It’s almost a year since I put together a list of 23 things I’d like to do in 2023. It was intended a positive habit/motivational idea based on something I tried back in 2014-15 and I re-read that post often to see what I achieved. I hadn’t intended to develop 23 new cocktails btw, the intention was just to try out something different and maybe… sophisticated?
We have a variety of pubs and bars where we live and even a dedicated cocktail bar. On a whim, I ordered an Old Fashioned in there only to find that the mixologist gave me some weird yellow, frothy drink in a fancy glass. I’m by no means an expert or even a connoisseur, but I knew this wasn’t even bourbon! I’ve sampled all the modern daiquiris, coffee martinis and passion fruit ones but some of these don’t pass my Hemingway¹ test. So, during 2023 I made an extra effort to try out some different recipes in Nottingham, London and beyond and try to recreate them at home too. Here are my personal top 5 cocktails from this year and years gone by.
- Dirty Martini
A classic cocktail with 150ml of Dry London Gin, 25ml dry vermouth, ice and three green olives and the ‘dirty’ part is 25ml of the olive brine from the jar. In my opinion, the king of all cocktails and height of sophistication! I’ve drank these in the early hours at Moonshadows, Malibu (famously the haunt of Mel Gibson²) and recommended to friends and work colleagues alike. This year I had to teach a mixologist how to make it to perfection as it wasn’t on the London cocktail bar menu and he’d never made one before! He had a box full of unopened vermouth that he didn’t know what to do with… - Caipirinha
Take 200ml cachaça rum, 5 tbsp of caster sugar, citrus juice and lots of ice. The perfect summer cocktail in the sun that we have enjoyed on our visits to Portugal. - Zombie
The classic Halloween cocktail! Blend 25ml white rum, 25ml dark rum (I used spiced rum), 50ml lemon juice, 1 tsp grenadine and 150ml pineapple juice. Serve with cherries and mint sprigs on a bed of ice. - Manhattan
A new favourite; use 75ml bourbon (I like Bulleit), 15ml extra dry Martini vermouth and 15ml sweet vermouth, 2 dashes of bitters, morello cherries and some of the juice from the cherry jar. Serve with a strip of orange zest. - Negroni
This is all about the balance of flavours and can be easily messed up. Use 25ml gin (try Tanqueray Flor de Sevilla), 25ml sweet vermouth, 25ml Campari stirred with ice. Serve with a slice of orange. This is my go to Christmas special!
¹ The legend of Ernest Hemingway in a Havana cocktail bar is my measure of suitability for macho cocktails!
² The infamous story of the actor, Mel Gibson prior to his DUI arrest
N.b. Alcohol isn’t suitable for everyone, be it due to abstinence, religious reasons or tolerance levels or even family or own problem drinking. See DrinkAware for further information and take the drinking quiz if you are worried.
@damoward 
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