2 oz Cockburns Ruby Port
1/2 oz Triple Sec
1/2 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
Twist of lemon zest to garnish

Before cutting your lemon to squeeze it, use a sharp knife and cut a wide strip of zest from your lemon.
Add everything apart from the the lemon zest to a cocktail shaker with a handful of ice.
Shake hard for 20 secs and strain into a chilled martini glass.
Garnish with a twist of lemon zest.

Scarlett O'Hara cocktail - glass by Toasted Glass

This next cocktail is basically a martini style version of my 'Bird on the Wire' cocktail, created as a bespoke cocktail for a client, but I'm sure they won't mind this apprehension and adaption of their drink. Some things are too good to keep under wraps..

Southern Passion

Ingredients
2 oz Buffalo Trace bourbon
1 oz Giffards Passion Fruit Syrup
1 passion fruit
1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
6-8 mint leaves
Twist of lime zest to garnish

Before cutting the lime to squeeze it, take a paring knife and cut a strip of zest from the peel.
Halve the passion fruit and scoop out the pulp and add to a cocktail shaker.
Add everything apart from the zest and muddle (squish)the mint leaves to release their minty essential oils.
Add a handful of ice and shake hard until the outside of the shaker develops a frosty bloom.
Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a twist of lime zest.

Southern Passion cocktail - glass by Toasted Glass

This last cocktail combines Buffalo Chase bourbon with Cartron Creme de Peche de Vigne which may not seem like an obvious pairing, but actually, peaches are big news in the Southern States and the fruit pairs well with the vanilla, spice and nuttiness of bourbon. 

I am a huge fan of the fragrant taste of peaches, but when it comes to alcohol, not all peach liqueurs are made the same, but Cartron Creme de Peche is made using lots of beautiful vine peaches and is bursting with natural flavour. When making this cocktail, ensure that you use a peach liqueur that is made using the 'creme' method of macerating real fruit and contains no artificial flavouring.

Kentucky Peach

Ingredients

2 oz Buffalo Chase bourbon

1 oz Cartron Creme de Peche de Vigne

1 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon sugar syrup

Twist of lemon zest and sprig of mint to garnish

Before cutting your lemon to squeeze it, use a sharp knife and cut a wide strip of zest from the peel.

Add everything apart from the the lemon zest and sprig of mint to a cocktail shaker with a handful of ice.

Shake hard for 20 secs and strain into a chilled martini glass.

Garnish with a twist of lemon zest and sprig of mint.

Tip - slap the mint gently between your palms to release the aroma, before garnishing the cocktail.

Kentucky Peach cocktail - glass by Toasted Glass

This week's cocktails were served in these Vintage Pin Up cocktail glasses; The Scarlett O'Hara cocktail was brought to you by lovely brunette, Jane; Southern Passion came courtesy of bombshell blonde, Marilyn and Kentucky Peach was served up by lovely Rita, redhead. Who's your favourite?

Vintage Pin Up Cocktail Glasses by Toasted Glass

A Cocktail a Day (surviving the school holidays)

Amnesia Rose - glass by Toasted Glass

Now I know it is highly irresponsible to advocate daily drinking and no doubt some will be up in arms at the suggestion that spending time with one's children for six l-o-n-g weeks is anything short of idyllic, but here at TG HQ, we have discovered that the evening is far less fraught with tension after a cocktail (or two). So if you are looking around the war-torn slum that used to be your living room and counting down the days until September, then might I suggest taking one of these on a daily basis until the little blighters are back in full time education.

This first one I named Raspberry Refresher because Mr TG thought it tasted a bit like Refresher sweets, which is a good thing apparently...

 Raspberry Refresher

Ingredients

2 oz Absolut Raspberri Vodka
1/2 oz Giffards Creme de Framboises
1 oz triple sec
1 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
Sparkling water to top up
Fresh raspberry to garnish

Shake all of the ingredients (apart from the sparkling water) over ice.
Strain into an ice filled tumbler and top up with sparkling water.
Garnish with a fresh raspberry.

Raspberry Refresher - glass by Toasted Glass

I absolutely loved this next cocktail as the bitter orange taste of Campari really works well with the Chase Marmalade Vodka. If you haven't got a bottle of this, I suggest you purchase one immediately as it is rather wonderful. If you want to find out a little more about all things 'Chase' (and who wouldn't?), then click here to find out all about my visit to the Chase Distillery.

Bitter Orange

2 oz Chase Marmalade Vodka

1/2 oz Campari

1 tsp icing sugar

2 oz soda

Add the Marmalade Vodka, Campari and sugar to a shaker, half filled with ice.

Shake hard and strain into a chilled tumbler with ice.

Top up with 2 oz soda and stir gently to mix the drink.

Garnish with a twist of lemon zest, allowing the zest to spray the top of the drink to release the citrus aroma.

Bitter Orange - glass by Toasted Glass

This next drink is a very simple cocktail to make and with an incredible taste of rhubarb and custard sweets.

 Rhubarb Martini

2 oz Chase Rhubarb Vodka
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 tsp icing sugar
Slice of strawberry to garnish

Add all of the ingredients to a shaker, half filled with ice.
Shake hard until the outside of the shaker is totally frosted and the cocktail starts to form ice chips inside.
Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a slice of strawberry

Rhubarb Martini - glass by Toasted Glass

Our next cocktail is rather sweet, but it's a great introduction to bourbon, if you are a little unsure as to whether or not you like it. Also, you could add a little sparkling water at the end if you find it too intense. I preferred it a little watered down, but Mr TG liked it just the way it was.

Sweet Bourbon

1 oz Buffalo Chase Bourbon
1 oz triple sec
1/2 oz Luxardos Maraschino Liqueur
1 oz fresh lemon juice
Strip of lemon zest to garnish
Cocktail cherry (or frozen cherry) to garnish

Add all of the ingredients, except the garnish, to a shaker, filled with ice and shake hard for about 20 secs.
Strain into an ice filled tumbler.
Garnish with a strip of lemon zest and a cocktail cherry.

Tumbler by Toasted Glass

 Sweet Bourbon

Generally I find that if a drink has lime and mint in it, then I'm going to love it and Mojitos are always a failsafe. This is yet another delicious variation on the theme. If you would like some more great Mojito recipes, click here.

Blueberry Mojito

2 oz Flor de Caña Rum
1 oz fresh lime juice
12 small blueberries
3/4 oz simple syrup
8 mint leaves
Sparkling water to top up

Gently muddle the mint and blueberries in the bottom of the shaker.
Add the rum, syrup, lime and half fill with ice.
Shake vigorously for about 20 secs and strain into a large hi ball glass filled with ice.
Top up with sparkling water and stir gently to mix the drink.

Blueberry Mojito - glass by Toasted Glass

Our next cocktail is must for gin lovers with a taste for the floral i.e. me...

Amnesia Rose

2 oz William Chase GB Gin
1 oz lime juice
2 oz Fentimans Rose Lemonade
1/4 oz simple syrup

Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker (except for the garnish).
Half fill the shaker with ice and shake hard for about 20 secs.
Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a sprig of mint

Hint - gently slap the mint between your palms, just before garnishing, to release the minty aroma.

Amnesia Rose - glass by Toasted Glass

This last cocktail of the week has mint, it has lime, it has Chase Elderflower Liqueur - what a great way to finish!

Elder King

1 oz Kings Ginger Liqueur
1 oz Chase Elderflower Liqueur
1 oz fresh lime juice
8 mint leaves
Sparkling water to top up

Gently muddle the mint with the lime juice in the bottom of the cocktail shaker.
Add the liqueurs and half fill with ice.
Shake hard and strain into a chilled highball glass half filled with crushed ice
Top up with sparkling water and stir gently to mix the drink
Garnish with an extra wedge of lime

Elder King - glass by Toasted Glass

Passion Fruit Cocktails

Tumblers - available on Etsy

This week, I've been experimenting with passion fruit and rather loving the results. It all began with a bespoke cocktail I was creating for a client, who had included passion fruit as a possible flavour in their drink and to keep things fresh and zingy, I wanted to use the actual fruit as well as tinkering about with liqueurs or syrups.

Passion fruit come in several varieties, but in this country, we mainly import the purple skinned variety, which are smaller, but have more juicy pulp and a richer flavour and aroma. They are the fruits of a Passiflora genus which grow like a vine, clinging on with hook like tendrils. We have a rather gorgeous Passiflora in the garden, but sadly, no passion fruit. Lucky for me then, that they are widely available from many larger supermarkets and I was able to easily purchase a pack of three from my local Tesco store.

They are not much to look at on the outside, but cut them down the middle and it's a riot of colour going on in there. And that unmistakeable smell; it's tropical, floral and fresh and the taste, although a little bitter for some, has an almost citrus flavour, backed up with some floral notes. I quite like to eat them just as they are, scooping out the pulp with a spoon, but in some countries, they like to serve them that way, but sprinkled with a little icing sugar, which I imagine is rather nice.

I also decided to purchase a bottle of Giffards Passion Fruit Syrup so I could experiment with that as well. Giffard make a range of liqueurs and syrups, all of which use a maceration of real fruit and although, of course, they use a lot of sugar, the flavour of the fruit always shines through. I love using fresh ingredients as much as possible, but a dash of naturally flavoured syrup here and there, will help to boost your drink's taste and a bottle goes a long way.

One of the most recognised cocktails with a passion fruit flavour, is the Porn Star Martini, which was concocted by Douglas Ankrah at the Lab Academy bar in the 1990's. It was originally dubbed the Maverick Martini and personally, I wish it had stayed that way as ordering a Porn Star Martini always makes me feel a bit of an idiot, but it's a sweet, crowd pleaser, made all the more fun, by the accompaniment of a champagne chaser. In my version, I confess, I used Cava, but seeing as I always end up tipping it in the drink because I find it a little sweet, it doesn't really matter. Plus, there are some great Cavas out there, so there's no need to overspend on fizz. I also used this as an excuse to finish up the vanilla vodka which I had been infusing for so long, it was as dark as bourbon. You can get the recipe to make your own, by clicking here. Alternatively, there are numerous vanilla vodkas you can buy, including Stolichnaya, Absolut, Grey Goose and even Smirnoff.

Porn Star Martini

Ingredients
2 oz Vanilla Vodka
1/2 oz Giffards Passion Fruit syrup
Dash of Clements Martinique Syrope de Canne (or vanilla syrup)
1 passion fruit
1/2 oz lime juice
2 oz Cava

Add all of the ingredients , apart from the Cava, to a cocktail shaker and shake hard, over ice.
Strain into a chilled martini glass and serve with a large shot of fizz.

Shot Glasses available on Etsy

Having got the taste for vanilla vodka, I decided to make a similarly, flavoured cocktail, but one that could be enjoyed as a long drink, over ice. As I said before, I always end up tipping the fizz into the martini glass when I have a Porn Star Martini, so why not make it a long drink instead? However, I'm not one for smutty cocktail names, so I have given this a far more demure monicker...

Passiflora

Ingredients
2 oz vanilla vodka
1oz Giffards passion fruit syrup
1/2 oz lime juice
1 passion fruit
2 oz Cava

Add all of the ingredients, apart from the Cava, to a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
Shake hard and then strain into an ice filled, hi ball glass.
Top up with the cava and stir gently to mix the drink
Garnish with a lime wedge.

Butterfly Glasses by Toasted Glass

This next cocktail was devised as an alternative to pudding and was absolutely delicious - I'll take one of these over the pick of the dessert trolley, any day. I used the very last shots of my vanilla vodka in this, which is why you can see a dark sediment in the bottom of the glass from the insides of the vanilla pods, but I can assure you, it in no way detracted from the enjoyment of the drink.

Just Desserts

Ingredients
2 oz vanilla vodka
1 oz Giffard passion fruit syrup
1/2 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 oz freshly squeezed orange juice
1 egg white
strip of orange zest to garnish

Add all of the ingredients to the cocktail shaker and shake without ice, holding the lid firmly down - sometimes gas can build up in the shaker, doing this, and actually pop the lid right off, which is messy to say the least.
Carefully open the shaker, add ice and shake again until the outside of the shaker has frosted.
Strain the drink into a chilled martini glass and squeeze the strip of orange zest to first, release the oils and then, garnish.

Cocktail Glasses from Toasted Glass

The final cocktail in this week's selection is the one that started it all. It was created as a bespoke cocktail for a private client, so I'll keep the story behind it to myself, but the cocktail is too good, not to share. It uses bourbon, but is one of those cocktails that works well with rum and even gin, too. Keep the proportions the same and substitute with your favourite tipple.

Bird on the Wire

Ingredients
2 oz Buffalo Chase bourbon
1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
1 passion fruit
3/4 simple syrup
8 mint leaves
sprig of mint to garnish

Firstly, cut the passion fruit in half, scoop out the pulp and add to the cocktail shaker with the simple syrup.
Add the mint leaves and muddle gently to release the essential oils.
Add the remaining ingredients and half fill the shaker with ice.
Shake hard, until the outside of the shaker begins to frost, then strain into a tumbler filled with crushed ice.
Slap the sprig of mint gently, between your palms - this releases the minty aroma - and garnish the drink.

Tumbler - available on Etsy

I highly recommend experimenting with these tasty little tropical fruits. For those with a sweet tooth, the Giffards Passion Fruit syrup is a must and for those who like it fresh and zingy, use the fresh fruit. It's incredibly versatile and combines well with citrus, whilst retaining it's own distinctive flavour. Have fun trying out some of these cocktails and please drink responsibly. x

The Julep

Julep Tins available on Folksy

Ever since I got my bottle of Buffalo Trace Bourbon, I have been wanting to make Juleps, thinking, like the great Mary Poppins, that, 'a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.' Not that I don't like bourbon - after a little experimentation (which you can read about in my previous post, Kentucky Fried) I actually got a bit of a taste for the stuff, but a little sweetness always helps and I am rather partial to mint, so the traditional Mint Julep seemed like a winning combination.

The origins of the Julep are a little hazy, but I rather like the theory that it evolved from a traditional Middle Eastern drink made with water and rose petals, called the Julab. Even if it's not true, it sounds like the basis for a nice drink, to me. It is thought that the Julep was being drunk as early as 1700, but may have contained other spirits and in fact, gin or genever was often used, but lost popularity over the years. As a true appreciator of the elixir that is gin, I think this is a tragedy and in fact, for me, a gin and rose julep sounds like a far more delicious cocktail. However, I digress....

A publication from 1803 describes the Julep as 'a dram of spiritous liquor, that has mint in it, taken by Virginians in the morning.' Well, yee ha to that! What a jolly place Virginia must have been around breakfast time. Apparently it was considered a morning drink (much as we would have an espresso, perhaps) that was popular with the farmers of the agricultural eastern and southeastern states who would be working from dawn.

In 1938, the Churchill Downs racetrack, home of the Kentucky Derby, began serving Mint Juleps in souvenir glasses at 75 cents and so the drink became synonymous with the event and anywhere between seventy to a hundred and twenty thousand drinks are sold every year over the two days it runs for.

Nowadays, the Julep is generally sold in a tall glass, but the traditional way, is to serve it in a pewter or silver cup, that hass to be held around the flared base to avoid transferring heat to the drink and melting the ice. I really wanted to be able to serve my Julep in the traditional Julep tin and after much searching, managed to track some down and give them a Toasted Glass makeover.

The Mint Julep and the Lavender Julep were both easy enough to make and certainly made an attractive cocktail, but I just kept wishing there was some lemon in there too. So, for me, from now on, my Julep will contain a 1/2 oz of lemon or lime, which means it's more of a Sour than a Julep, but hey, my drink, I can do what I want. I suggest you try the traditional way and see if you like it and if not, stir in bit of lemon or lime and see what you think.

Mint Julep

2-3 oz bourbon (I went for 2)
1/2 oz simple syrup or 1 tsp superfine sugar with 2 tsp water
15 - 20 mint leaves
Sprig of mint to garnish

If you are using superfine sugar, first dissolve it in the water in the bottom of the glass or Julep tin
Add the mint leaves and muddle gently so as to release the essential oils but not so much that it will taste 'leafy'.
Add the bourbon and fill the glass/tin with crushed ice, then stir until the outside of the glass/tin becomes totally frosted.
Take the final sprig of mint and slap it gently between the palms of your hands, to release the minty aroma and pop it atop the ice.
Make like Scarlett O'Hara or Rhett Butler and sit out on the veranda sipping your Julep.

Julep Tins available on Folksy

Lavender Julep

2-3 oz bourbon (I used 2)
1/2 oz lavender syrup
2-3 heads of lavender (flowers in bud if possible)
1 head of lavender to garnish

Remove the flower buds and muddle gently in the bottom of the glass/ tin with the lavender syrup.
Add the bourbon and fill the glass/tin with crushed ice, then stir until the outside of the glass/tin becomes totally frosted.
Take the final head of lavender and slap it gently between the palms of your hands, to release the floral aroma and pop it atop the ice.

Julep Tins available on Folksy

If, like me, you are more of a gin lover, then you should definitely try it with gin, in place of the bourbon. I rather enjoyed it that way, although best of all, was with a little lemon too. Let me know how you get on.

Kentucky Fried....

Arial View of Manhattan cocktail glass - by Toasted Glass

Don't worry, there's nothing chicken based about this post and my lifetime achievement of never setting foot in a fried chicken outlet, still stands. No, the 'Kentucky' I am referring to, is of course, bourbon and the 'fried', well, that's how I'm feeling now after sampling the delights of this week's spirited rye, Buffalo Trace.

I had the pleasure of taking tea in London at the weekend with my new companions from the Secret Tea Society, whom you might remember from an earlier post in which I detailed the rather delicious cocktail I created for them (click here for details). Anyway, whilst in the vicinity, I took the opportunity to pop in to the Soho branch of Amathus Drinks where the immensely helpful staff were able to assist me with a number of requests, including, a bottle of bourbon.

My knowledge of bourbon is limited to a brief period in my early twenties, when I made it my sole mission to  try just about every drink behind the bar. Along with the better known Jack Daniels and Jim Beam were the amusingly named Sheep Dip, Wild Turkey and Knob Creek. However, I have latterly, tended towards the clear spirits and although I have dipped a toe (metaphorically) into scotch, bourbon has remained a bit of an enigma. Thankfully, the resident cocktail expert at Amathus was able to point me in the right direction and impart some of his considerable knowledge. I now know that bourbon falls into two main categories - those that are made with rye, like Buffalo Trace and those that are made with wheat. Wheaty bourbon has a smoother, creamier finish and rye gives a bit more spice to the flavour. As I was looking to make cocktails, in particular, a Manhattan, he suggested I go for a rye as the spicy finish married well with the sweet vermouth and bitters.

I have consequently discovered that in actual fact, to qualify as a bourbon, at least 51% of the grain content must come from corn and in the case of Buffalo Trace, it is distilled from a mixture of corn, barley and rye. The clear distillation is matured in oak barrels for 8 years, in which time, it takes on some of the colour and the flavour of the oak. The makers say that it has a rich and complex flavour with hints of vanilla, toffee and candied fruit and I agree that there is a sweetness to it, which in my opinion, is reminiscent of glace cherry and yes, a bit of vanilla and spice too.

So, armed with my spicy bourbon, a bottle of sweet vermouth and some Peychaud's bitters, I made my first Manhattan. I used the 70's classic, Martini Rosso as my vermouth and yes, I know it's not very cool, but it's a good all rounder I feel and was more than up to the job. Peychaud's were the bitters, originally used in the Manhattan and although Angostura are more commonly used these days, I wanted to keep as close to the original recipe as possible. That said, I did go for a wetter version of the drink (more vermouth) as I thought it could be a tough swallow on an uninitiated palate. In the end, I went for a full ounce of vermouth as oppose to half and for me, it was definitely the right choice. Finally, I garnished the drink with a frozen fresh cherry, rather than a cocktail cherry, which is the norm, if one is including a garnish. My reasons were two fold - one, I'm not overly keen on maraschino and two, I didn't actually have any...oops. Anyway, the addition of the frozen cherry turned out to be a bit of ripping wheeze after all as it helped to keep the drink cold and actually, the slight infusion of cherry juice at the bottom of the glass was delicious and dare I say it, my favourite part of the drink. Overall, I really enjoyed the complex flavour of this cocktail; the slight bittersweet of the vermouth, the spice of the bourbon and Peychauds - there's a lot going on in every sip so that the complexity of flavour seems in disproportion to the amount of ingredients.

Manhattan

Ingredients
2 ounces Buffalo Trace bourbon
1 ounce Martini Rosso (sweet vermouth)
2 dashes Peychauds Bitters
Cocktail cherry (or frozen cherry) to garnish

Pour the bourbon, sweet vermouth and bitters into a large highball or the bottom of a shaker, with plenty of ice.

Stir well with a barspoon, for about twenty seconds to get the right temperature and viscosity and then strain into a martin glass
Garnish with a cherry if desired.

White Lace Cocktail Glass by Toasted Glass

Following on from the Manhattan, I decided to make an admittedly, more complex cocktail, that built on the flavours I had identified and enjoyed, namely cherry and hint of orange that I discerned from the vermouth. I didn't want to totally overwhelm the bourbon, but at the same time, I wanted to make something a little easier for a novice like me to drink. The result was pretty delicious and still very much a bourbon flavour.

Kentucky Cherry

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Buffalo Trace bourbon
1/2 ounce Cherry Heering
1 ounce freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 dashes orange bitters
Frozen cherry to garnish

Add all of the ingredients apart from the frozen cherry, to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake hard for 20 seconds.
Strain into a chilled martin glass and garnish, if desired.

Cocktail Glass by Tasted Glass

My final cocktail, before the Kentucky spirit got the better of me, was always going to work for me as I am such a big fan of King's Ginger. It's spice and warmth seem to work with just about everything, although I haven't tried it with rum yet... Anyway, pairing it with a spicy bourbon was a no brainer and adding to that, the classic sour mix of lemon and just a little syrup, as the King's Ginger is already sweet, made for a highly quaffable drink.

Ginger Bourbon Sour

Ingredients
1ounce King's Ginger
1ounce Buffalo Trace Bourbon
3/4 ounce lemon juice
Barspoon of simple syrup

Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake hard for 20 seconds.
Strain into rocks glass filled with crushed ice

Black Stag Rocks Glass by Toasted Glass

On refection, I think my favourite drink of the day was the Kentucky Cherry as it retained the essential bourbon flavour and had a level of complexity that made it interesting, but was just more enjoyable to drink than the Manhattan - purists forgive me - I am trying ....

If you are in any way confused by any of the terms used in this post, then please take a look at the Dufford's Guide post which seeks to demystify some of the jargon.

And finally, if you are ever in London, I can't recommend enough, that you take a trip to Amathus City or Amathus Soho where the staff are so helpful, so knowledgeable and really make it a very pleasant, buying experience - and no, they're not paying me to say that... x