The Wonderland XXX Cocktail (a curiously compelling concoction)

Bespoke Cocktail Service by Toasted Glass

I can hardly believe that it was all the way back in September 2016, that I created this cocktail and that it has taken me more than six months to write a post about it. In the run up to Christmas, I was kept so busy, painting, that I had to temporarily halt the Bespoke Cocktail Service, but it is now available again, so it feels like the perfect time to share the story of the 'Wonderland XXX'.

This cocktail was commissioned by a very thoughtful lady, to celebrate her friend's 30th birthday. Using the information she provided about her friend's drinking preferences and her unique insight into her character, I was able to create a Bespoke Cocktail that I hope, encapsulated all those elements.

The name, 'Wonderland XXX' was playing on the Alice in Wonderland theme, with the 'XXX', implying, not only the strength of the drink, but the roman numeral for '30'.

The drink features Bloom Gin, Cointreau, Aperol, prosecco, cherry concentrate and lemon juice, creating a fruity cocktail with plenty of zing and fizz. 

Bloom Gin provides a delicate backdrop to the contrasting, sweet and bitter orange elements of the Cointreau and Aperol, whilst the cherry concentrate provides a natural cherry flavour and lots of lovely vitamin C, to help mitigate some of the alcohol (although I suspect this is not NHS approved...).

Wonderland XXX

50ml Bloom Gin
25ml Cointreau
25ml Aperol
25ml Cherry Concentrate
15ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
Prosecco to top up
Fresh cherries and a twist of orange zest to garnish

Begin by squeezing half a small lemon to extract the juice.
Add the Bloom Gin, Cointreau, Aperol, cherry and lemon juice to a cocktail shaker, half filled with ice.
With the lid firmly closed, shake for about half a minute.
Strain into a chilled champagne coupe and top up with prosecco, to taste.
Garnish with fresh cherries (stones removed) and a thin strip of orange zest.

The painted glassware was created especially for this cocktail, but you can find similar pieces in the 'Drink Me Alice' section of the Toasted Glass website.

Get Fresh

Jardiniére Cocktail - glass by Toasted Glass

It's about this time of year that we in Britain consider debunking into the garden to expose pasty limbs and hobbit-like feet to the warmer air. Pinning all our hopes on meteorological clemency, we plan our weekend barbecues and even entertain the idea that salad might constitute actual food. However, more often than not, the weather lets us down and a planned afternoon sur l'herbe becomes a quick Pimms before the familiar plip plip of raindrops moves the whole shebang indoors again. 

All the more reason to get the drinks just right. After all, if you only have time for a drink in the garden, you want to make sure it's absolutely delicious and will go some way to assuage the disappointment of another Great British wash out - and of course, if the weather does hold out, then you'll have time to try all three of these fabulous, fresh and fruity cocktails.

The Jardiniére cocktail, as the name suggests, takes its inspiration from the garden, combining the flavours of strawberry, rose and lavender in a subtly floral, long drink with plenty of fruit and fizz. The recipe calls for Chase Vodka because it is incredibly smooth with a slight sweetness and creamy finish that comes from the traditional and artisanal distillation of the King Edward and Lady Claire potatoes it is produced from. Incidentally, it is also gluten free which will be welcome news to Coeliac sufferers. 

Lavender syrup is available to buy online, but can be made quite simply at home and will last for months in an airtight container. You can use fresh lavender flowers if they are in season or dried, culinary lavender which can be purchased all year round from Lavender World.

Jardiniére

2oz Chase Vodka

2 tsp lavender syrup (click here for recipe)

4 strawberries

2 dashes of rosewater

Prosecco to top up

Sprig of lavender to garnish

Chop the strawberries into quarters and set four aside.

Add the remaining quarters to the bottom of a shaker and squish to a pulp.

Add the vodka, rosewater and lavender syrup and mix together.

Shake the mixture along with a handful of ice and strain into an ice filled tall glass.

Pop in the remaining pieces of strawberry and top up carefully with Prosecco.

Stir with a swizzle stick to mix and garnish with a sprig of lavender.

Tip - if you gently smack the lavender between your palms before garnishing, it will release it's beautiful, floral scent.

Jardiniére Cocktail - glass by Toasted Glass

Clementines are characteristically sweeter than their larger cousins, the orange, which makes them perfect for this gin based cocktail. The addition of elderflower liqueur adds a floral element and a touch of thyme gives an extra fragrant layer to the drink, all of which combine to create a very fresh, light flavour. Whitely Neil Gin is a good fit with this drink as the Baobab tree fruit and aromatic cape gooseberries in its distillation, give it plenty of fruity, citrus zest.

Clem and Thyme

2oz Whitely Neil Gin
1/2oz Chase Elderflower Liqueur
2 sweet clementines
Small sprig of fresh thyme
Clementine wheel to garnish

Gently muddle (squish) the thyme along with the gin and elderflower in the bottom of a cocktail shaker.
Squeeze the juice from the clementines and add to the shaker along with a handful of ice.
Shake hard and strain into a tall glass filled with ice and garnish with the citrus wheel.

Clem and Thyme - glass by Toasted Glass

Creamy cocktails are not usually considered to be particularly fresh and light, but the proliferation of fresh raspberries in this cocktail make it surprisingly refreshing and utterly delicious. The inspiration came from the traditional Scottish dessert of the same name, that like this cocktail, features raspberries, honey, cream and whisky. In addition to whisky, this drink features Absolut Raspberi vodka which is naturally flavoured and stops the whisky overpowering the mix. Like the dessert, the whisky is a subtle undertone, which isn't to say that you shouldn't pick your scotch carefully. In this instance, nothing too peaty or smokey, but a light, honeyed single malt such as Jura Origin is ideal.

Cranachan 

1oz Jura Origin single malt whisky
1oz Absolut Raspberi
2 tsp Tiptree Scottish Heather Honey
8-10 raspberries
1oz single cream

Set aside 3 or 4 raspberries to add whole to the glass.
Press the remaining raspberries through a fine sieve to remove the pips and collect the juice in the bottom of a shaker.
Add the rest of the ingredients with a handful of ice and shake hard to mix.
Strain into a tall glass filled with ice and the remaining raspberries.

Cranachan cocktail - glass by Toasted Glass

In an ideal world, you'll be enjoying these cocktails under the shade of a parasol on a glorious, sunny afternoon as the smell of barbecuing something or other wafts across the garden, but fear not, they taste equally great, huddled round the kitchen table, wrapped in a picnic rug...

Bloom Gin

Bloom Gin - glasses by Toasted Glass

I've had my eye on the delightfully presented Bloom Gin for quite some time now; ever since it was recommended to me by my favourite purveyors of fine spirits and liqueurs at Amathus City. I was intrigued by it's list of botanicals that include, alongside the essential juniper; sweet honeysuckle, pomelo and chamomile. I was promised a delicate gin that sounded perfect for making the kind of floral and fresh cocktails that I love.

Now don't get me wrong, I love a big, punchy gin as much as the next ginthusiast, but variety really is the spice of life and there's always room in the cocktail cabinet for another juniper based spirit and they really do vary. The only hard and fast rule, to which distillers must adhere when producing gin, is that the predominant flavour should be juniper, but otherwise, the options are infinite. The base spirit is generally a clear, grain spirit (vodka), but even that, needn't be the case, as Chase Distillers have proved, by producing a number of gins using apples from their orchards in Hereford. When it comes to botanicals, gin producers can get creative and no two brands will taste the same. Hendricks, for instance, uses a rose and cucumber infusion, Gin Mare is flavoured with olive and Blackwoods lists water mint and wild violet among it's ingredients, all of which give each gin their own, unique flavour.

Back to Bloom, our light and delicately flavoured gin. As you would expect, it's subtle on the nose; predominantly juniper with floral notes. The flavour is similarly understated and pleasantly sweet on the palate, without losing it's essential gin-iness. The pomelo makes for a softer citrus flavour than usual which is beautifully balanced by the unobtrusive hints of chamomile and sweet honeysuckle. All in all, I think it's rather lovely and would highly recommend it, but do pick and choose your cocktails carefully. The combining elements in some other cocktails could overwhelm such a delicate flower and that would be a shame. You need to make drinks that play up to it's floral delicacy rather than obscure it. There are a number of delicious sounding cocktails on their website that you should definitely have a look at and I have created a few here that I am particularly pleased with. So, without further ado...

I named this cocktail 'Forbidden Fruit' because pink grapefruit, (which is a hybrid of pomelo and sweet orange) when first discovered in Barbados, was given that name. Having a very similar taste profile to pomelo, pink grapefruit is good choice to bring out the best of Bloom gin. It's sweeter than ordinary grapefruit and of course, it's a wonderful colour. I find that basil and pink grapefruit work remarkably well together, but basil is a powerful herb, so less is most definitely more in this case.

Forbidden Fruit

Ingredients
2 oz Bloom Gin
1 large basil leaf
2 oz freshly squeezed pink grapefruit
1 tsp agave syrup
Pink Grapefruit zest and basil to garnish

Before cutting the pink grapefruit to squeeze it, first pare off a long strip of zest, ensuring to leave as much of the pith behind as is possible and set aside for garnishing the cocktail at the end.
Add the gin, basil and pink grapefruit to a cocktail shaker and muddle gently to release the aroma from the basil.
Remove the basil leave and discard before adding the agave syrup and a handful of ice.
Shake hard until the outside of the shaker is completely frosted and then double strain into a chilled martini glass.
Before  garnishing, twist the zest over the drink to release a micro fine spray of citrus oil and gently slap the basil between your palms to allow the aroma of the herb to escape.

Forbidden Fruit - glass by Toasted glass

This next cocktail makes me think of warm, mediterranean summers. The lemon and rosemary keep it fresh and light and I used Prosecco because it's a touch sweeter. You only need a little of the rosemary syrup, and the peachy citrus notes of the bubbles are perfect with this light and floral gin.

Bubble and Bloom

Ingredients
2 oz Bloom Gin
3/4 oz freshly squeezed lemon
1 tsp rosemary syrup
Prosecco to top up
Lemon zest and rosemary sprig to garnish

Before cutting the lemon to squeeze it, first pare off a long strip of zest, ensuring to leave as much of the pith behind as is possible and set aside for garnishing the cocktail at the end.
Add the gin, lemon and rosemary syrup to a cocktail shaker with a handful of ice and shake.
Strain into a champagne flute and carefully top with Prosecco.
Strip the lower needles from the sprig of rosemary and twist the lemon zest around the stem and garnish.

Bubble and Bloom - glass by Toasted Glass

This last cocktail was my personal favourite, not least because, as soon as I opened my bottle of Bloom Gin, I knew I wanted to make a cocktail that involved chamomile tea and the drink that I created in my head at that moment, worked perfectly. I wanted to use whole dried chamomile flowers to make the tea, but was unable to source them at short notice. However, to my delight, I discovered that teapigs chamomile tea temples are stocked in my local Tesco. Each little 'temple' contains a generous quantity of whole, dried chamomile flowers which brew up to produce a perfect cup of naturally sweet and golden tea. The teapigs website is well worth a visit if you are a fan of tea. It's fun, easy to use and they sell a myriad of loose and bagged, high quality teas.

Teapigs Chamomile Tea - glass cup by Toasted Glass

Chamomile Lawn

Ingredients
2 oz Bloom Gin
1 oz Chase Elderflower Liqueur
1/2 oz freshly squeezed lemon
1 tsp agave syrup
3 oz cold chamomile tea
Sprig of mint to garnish

Pour around 200 ml of just boiled water into a cup containing a teapigs tea temple and allow to infuse for around 10 mins.
Remove the chamomile and allow to cool before refrigerating until chilled.
Add all of the ingredients to a shaker with ice and stir steadily until the outside of the shaker develops a frosty bloom.
Strain the contents into an ice filled tumbler.
Gently slap the sprig of mint between your palms to release the aroma and garnish the drink.

Chamomile Lawn - glass by Toasted Glass

Wimbledon 2013

Champagne Flutes by Toasted Glass

At the time of writing, it is the morning of the Wimbledon 2013 Mens' Final and by the time you are reading this, the nation could be in the grips of 'Murray Fever' or in the depths of despair. Either way, cocktails in the sunshine will make Wimbledon 2013 an infinitely more enjoyable experience. The cocktails I have chosen for today are all delicious and have been rigorously tested over the last week or so to bring you my current favourites that will hopefully be the perfect accompaniment to a victory party, hence they all feature a spot of prosecco because for me, nothing says celebration, quite like bubbles. You can of course substitute prosecco for champagne or cava, whatever floats your boat.

Love All

Ingredients
1 oz Chase Rhubarb Vodka
2 strawberries
Prosecco to top up

Muddle 1 strawberry in the bottom of a shaker, with the Chase Rhubarb Vodka.
Add ice and shake vigorously for 20 secs before straining into a chilled champagne flute.
Pop the other strawberry into the bottom of the flute and very slowly top up with prosecco to avoid it fizzing over

Champagne Flutes by Toasted Glass

Advantage

Ingredients
2 oz Otima Tawny Port
1/2 oz creme de framboises
1/4 oz lemon juice
Prosecco
3 raspberries to garnish

Add the port, creme de framboises and lemon to a shaker with ice
Shake hard for 20 secs and strain into an ice filled, tall glass
Top up with prosecco and stir carefully to mix
Garnish with 3 raspberries on a cocktail stick

Hi ball glasses available on Etsy

Deuce

Ingredients
1 1/2 oz Otima Tawny Port
1/2 oz triple sec
Prosecco
Strawberry to garnish

Add the port and triple sec to a large mixing glass with ice and stir for about 20 secs to chill the alcohol.
Pop a strawberry into the bottom of a chilled champagne flute and strain the mixture in.
top up carefully with bubbles to avoid fizzing over and give a little stir to mix.

Champagne Flutes by Toasted Glass

Game Over

Ingredients
1 oz Chase Marmalade Vodka
1 oz Martini Rosso
Dash of Peychauds bitters
Prosecco
Squeeze of orange juice
Orange zest

Add the vodka, sweet vermouth and bitters to a shaker with ice.
Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled champagne flute.
Top up with prosecco and then squeeze a wedge of orange over the top
Cut a strip of zest and twist and squeeze to release the oils before dropping into the glass.

Champagne Flute by Toasted Glass

Whatever the outcome, enjoy the cocktails  and if we are fortunate enough to be celebrating that elusive British victory this time around, then there may be a few sore heads in the morning, so drink plenty of water and be responsible. Fingers crossed x

Champagne

White Lace Champagne Flutes by Toasted Glass

As summer approaches and we rush headlong into wedding season, more than a few glasses of Champagne will be raised, despite the country being in the throes of a double dip recession. In fact, we in Britain can't get enough of the stuff and are right up there as one of the world's biggest consumers, second only to France. Even in the midst of a global recession, we continue to quaff it in vast amounts, although admittedly, the market has seen a downturn over the last three years and this year, for the first time, sales of alternative, sparkling fizz will exceed those of Champagne. Of course, this is largely due to cost, Champagne generally being the more expensive option, but it can't be denied that some of the pretenders to the title of 'King of Wines', have a pretty good claim. I myself am no stranger to the charms of Champagne, but in all honesty, when it comes to taste, I prefer a Prosecco, providing it isn't too sweet. The crisp apple and peach notes of the Italian interloper are, in my opinion, far more palatable and don't dry the mouth to leave a sour taste. That said, nothing quite says it like a bottle of Champers!

Go to Perrier Jouet website

Funnily enough, the one thing (well, other than the hefty price tag) that makes Champagne instantly recognisable, is its effervescence - after all, surely without the bubbles, it is just a very dry wine - but did you know that Champagne was originally a still wine? In fact, Dom Pierre Perignon, widely recognised as the mac daddy of Champagne, actively sought to eliminate the troublesome bubbles from his fine wine. Apparently the wine of the Champagne region was bottled in autumn, but by spring, the warmer temperatures could bring about a secondary fermentation process that caused bubbles to form in the wine. Rather than be appreciated, this 'mousse' was considered a fault and could actually prove to be a costly, even dangerous error, when the bottles sometimes exploded. Pierre Perignon, during his lifetime, was fastidious in his methodology for ridding his wine of bubbles, but luckily for us his faulty brew grew in popularity and with celebrity endorsements from the French nobility in the 18th century, it became associated with wealth and luxury.

When it comes to drinking Champagne or any other sparkling wine, it really is worth choosing your glass carefully. Why fork out so much money on a bottle of fizz that will be finished before the night is out, only to lessen the enjoyment by using an unsuitable glass? Champagne glasses traditionally come in two styles; the flute and the saucer.

Champagne Saucers from LSA

The Champagne saucer or 'coupe' as it is called in France, has an open, flattened bowl which, legend has it, was modelled on the breasts of Marie Antoinette.

Amusing as this is, sadly, it is unlikely to be true. Marie Antoinette may week have been possessed of perky, round breasts, but the glass style had been in existence long before her lady bumps ever were. The Champagne coupe was the glass of choice in the 1930's and continued to be so, up until the 1960's, perhaps because it actually held a large amount of liquid, adding to the already decadent image of the drink. However, the wide surface area of the open style saucer allows the bubbles to dissipate at a rapid rate, leaving the drinker with a glass of fizzless fizz, which is no fun at all.

The Champagne flute is widely recognised as the superior design when it comes to enjoying your bubbly, but within this category, there are numerous variations on the theme. One of my personal favourites from a painting perspective, is the hollow stemmed Trumpet flute as it provides a really attractive shape for my designs. However, I have stopped using them as unfortunately, the hollow stem means that the heat of one's hand is transferred to the liquid, warming the Champagne within.

Hollow Stem Flute from LSA

The style that best enhances the enjoyment of the drink is a solid stemmed glass with an elongated bowl with a smaller opening (unsurprisingly, no-one ever laid claim to it being modelled on their breasts).The smaller the surface area exposed to the air, the less effervescence and aroma you will lose. The longer bowl will allow the bubbles to travel upwards which is both visually pleasing and delivers the aroma to the nose, enhancing the taste.

Pink Flamingo Flutes by Toasted Glass

So what will you be drinking this summer - Champagne, Cava, Asti or Prosecco? Whichever you choose, there's nothing quite like that moment when you first pop the cork. A bit of fizz always gets the party started. And if that's not enough for you on it's own, then why not try a Champagne Cocktail or two!
Click here to go to Champagne Cocktails.

Champagne Cocktails

Flamingo Flutes by Toasted Glass

I'm sure it will come as no surprise to hear that I am partial to a glass of bubbly (as demonstated in my Champagne post) and even more partial to a 'champagne' cocktail - I use the term 'champagne', loosely, as actually, this week's cocktails were all made with a decent bottle of Cava. In my opinion, there is nothing much to be gained from using actual Champagne in cocktails as a nice Cava or Prosecco will do the job just fine, but make sure that your chosen fizz is suitably dry as most Champagne cocktails tend to sweeten the bubbles anyway.

This first cocktail is a variation of my favourite Chase Elderflower liqueur, topped up with Champagne - you can see the original recipe in my Mother's Day Cocktails post. In this version I added a raspberry which I allowed to macerate in the  liqueur for about 3 hours until it took on a pinkish tinge, but still remained intact. The subtle raspberry flavour added another layer to the cocktail and the raspberry itself was a delicious sweet treat at the bottom of the glass.

Raspberry and Elderflower Champagne Cocktail

Ingredients
3/4 oz Chase Elderflower Liqueur
1 raspberry
Champagne or Fizz to top up

Pour the liqueur into a champagne flute and pop the raspberry in the bottom of the glass
Cover the top of the glass and leave to macerate for upwards of 3 hours (if you can wait)
Top up with Fizz and stir gently to ensure the liqueur doesn't just sit at the bottom

White Lace Flutes by Toasted Glass

This next cocktail is a classic and to really enjoy it, you should use a fresh ripe peach and make the peach puree, fresh, but at a push, bottled will do.

Bellini Cocktail

Ingredients
Peach Puree
Champagne or Fizz

To make peach puree, you must first score the skin of the peach and blanch in boiling water for about 20 secs, then remove with a slotted spoon and immediately run under very cold water
The skin of the peach should now peel off fairly simply, starting at the score marks
Cut the peach in half and remove the stone
Using the back of a spoon or a pestle, squish the flesh of the peach through a small sieve and collect the puree in a bowl underneath

The quantities for a Bellini are approximately 1/3 peach puree to 2/3 fizz, so 1 peach should be just about right to make 1 Bellini

Pour the peach puree into the bottom of a champagne flute and carefully top up with fizz, adding just a little at a time to avoid it fizzing over the top

Flamingo Flutes by Toasted Glass

You may have heard me sing the praise of Honey and Ginger Syrup before. It is delicious and fiery addition to cocktails, baked apples and salmon and now I have discovered that it is rather fantastic in Champagne too!

Queen Bee

Ingredients
3/4 oz honey ginger syrup
Champagne or fizz to top up

miniature bottle by Toasted Glass

Pour the syrup in first and top up with fizz
Give a gentle stir to ensure the liqueur and fizz are properly mixed

White Bee Flutes available on Etsy

I think this next cocktail was possibly my favourite of them all. I took a classic gin cocktail, the Southside, and added champagne. It's fresh, it's quaffable and probably very dangerous as it's not short on alcohol, but hey, just one won't hurt....

King of the Southside

Ingredients
2 oz gin
1 oz lemon juice
3/4 oz simple syrup
5-7 mint leaves

Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well
Double strain to remove any traces of mint leaf, into a champagne flute
Top up with fixx and stir gently to mix

Lily Flutes by Toasted Glass

This final cocktail is also a take on a classic and for me, taste all the better for it. I really wanted to love the Aviation when I made it for my Gin Cocktails post. It seemed to sum up that wonderful era of Aviation, a true classic, but in truth, it wasn't a favourite. I loved the idea of it more than I loved the actual drink This version, for me, is far more palatable and although the alcohol content is actually more, it tastes far less innocuous - again, quite dangerous...

Night Flight

Ingredients
2 oz gin
1/2 oz maraschino liqueur
1/2 oz creme de violette
1/2 oz lemon juice
Fizz to top up
1 raspberry to decorate

Add all of the ingredients, bar the fizz, to a shaker with ice and shake well
Strain into a champagne flute and top up with fizz
Stir gently to mix the drink

Black Lace Flutes by Toasted Glass

Well this was how Mr TG and I spent our evening, last Saturday and very pleasant it was too. What's more, there was not a trace of a hangover the next day which is nothing short of miraculous. Please don't sue if you aren't quite so lucky. Have a wonderful week and pop back soon to see what's new x