Ruby Daiquiri

Glass: Martini
Garnish: Ruby red grapefruit peel

60ml white rum
30ml fresh ruby red grapefruit juice
15ml maraschino liqueur
15ml lime juice

Shake all ingredients over ice.

This is a variation on the 'Hemingway Daiquiri' or 'Hemingway Special' as it is sometimes known. One ruby red grapefruit should make two of these, so if you are drinking with a friend it is convenient to cut the grapefruit in half and then make two straight away, eliminating any waste of the fruit.

Mai Tai

Glass: Highball or Collins
Garnish: pineapple wedge, cherry. mint leaf, speared on a toothpick and railed on the glass edge

30mls Bacardi white rum
30mls dark rum
15mls Cointreau
15mls Amaretto
15mls lime juice
15mls orange juice


Half-fill a tall glass with ice. squeeze the juice of one fresh lime (around 15mls, give or take) and run the peel around the rim of the glass. Pour in the other ingredients, and stir vigorously. garnish and serve with straws.

This is three full shots of alcohol, so it really packs a punch. For a longer drink, serve with more ice and top with some cold pineapple juice and a dash of grenadine for a 'Mai Tai Sling'.

Blood and Sand

glass: martini
garnish: nope

45mls scotch
15mls sweet Vermouth
15mls cherry heering
45mls orange juice

shake over ice and serve. Play with the proportions on this one. Everyone has slightly different tastes. Personally I like the taste of scotch so I tend to 'cheat' the drink a bit to taste the scotch in it, but the clincher is in the quantity of cherry heering- a dash too much and you have a cherry flavoured drink.

Singapore Sling

glass: collins
garnish: maraschino cherry and a pineapple piece skewered on a toothpick

45mls gin
15mls cherry heering
7mls cointreau
7mls benedictine
120ml pineapple juice
15mls lime juice
a dash of grenadine
a dash of bitters

shake thoroughly over ice for a big, frothy pink effect and strain it into an ice-filled collins. Most recipes call for more grenadine, but I suggest going very easy at first because the grenadine will very quickly overpower the rest of the drink in both colour and flavour. Note also that this is a very big drink! it won't fit into a highball glass, so unless you are happy with leftovers or making multiples, make sure you have a proper collins glass or something pretty big to serve it in, because you don't want to skimp on the ice and end up with a 'limp' sort of beverage.

Queens Park

glass: martini
garnish: orange slice

30mls gin
30mls sweet vermouth
15mls cointreau
10mls maraschino
15mls lemon juice
30mls cranberry juice

shake all ingredients over ice and strain. Elegant, sophisticated, sweet and complex. Reminds me of my wife.

Sweet September

glass: martini

30mls vodka
15mls cointreau
7mls strawberry liqueur
7mls chambord
60mls cranberry juice
juice of 1 lime

shake over ice. A sweeter cosmo for good girls gone bad.

Friar Tuck

Glass: old fashioned
garnish: lemon slice

30mls scotch whisky
30mls Drambuie
30mls Frangelico
Juice of 1 lemon

Shake all ingredients over ice. A large profile drink for big boys and girls.

A Drum Sour

glass: old fashioned
garnish: a sprig of rosemary

60ml single malt whisky
15ml Benedictine
a dash of amaretto
juice of  one lemon
one egg white

shake all ingredients over ice, pour, and garnish with the rosemary. This drink was inspired by a similarly named drink served at the level 36 bar at the Shangri-la hotel in Sydney. I'm not sure if my version tastes anywhere near as good as theirs does, but I'll try!

This is also similar:

http://spiritsandcocktails.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/chamomile-sour/

Berry Bramble

Glass: old fashioned
Garnish: lemon and blackberry

60ml Tanqueray Gin
15ml blackberry liqueur
15 ml amaretto
half a lemon
a splash of chambord

pour all ingredients except chambord over ice and stir. Strain into an ice filled glass, finish with the chambord and serve.

This was inspired by the pepperberry bramble at Exchange hotel in Balmain.

Manhattan Chaplin

Glass: Martini
Garnish: Maraschino Cherry

30ml rye whiskey
30ml apricot brandy
15ml cherry heering
15ml Maraschino liqueur
15ml gin aged citrus

shake over ice. garnish with the cherry.

This was blatantly 'inspired' by a drink of the same name served at the exchange hotel in Balmain.

A fully stocked bar

One of the principle maxims of Buddhism is that desire, once fulfilled, is immediately replaced by another desire. So it is with buying bottles for the bar. One can never have too many bottles of quality spirits and liqueurs in the bar, every addition just opens up your cocktail mixing options.

This is my idea of a 'stocked' bar at the moment:

2 x Gin: one basic (Gordon's, Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire) One premium Gin (Hendrick's, West Winds, Botanist...)

2 x Vodka: one basic (e.g. Absolut) one premium vodka (e.g. Belvedere)

1 x White Rum: Bacardi

1 x Dark Rum: Appleton Estate, Mount Gay, or good ol' Bundy (menlikeuslikerum...)

1 x Spiced Rum: Sailor Jerry or The Kraken

1 x Bourbon Whiskey: Jim or Jack will do the trick

1 x Rye Whiskey: Wild Turkey Rye is my current choice

1 x Scotch Whisky: Chivas Regal, or Johnny Walker

1 x Tequila: 1800 Reposado ($$$) or Jose Cuervo

Grenadine
Lime Juice Cordial
Angostura Bitters
Dolin Dry Vermouth, Dolin Red Vermouth
maraschino cherries
olives

one of each: Chambord, Pernod, Pimms, Amaretto, Cointreau, Benedictine, Drambuie, Creme de Cassis, Cherry Heering, Maraschino, Campari, Frangelico, Kahlua, Baileys, Limoncello, Midori, Champagne/sparkling white wine

Negroni Lungo

glass: highball
garnish: orange slice

30mls Gin
60mls Sweet Vermouth
30mls Campari
Tonic water to taste

build all ingredients over ice, stir, and add the tonic. Sweet, dry, refreshing, and tart all at the same time. Perfect for sunny afternoons.

Fruity Fresh

Garnish: lemon wedge
Glass: old fashioned

30mls Bacardi white rum
10mls cointreau
15 mls strawberry liqueur
5mls elderflower syrup
60mls Ocean Spray cranberry drink
dash of bitters

I asked if she wanted a drink and she said yes. I asked what she wanted and she said "I dunno, something fresh and fruity". Hence, the fruity fresh. It is winter, so I thought strawberries might be appropriate.

Shake all ingredients over ice, strain, garnish, serve.

Apple and Elderflower Martini

glass: Martini
garnish: apple slice

45ml absolut vodka
15ml gordon's gin
5ml elderflower cordial
45ml cloudy apple juice

shake all ingredients over ice. pour into a martini glass and garnish with an apple slice.

Caribbean Pirate

glass: martini
garnish: a pinch of cinnamon

30ml dark rum
30ml spiced rum
30ml white rum
30ml cloudy apple juice
10ml spiced simple syrup
pinch of ground cinnamon

pour all ingredients into a shaker and shake vigorously over ice.

Jace's Martini

I may have found the perfect Martini recipe.

30mls Hendrick's Gin
30mls Belvedere Vodka
30mls Dolin dry vermouth

That's it. Stir all three gently over ice, strain into a martini glass and drop in a skewered olive. Keep the Belvedre in the freezer to make sure it is cold enough, but apart from that it's a doddle- I don't care what anyone says, it isn't about the dryness, it is about the quality of the ingredients, and when you are using these three, you are winning!

Rusty Nail

glass: Old Fashioned

30ml Drambuie
30ml Scotch whisky

stir over ice.

This drink is very sweet, consider less Drambuie unless you really like its sweetness.

Personally I've found Drambuie is best drunk in milky concoctions or used in baking muffins or on ice cream, but this drink is its classic purpose.

Katy's champagne cocktail

glass: champagne flute


sugar cube
angostura bitters
a dash of lemon juice
a dash of cointreau
120mls brut champagne

Pop the sugar cube into the base of the glass and coat it with a dash of bitters. using a muddler, crush the cube in the base of the glass then top with champagne. Add a dash of cointreau and a dash of lemon juice and control the sweet and sour to taste.

A stunning champagne cocktail wilfully stolen from a nearby nightclub.

Memorable!