Negroni plus

 

More than pasta or gelato, a Negroni is a taste of Italy for me and it's so easy to make - equal measures of gin, campari and sweet vermouth stirred in a glass of ice with a slice of orange. I had a longing for one recently and it was perfect - all I needed was to drink it standing up at a bar after my evening passegiata.

Of course I had to play around with some other ingredients to make it mine (it's a hard job I do you know) and this is what I we had on hand: 

1 1/2 oz Absolut citron

1 1/2 oz Campari

1 1/2 oz Lillet Blanc (You should always have this in the fridge)

To make it a long drink, add a little soda water (or lavender soda if you just happen to have it in the fridge). Now splash out for a table on the piazza and waiter service. 

 

Margarita 102

The last thing you need is another margarita recipe especially so late in the week of cinco de mayo but we realized that for all the cocktails here we have never actually featured one with tequila. Shock! Horror! Pick yourself off the floor because we actually love tequila and himself specializes in margaritas. We’re purists at heart – 100% agave tequila, freshly squeezed lime juice and triple sec in a 4:4:1 ratio with a bunch of crushed ice. 

What we have done to make it uniquely ours though are two things – the first is a salted foam topping. At Christmas I got a molecular mixology kit which has resulted mostly in disappointment (and a lot of washing up) but it did leave us one surprise – a salty foam made with lecithin and in a 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration kind of way we found the salted foam made the perfect topping for a margarita instead of the salted rim. And it looks good.

  

The second thing we do is add half a habanero chili as garnish straight into the drink (if you were very daring you might rub the rim with it) and it infuses the beverage as you sip it. By the time you get to the end it makes your lips buzz and your taste buds sing.

 

This last part is the best bit!

Tom's Medley

 

Tom knows only a smattering of lines from a few songs and strings them together in a fashion all his own. It gets a sing-song going and takes the party up a notch. We call it “Tom’s Medley’.  He visited us recently and I knew I had to have a cocktail with this name; and I worked with the guidelines of it having Jack Daniels (his favorite tipple) and a smattering of a few other libations so I started with many a barman’s nightmare - the Long Island Ice Tea.

This is what we had. And then we had another one. Doesn’t look pretty but neither did we after a few more…

1 oz Jack Daniels bourbon

¼ oz gin

¼ oz vodka

¼ oz white rum

¼ oz triple sec

¼ oz fresh lime juice

¼ oz orange juice

Splash of cola

Is there a sight more beautiful?

 

Can't decide if it's the two margaritas or himself cooking. 

Grapefruit Breeze

 

We bought a big bag of grapefruits recently and they're seeing their way into everything - vodka, gin, rum, tequila... It's all good for you, right?

1 1/2 oz Gin
1/2 oz St. Germain elderflower liqueur
1/2 oz White cranberry juice
1 oz Grapefruit juice
Lime twist

This is shaken with ice.

We found it a tad sweet so I would rethink the white cranberry juice next time or maybe try it with red cranberry juice from its inspiration, a Juniper Breeze.

Gin Cheater

This is dedicated to anyone who's ever played cards or a board game with kids. Gin Rummy didn't get its name by accident you know!

1 1/2 oz gin

1/2 oz limoncello

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

Lime twist

The kid came up with the name by the way. 

Catcher in the Rye

 

It's baseball season. Should you tire of the beer and hot dog, try one of these.

1 1/2 oz Sazerac rye whiskey
1 oz yellow Chartreuse
1 oz fresh lime juice
Dash of agave nectar
Little lime twist for garnish

Shake all the ingredients in a shaker with ice and serve well chilled. Now play ball.