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Playing favourites
When people first learn I have a passion for mixology they often ask me what my favourite cocktail is, a question I’m never quite sure how to answer. On certain evenings though, under certain circumstances, I do have a temporary favourite. Tonight that drink is a Manhattan variation that for one day at least, is my favourite cocktail.
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Funkin’ For Jamaica
One of the best products I sampled at Tales of the Cocktail last year was a new rum from Haus Alpenz. A traditional Jamaican rum with a flavour profile similar to that which was prevalent in the early 20th century, Smith & Cross isn’t exactly a sipper but does work wonderfully in drinks like the Montego Bay.
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This is starting to get silly…
Continuing the theme of bitters heavy drinks, I take a look at two cocktails from New York bartender Giuseppe Gonzalez that make use of frankly insane amounts of Angostura bitters to delicious effect. What better way to celebrate Angostura bitters going back in to production!
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Martini Bitter
More than a year after coming across a cocktail that called for the mysterious ingredient “Martini Bitter” I’ve finally tracked down a few bottles. But was it worth the wait, and how does Martini Bitter stack up to its more famous rival – Campari?
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MxMO – Vermouth
It’s been a little while since I last managed to take part in a Mixology Monday, so I’ve celebrated this months MxMO on vermouth by talking mainly about rum. However the cocktail contains vermouth, and more than makes up for it.
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Bywater
Without doubt my favourite bar in New Orleans is Arnoud’s French 75 Bar. Last year after Tales of the Cocktail I enjoyed many superb drinks there made by bartender Chris Hannah. After trying his Bywater Cocktail there I set about trying to recreate it at home, and eight months later have finally managed it.
MxMO – First Time
This month’s Mixology Monday asks us to consider first cocktails – approachable drinks for people who aren’t used to downing Martinis and Manhattans. This is an interesting subject for me as many of my friends don’t really drink cocktails, and trying to get them to like decent cocktails is a long, uphill battle I’ve been waging for several years.
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Ranglum
While I love exploring old cocktail recipe books and trying out new drinks that catch my eye, sometimes I find myself wanting to try a new drink without the risk of running in to a dud recipe. Usually I turn to my esteemed fellow bloggers for a recommended tipple but this weekend nothing was quite [...]
I’m so dizzy
Often when I’m in a cocktail bar I’ll find myself unable to decide what to drink. When this happens I usually defer my choice to the bartender, and if I’m in a good bar I’m rarely disappointed. During my last visit to Milk and Honey the bartender came back to me with the Dizzy Sour, an interesting classic twist on the Whiskey Sour.
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A few dashes of bitters
While most cocktail recipes call for just a few dashes of bitters, others take things a little further. Valentino Bolognese recently won the European heat of the Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge with two cocktails that used bitters as major components, but do these intensely flavoured ingredients work when used in such large amounts?
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Créme de Pêche
Though you may expect a liqueur with the word créme in it to contain cream, it infact means that the liqueur has a single dominant flavour, usually a fruit. Créme de pêche is one of the more unusual fruit liqueurs, but along with its cousin créme de pêche de vigne it can make some wonderful cocktails.
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Cuarenta Y Tres
Licor 43, or Cuarenta Y Tres, is a liqueur produced in Spain that uses a recipe claimed to be over a thousand years old. This recipe uses 43 separate ingredients to produce a rather distinctive taste, with a strong vanilla flavour backed with, amongst others, orange citrus and Christmas spices. It is a fairly sweet [...]
