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

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

Father's Day Cocktails

St Edward's Crown Glasses by Toasted Glass

For those of you, reading this, after the event, don't let the title put you off. This post's selection have been curated and created with Father's Day in mind and are perhaps a little less feminine than is my wont, but are in no way limited to the chaps. What I will say, is that they are not overly fruity or floral and even include a couple of drinks that can be knocked together without the aid of a cocktail shaker or any fancy shenanigans. Whether young or old, I'm sure you'll find something to impress dad, this June 16th and you might want to consider my Bespoke Cocktail Service, that takes into account, taste, personality and lifestyle to create a tailor made mix to perfectly suit the recipient. For further information, please click here.

This first cocktail is being hailed as a modern classic and deservedly so. It was created by Sam Ross; beardy Australian and celebrity bartender at Attaboy, the Uptown reinvention of New York's Milk and Honey bar. It's a whisky cocktail that cleverly uses two types of scotch, a blend for the main body of the drink and a small amount of a good smokey, single malt, floated on the top. As someone who doesn't really like whisky, I wasn't too sure about this, but the initial taste of a good single malt is fine and just as it gets to the point where I would normally gag (yes, I really struggle with whisky), the sweet ginger and lemon flavours come through. Of course, it does involve making Honey-Ginger Syrup, but that in itself is delicious and worth making a small pot of it to keep in the fridge. Click here for Honey-Ginger syrup recipe. The original recipe does specify using an Islay single malt to float on top. I have used Jura Superstition for it's spice and smoke and as the isle of Jura is a stone's throw from Islay, the whiskies produced from distilleries on both, share many of the same tasting notes. Laphroig, Laguvilin and Bowmore would all work well.

Penicillin Cocktail

Ingredients
2oz blended scotch (I used Grants)
1/4oz Islay single malt
3/4oz lemon juice
3/4oz honey-ginger syrup

Add all of the ingredients, bar the single malt, to a cocktail shaker, with ice
Shake vigorously and strain into an ice filled rocks glass
Pour the single malt over the back of a spoon, to float on the top of the drink

Bumble Bee rocks glasses by Toasted Glass

This next drink is simplicity itself to make and can be adapted to make any number of variations. It works well with whisky too and you can substitute lemon for lime. Use white rum and fresh lime and it's practically a mojito. The main thing is, it's a doddle to mix up and will appeal to those who don't like too much fuss. I used Blackwoods gin which already has slight mint undertones from the watermint in it's botanical mix.

Gin Smash

Ingredients

2oz Blackwoods gin
1/2 lemon, cut into quarters
3/4oz simple syrup
7 fresh mint leaves
Dash of Angostura bitters

Muddle (squish) the mint, lemon and simple syrup in the bottom of a large tumbler or highball glass using a muddling stick or similar implement
Half fill the glass with crushed ice, pour in the gin and bitters and stir carefully, ensuring that the alcohol mixes in well
Top up with more crushed ice  and stir again before drinking

Time For Drinks Tumblers by Toasted Glass

Followers of the blog will know that last week I made Vanilla Infused Vodka and deemed it such a success that I then went on to make a slightly larger batch. One of the things that really struck me about it was the earthiness that using natural vanilla brings - absolutely nothing like sweet vanilla flavouring and with a touch of the pipe tobacco about it. 'What could be more manly than pipe tobacco and single malt?', thought I and so the Old Timer was conceived. Otherwise, the cocktail is made just as you would make an Old Fashioned, using a little simple syrup, rather than a sugar cube, as the extra work is entirely unnecessary in my opinion. In an ideal world , you would serve the drink with one very large ice cube in the glass so as to keep it chilled, but not over diluted. The initial aroma is mellow and sweet from the vanilla and orange, but the lingering taste is the smoke of the single malt.

Old Timer

1oz vanilla vodka
1oz single malt whisky(I used Jura Superstition)
1/4oz simple syrup
Dash of Angostura bitters
Large strip of orange zest

Using a sharp knife, cut a long thin strip from the peel of an orange, leaving behind the pith and set to one side
Add the simple syrup to the glass, along with a dash of Angostura bitters
Add the spirits, stir and add ice - preferably a large cube or two
Squeeze the orange zest around the rim of the glass to release the oils. This creates an orange aroma without adding juice to the drink

Black Stag Rocks Glasses by Toasted Glass

The final cocktail today is loosely based on the El Diablo cocktail, a big favourite of mine and you can get the recipe by going to my Summer Spice cocktails post. What surprised me about the El Diablo, when I first tried it, was how well tequila and ginger work together and so, pairing tequila with King's Ginger, one of my favourite liqueurs, seemed an obvious move.

El Rey

Ingredients

1oz tequila resposado
3/4oz King's Ginger
1/4oz Creme de Cassis
1oz lime juice
Dash of Fever Tree Naturally Light Ginger Beer

Add all of the ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake vigorously for 20 secs
Strain into a tumbler with ice and top up with a dash of ginger beer.

St Edward's Crown Highballs by Toasted Glass

This drink also works rather well without the lime and prepared in much the same way as an Old Fashioned.

Old Fashioned El Rey

1oz tequila resposado
3/4oz King's Ginger
1/4oz Creme de Cassis
Dash of bitters
Strip of orange zest

Add all of the ingredients apart from the zest, to a tumbler/ rocks glass and stir well to combine
Add one or two large ice cubes
Squeeze the strip of zest to release the oils and wipe around the rim of the glass

St Edward's Crown Rocks Glasses by Toasted Glass

I gave myself the challenge of 'manning up' this week and I have to admit that I am rather enjoying it - so much so, that I have had to force myself to stop because we can't possibly drink any more cocktails. Still, watch this space as there are many more to come in the future. Have a fabulous weekend and test a few cocktails before you try them out on dad for Father's Day x

All of the glasses used and indeed, any in my Etsy shop, can be personalised to make a special gift for Father's Day.

Lavender Cocktails

Lavender Highball Glasses by Toasted Glass

I am always on the look out for new cocktail inspiration and last week it came from Gin Monkey, whose fabulous website gives independent and impartial reviews of  cocktail bars in the UK and around the world. I am an avid user of twitter and was following the exploits of @GinMonkeyUK, tweeting about cocktail bars in Prague and in particular, the Hemmingway Bar where one of the drinks on offer was a Lavender Martini. As a huge fan of anything with lavender in, this instantly got my attention and I set to work, tracking down lavender to make lavender syrup, full details of which you can find by going to my Lavender Syrup post.

Having made the lavender syrup, the first recipe I tried was a classic martini with the addition of lavender syrup. I have to admit that I am not a lover of neat spirits, hence my love of cocktails and whilst I can appreciate the nuances of a neat gin for tasting purposes, I would find it hard to drink a whole shot. Therefore, I am perhaps not best placed to judge this impartially, but I have to be honest, this was a tough drink to get through. Gin is very aromatic and the lavender syrup is very floral. Combined with only a little vermouth and bitters, no amount of shaking will disguise the fact that there is a lot of alcohol in there. The result, I have to say was a bit like drinking your grandmother's perfume. That said, I did drink it all, albeit, very slowly and if you are a fan of the classic gin martini (and/or Yardley), then do give it a whirl. I am definitely going to experiment a little more with some of the more classic cocktails and see if I can't educate my palate.

Lavender Martini

Ingredients

2 1/2 oz gin (I used Hendricks)
1/2 oz dry vermouth (I used Noilly Prat Dry)
1/2 oz lavender syrup
dash of orange bitters

Add all of the ingredients to a shaker with ice
Shake vigorously and strain into chilled martini glass

Slightly deflated by my result, I decided to try another recipe, loosely based on the martini, using home made vanilla vodka. You can find out how to make it in my Vanilla Vodka post. Don't worry, it's ridiculously straight forward. The resultant drink here, was far more to my taste. The vanilla vodka has a slight natural sweetness and a little earthiness that is a suprise hit with lavender which is used to a lesser degree in this recipe. The lemon juice works very well with lavender and gives the whole drink a nice sweet/sour balance. For me, this was a big hit and my independent tester, neighbour Amy (Mr TG is away), enjoyed it too. She did comment that it too, was reminiscent of Yardley, but not in a bad way.

Lavender Martini Glasses available on Etsy

Vanilla, Lavender Martini

Ingredients

1 1/2oz vanilla vodka
1/2oz lemon juice
1/4oz lavender syrup

Add all of the ingredients to a shaker with ice
Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled martini glass

Lavender Martini Glasses available on Etsy

This next cocktail is a great, refreshing drink that marries together the obvious pairing of lemon and lavender. It makes a fantastic non-alcoholic drink, minus the alcohol and is delicious with either gin or vodka. I have chosen to go with gin on this occasion as the botanicals that flavour gin really add more depth to the drink. I wanted to try a different gin this week and so tested Blackwoods Vintage Gin, made using botanicals from the Shetland Isles. The gin is very competitively priced and really does deliver. The label stated that amongst other things, it was distilled using violet and water mint, both of which I could discern from sipping it neat. It was slightly floral and fresh and seemed perfect for this drink.


Lemon and Lavender Cooler

Ingredients

2oz Blackwoods Gin
10z lemon juice
1/2oz lavender syrup
sparkling water

Add the gin, lemon and lavender to the shaker and half fill with ice
Shake vigorously and strain into highball glass with ice
Top up with sparkling water

Lavender Highball Glasses by Toasted Glass

Keeping with the long drinks, in the hope that the sun will start shining again and I can sit in the garden, sipping iced cocktails, this next drink mixes vodka with dark, berry fruits, lavender and citrus. It is quite sweet, depending on how much sparkling water you use to top it up. For my tastes, I would only half fill the highball with ice, leaving more room to add sparkling water, making a longer, more refreshing drink.

Lavender Berry Cooler

Ingredients

1 1/2oz vodka
1/4oz creme de cassis
1/2oz lavender syrup
1oz lime juice
6 blueberries

Muddle (squish) the blueberries in the bottom of a shaker with the lime juice. If you don't have a muddler, then improvise with a pestle or handle of a cooking implement.
Add the vodka, cassis and lavender syrup to the shaker.
Half fill with ice and shake vigorously before straining into a highball glass, half filled with ice.
Top up with sparkling water.

Butterfly Highball Glasses by Toasted Glass

Finally, and this is a first for Toasted Glass, I have made a whisky cocktail, loosely based on a Rusty Nail (whisky and drambuie), which is one of the few ways I have ever been able to stomach Scotland's finest. It is a shameful admission that as a Scot myself, I have no love for the whisky, but a cocktail is an incredible thing, that done correctly, can really turn flavours around. Because I wanted to add sweetness and warmth to the whisky, I chose to mix it with King's Ginger, which, if you follow this blog, you'll know I am a fan of it's sweet, earthy warmth. Knowing that I like the lemon and honey of a hot toddy, I was fairly confident that lemon and lavender syrup would work with the whisky. I deliberately chose a whisky with a sweeter flavour and honey overtones, but decided to go for miniatures as I'm not quite ready to embrace whisky wholeheartedly. This Jura 10yr old whisky definitely has a sweet finish to it, but one sip was enough to tell me that I've a long way to go before I'm able to drink it neat. My late gramps would turn in his grave if he knew what I'd done to a good single malt...

Summer Toddy

Ingredients

1 1/2oz Jura 10 yr old whisky (or similarly sweet)
1/2oz King's Ginger
1/2oz lavender syrup
3/4oz lemon juice

Add all of the ingredients to a shaker and half fill with ice
Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled tumbler

White Stag Tumblers by Toasted Glass

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked this and who knows, maybe, in the same way as I have been with tequila, I'll be persuaded to choose it more often. I'm not sure what whisky purists would make of it, but I think anyone who enjoys a whisky with a mixer, will approve.

Next week, I'll be looking at cocktails to impress your father with, on Father's day, so probably a little less of pink drinks and glasses with butterflies and possibly a little more whisky - who knows....

Have a great weekend and drink safely x

All of the spirits and liqueurs listed are available to buy at Amathus Drinks (see link to their shop on the  left of the page) or similarly high quality purveyors of wines and spirits.

The Grey Fox Cocktail

Go to Bespoke Cocktail Service by Toasted Glass

Last week, I put my mixology skills to good use and created a bespoke cocktail for style blogger and twitter friend, Grey Fox.

Mr GF writes a most excellent blog, Grey Fox Blog aimed at the older gentleman and by that, I  mean, over forty, providing style inspiration and challenging the fashion industry's obsession with youth. As he quite rightly points out, there is a large, affluent market of middle aged men that the fashion industry fails to address by aiming their advertisting at the younger generation. Large fashion houses and high street retailers alike, are wont to use young models to advertise to a market that is made up, in part of men over forty. Grey Fox uses his blog to highlight these issues and his growing reputation has given him the opportunity to ask those in the fashion industry, why they are blind to such a large demographic.

His blog provides a wealth of style inspiration for the older man, with the emphasis on quality and where possible, championing exceptionally well made, British goods from new UK companies.

So what kind of cocktail do you make for a very stylish man with a penchant for Harris tweed, a colourful sock and expertly polished brogues?

Well, the first step, obviously, was to ask him what spirits and flavours he liked and having established that his preference was for gin and lime, I went from there. I wanted to create something with a British heritage, a traditional feel and preferably, a grey colour. Luckily for me, gin already has a great British background and Hendricks fitted the bill perfectly.

 It is distilled in Britain and bottled in very stylish but very traditional, black, stoneware bottles. I added to the mix, King's Ginger, a warming, sweet, but spicy liqueur with a very British heritage.

 The final touch was a few drops of Creme de Violette, not terribly British, I'll grant you, but essential for that all important grey hue. In the bottle, it is deep violet colour, but in moderation it produces a wonderful silver grey.

 It can be quite tricky to get hold of in this country, but you can buy all of the ingredients you require from Amathus Drinks (there is a permanent link to their online store on the left of the page) or similarly high quality alcohol retailers.

This was the basis for the cocktail which I bottled and sent out with instructions on how to make a martini style cocktail by adding lime and shaking over ice. This could then be adapted to a  long drink, by serving over ice and topping up with Fever Tree tonic water.

This week, I has the pleasure of meeting up with Mr Grey Fox and assured me that the cocktail had got the GF family seal of approval, having been rigorously tested by himself and his his wife and son. In fact, he had been inspired to buy a bottle of Kings Ginger so he could make more and having tested it myself, I can vouch for it wholeheartedly.

If you would like to have a bespoke cocktail created for you or as a gift for someone else, click here for details.

Go to Bespoke Cocktail Service

The Grey Fox Cocktail

Ingredients

1oz Hendricks gin
3/4oz Kings Ginger
1/4oz Creme de Violette
1oz fresh lime juice

Martini Method

Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and half fill with ice
Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled cocktail glass

Highball Method

Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker
Shake vigorously and strain into a highball glass or large tumbler filled with ice and top up with Fever Tree tonic water

Please do try this delicious cocktail and if you are wondering what to do with the rest of the Kings Ginger, should you buy a whole bottle, why not try a Knock Down Ginger or a King's Chase from my Alfresco Cocktails post. 

Alfresco Cocktails

Cocktail Glasses - available on Etsy

Strictly speaking, any cocktail is an 'afresco' cocktail, provided you drink it outdoors and indeed, go to most of my previous posts and you'll find something to fit an outdoor occasion, but the combination of good weather and a long weekend, gave Mr TG and I, more time than usual, spent in the garden, cocktail in hand. There's nothing quite like sipping on a chilled glass of something or other, barefoot, toes in the grass and listening to the sounds of the garden. Of course, back in the real world, the idyll was short lived as we were invaded by our Nerf gun toting offspring declaring war, but the cocktails helped soften the blow.

All of this week's selection would make an excellent accompaniment to an afternoon spent in the sun, although I do recommend slapping on the sunscreen beforehand and quaffing lots of water too, as cocktails have a habit of making you forget to take the basic precautions and before you know it, you'll have a blinding headache and rosy glow that could guide ships in at night.

Our long weekend began on Friday, when we bunked off to the City of London for a spot of lunch and to visit the wonderful Amathus, City in Leadenhall Market.

Amathus Drinks Leadenhall

If you click on the link you'll be able to see the lovely staff, who were both in store when we visited and couldn't have been more helpful. We were treated to a tasting of gins, one of which is definitely on my list for when the Hendricks runs out and to delicious Coffee  and Cherry Heerings. In the end, we left with a bottle of Kings Ginger, a bottle of Cherry Heering, a miniature of Chase Marmalade Vodka and a bottle of rum which I will save for another post. Suffice to say that my knowledge of rum is greatly enriched and that I am inspired to devote a post to it entirely when I've learnt a little more.

King's Ginger is a delicious  and warming liqueur, prepared from the maceration of ginger root and added lemon oil. It is both spicy and zesty, not to mention more alcoholic than many liqueurs, weighing in at a hefty 40%. The story goes that it was developed for His Majesty, King Edward the VII, to stimulate and revive him whilst out driving his new horseless carriage.

Cherry Heering, produced in Denmark, is an intensely fruity, cherry flavoured liqueur with a brandy base. It is world renowned, highly valued in cocktails and generally considered the best of the dark cherry liqueurs. As you can probably see from the picture, it is so delicious, we had opened the bottle and had a snifter before I remembered to take a picture of it.

                                                                                                                                                                                              

I was extremely excited to try this out, having fallen in love with Chase Elderflower Liqueur, in the past. A perusal of previous posts will play this out as you'll notice that it crops up a lot. Let me just say, it did not disappoint. It has all the zesty, oranginess you would expect and a slight caramel, sweetness that gives it that unmistakable, marmalade flavour.

All of these tipples are worthy of drinking straight, in a schnapps glass or in a tumbler, over ice, but equally, make some great cocktails, so if you decide to buy, you can be sure they won't be lurking malevolently at the back of the cocktail cabinet, gathering dust. Anyway, enough waffle....to the cocktails!

Cherry Sling

Ingredients

1oz gin (I used Hendricks)

1oz Cherry Heering

1oz lime juice

1/4oz simple syrup (optional)

Splash of soda water

Add all of the ingredients, apart from the soda, to a cocktail shaker and half fill with ice

Shake vigorously and strain in to a highball glass filled with ice

Top up with a dash of soda 

Highball Glasses by Toasted Glass

This is a variation on the Singapore Sling, a cocktail made famous by the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. There are so many different interpretations, all claiming to be the original, but this definitely isn't. The original did not use soda and featured lemon rather than lime, not to mention, the ratio of gin to Heering was more in favour of gin. The original was a very sweet cocktail, but this is not, particularly if you leave out the simple syrup. To be honest, on this occasion, I preferred it with, as it still wasn't too sweet when served over ice.

Knock Down Ginger

Ingredients

1oz gin (I used Hendricks)

1oz Kings Ginger

1/2oz lemon juice

1/2oz orange juice

1/4oz Fever Tree ginger beer

Add all of the ingredients, apart from the ginger beer, to a cocktail shaker and half fill with ice

Shake vigorously and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass and add the dash of ginger beer

Cocktail Glasses by Toasted Glass

Originally this recipe was made without the ginger beer, but it didn't quite have the warmth you would expect with the addition of Kings Ginger. As Mr TG noted, it was a bit like a very strong vodka and orange, which is odd because it's made with gin, but his senses may have been slightly impaired by then. Anyway, a quarter ounce of Fever Tree ginger beer was just what it needed and so it was renamed, the Knock Down Ginger.

I picked this next recipe because of it's inclusion of Cherry Heering and because the name, Flying High, sounded fairly auspicious. The cherry flavour is quite intense in this one, so if you're not a fan of that, it's probably not for you. The egg white gives the drink a nice texture, but the colour does let it down a bit. After I had tested it, I put it in the fridge, to wait for Mr TG to come home and offer his insight and strangely enough, the drink cleared and looked far more appealing. Incidentally, Mr TG was rather partial to this one.

Flying High

Ingredients

1 1/2oz gin (I used Hendricks)
1oz Cherry Heering
1/2 oz lemon juice
1oz orange juice
1 egg white
dash of Angostura Bitters

Add all of the ingredients to a shaker and shake without ice for 20 secs

Open the shaker, add ice and shake for a further 20 secs
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass

This next recipe was devised, purely on a whim, without much forethought and it turned out to be rather exceptional. Of course, the fine ingredients are the stars here, but I'm rather proud of my effort all the same.

The King's Chase

1oz Chase Marmalade Vodka

1oz King's Ginger

1 1/2oz orange juice

1/2oz lemon juice

1 egg white

Add all of the ingredients to a shaker and shake without ice for 20 secs

Open the shaker and half fill with ice

Shake vigorously for another 20 secs and strain into a chilled cocktail glass

Cocktail Glasses by Toasted Glass

Although there is no added simple syrup in this cocktail, both King's Ginger and Chase Marmalade Vodka are sweet, so the addition of lemon juice stops it veering into sickly territory. I used a full two ounces of juice in this one because I wanted something refreshing, without resorting to serving it over ice. The addition of egg white adds a silkiness to the texture without altering the flavour and gives the cocktail a little more substance. 

So, of all this week's cocktails, The King's Chase was a clear winner for me and I will definitely be making it again. I can highly recommend investing  bottles of both Kings Ginger and Chase Marmalade Vodka. The Cherry Heering is delicious too, but I've yet to try a cocktail, made with it, that really blows me away. Perhaps I need to come up with my own....watch this space.

Have a great week, drink responsibly and please have a look round some of the other posts for more cocktail inspiration x