The smoke also rises

Quite some time ago I bought myself a bottle of Rabarbaro liqueur, which is a rhubarb root liqueur.  It is dark, bitter, and quite grown up, but I do like it.  And then I set about exploring which cocktails it would work in, and started out with a couple from their website: a twist on a Margarita called the ZuccaRita which I didn’t love, and then a Zucca Sour, which I did love.  But of course, I wanted more, and then realised it might work really well as a substitute for a Rosso and so tried it in a Negroni, which I actually preferred to the Sour.  

And then, as you do, I got another shiny new bottle to experiment with, the bottle got pushed to the back of the cupboard and I forgot all about it.  For quite some time.  Until, then I spotted this recipe for The Smoke Also Rises, which features Rabarbaro, and I got quite excited, even though it is only a tiny amount.  

But even though it is only a tiny amount, you can taste it in there, which of course is the point.  It’s not particularly smoky, so I have no idea why it earned this title.  It is however quite lovely, so if, on a million to one chance, you have a bottle of Rabarbaro in your cupboard, you should definitely give it a whirl.  If, unsurprisingly, you don’t have the Rabarbaro, you could substitute a heavy Rosso in it’s place.  I guess a Martini Rosso would still work, but you’d want something a little less sweet if you have a choice. 

Anyway, whatever your ingredient availability, this is how to get it on.  

Fill yourself a shaker full of ice and add:

60 ml white rum

15 ml Rabarbaro (or your rosso)

15 ml pink grapefruit juice

15 ml lime juice

7.5 ml maraschino liqueur

5 ml Simple syrup

Give it all a damn hard shake, and then dress it with a maraschino cherry or two, before enjoying.

Oh Gosh!

I was on a little roll of Bacardi cocktails for a little while, and this was definitely one that I will be making again.  

Perfectly entitled, because my first mouthful really did make me want to exclaim ‘Oh!’ It reminded me of a Bacardi leaning Lemon Drop Martini, but subtly different of course, as it features limes, not lemons.  

I’m not going to go on about it – let’s just get it on shall we?

To your shaker full of ice, add:

1 ½ oz white rum

1 oz triple sec

½ oz lime juice

¼ oz simple syrup 

Shake it all really hard, then strain to enjoy.  Then you might want to make yourself a Lemon Drop Martini so you can compare the two.  I think you’ll enjoy them both.  

Daiquiri Frappe

I love a Daiquiri.  I love its simplicity.  Its clean taste.  Three ingredients.  Easy peasy.  And there are a million ways you can pimp your Daiquiri to suit your mood: A straight forward Daiquiri for the clean, classic lines, a Papa Doble if you fancy something a little fruitier, or a Luxardo Sparkling Hemingway if you fancied it with a little fizz.  

One of the simplest ways to pimp your Daiquiri is just to serve it over crushed ice as a Frappe like we have here.  You’ll need the basics in your shaker full of ice:

50 ml white rum, preferably a Bacardi

15ml lime juice

10 ml simple syrup

Shake it really hard over your ice cubes, and then strain into a glass full of fresh crushed or shaved ice.  It really is that simple.  The crushed ice obviously helps keep the chill in the daiquiri as long as possible, but be warned though: take too long to drink it and by the end you’ll have a glass full of watered down, weak meh, and you don’t want that.  Trust me.

Burlington Martini

Well Oh My Goodness!  When a cocktail introduces itself and you just can’t get enough of it, then you just have to go with it.  And when that cocktail includes a good couple of your 5 a day, then you know it makes sense.  And this Burlington Martini is exactly that cocktail.  

So go buy yourself a cucumber: yes, I know it isn’t exactly cucumber season, but it will be worth it.  Dice up a couple of inches of it and add it to your shaker.  Give it a good old bash but add all of these ingredients:

1 ½ oz vodka

1/3 oz simple syrup

½ oz lime juice

4 mint leaves

Give it a good old shake and THEN add a big old handful of ice and shake again before perhaps double straining into a martini glass to enjoy!

Gem

This cocktail came to me after I had been struggling with the most horrid sciatic episode I’ve ever known, and never want to visit again.  It had been weeks since I was able to sit down.  The doc had increased my drugs to the max to no avail.  The new drugs needed time (weeks!) to kick in.  I was still having to lie down on the back seat of Mr CQs car so that I could get a deep tissue massage and acupuncture.  And I’d bought myself a TENS machine which, combined with the massage/acupuncture was finally seeing some impact.  

Finally.  

And I noted that as I was enjoying this cocktail, I was actually able to perch on the very edge of a bar stool that almost felt like sitting down.  

Almost.  

And that teeny tiny miniscule improvement was enough for me to see that there might be light at the end of the tunnel.  And it meant that I enjoyed this Gem SO much more because of it.  

I’d started out to decide on this evening’s cocktail determined to go for something with pineapple and rum, which would be a guaranteed winner.  Throw in some cognac and a lime or two, then a glass full of deliciousness is on the way.  

Let me help you make one!  You’ll obviously want to fill your shaker with ice and add:

1oz reserve rum

1oz cognac

¾ oz lime juice

½ oz pineapple syrup

4 drops daiquiri bitters if you have them

Shake it all really hard over ice and strain to enjoy.  I finished mine off with a dehydrated slice of lime that just brought that scent of lime to your nose every single time which was lovely.  

The Astor

The Astor first appeared in cocktail books in 1913.  1913.  That means people have been drinking The Astor for more than 110 years.  That just sounds incredible, and I honestly felt the weight of that history in every single mouthful.  In 1913, you could have been drinking it with Mary Pickford who I feel would be quite a lot of fun.  Perhaps Thomas Edison or Alexander Graham Bell might have been a little less frivolous, but I’m sure more fun than William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army.  Although, you never know… 

There’s been a couple of different variations to this ingredient list over the years, but I do love these quantities so go gather your ingredients and imagine who you might have been drinking this with… 

1 ¼ oz dry gin

1 oz sloe gin

¼ oz white crème de menthe

½ oz lime juice

Shake it all hard, find yourself a lovely coupe glass to strain it into, and enjoy!

Sun Set Sail

You know we love rum.  And that prosecco is my favourite mixer.  But throw in some calvados and it just felt wrong not to do it.  And then I spotted that there was a little theatre in the presentation and of course I just had to make one.  Well, two.  Obvs.  

So let’s start by gathering our ingredients.

2oz gold rum

1oz apple brandy

1oz lime juice

½ oz simple syrup

4oz prosecco (This is a lesson learnt from my own cocktail, whereby I was low on open Prosecco and only added half of this amount and I think more might have resulted in a prettier finish)

½ oz Chambord

Thin slice of apple

Now fill a shaker with ice and add the rum, the apple brandy, the lime juice and the syrup.  Shake it like mad and strain it into a large wine glass.  

Pour in the prosecco and let it settle.  

Once the fizz has subsided, carefully float the Chambord on the top, not stirring to deliver a beautiful two-tone look to your cocktail.  Carefully float the apple slice on the top to serve and marvel in your creation.  

Zuzu’s Petals

I was lucky enough to go way for a break to Lanzarote, just me, myself and I.  And of course, while I was there partook of a cocktail or two in the hotel.  Well, not surprisingly, they were not as cocktail as my own would be, leaving me to wonder just how those ingredients could produce something with such a small amount of substance.  Each was made from scratch, so no pre-mixes to blame, and they were generally light and harmless rather than plain wrong.  And the only conclusion I could draw was that the spirits were not perhaps as full strength as they could/should have been.  

It won’t come as a surprise to you then that on my return home, I was ready for something completely full bodied and full of *all* the alcohol, and this Zuzu’s Petals completely ticked that box.  

Zuzu’s Petals references the film It’s a Wonderful Life, but also in later years has seen a band use the same name.  I’ve never seen Wonderful Life, at least not all the way through, so I’m not sure how much the cocktail reflects any story line, but I can leave that to you to find out. 

In the meantime, why don’t I just share what you need to get it on?

As you’d expect, fill your shaker with ice and add:

1 ½ oz vodka

½ oz gentian liqueur like Suze

½ oz elderflower liqueur

½ oz maraschino liqueur

½ oz lime juice

¼ oz simple syrup

2 dash celery bitters if you have them

Shake it all, and there certainly is a lot of it, really hard over ice and strain.  I’d be tempted to strain it over a chunk or sphere of ice too, towards the end (and I can’t normally be accused of drinking cocktails too slowly) because I just felt losing the chill affected the taste.  

Mulata Daiquiri

Sometimes I think people who create cocktails, I mean other people, not me, obvs, deliberately make them more complicated than they need to be.  Or include too many ingredients that don’t seem necessary.  I’ve wondered on numerous occasions why a cocktail might include 3 or 4 different rums when I could see an argument for an overproof one and a flavoured one, but more than that is beyond me.  And I genuinely think I might struggle to actually taste the difference if you were to make me one with all 4 different rums (for example).  

And this Mulata Daiquiri is a point in question. 

It includes both white and brown crème de cacao.  They taste exactly the same.  So I assume the difference they are looking for is in the colour?  But I’m not sure why one would choose to make a muddy brown cocktail when you could make a lovely light and clear one.  

So let me save you the bother and just choose one or the other.  If you only have brown crème de cacao, then it will be dark and moody and taste delicious.  If you only have the white crème de cacao, then it will look light and lovely and still taste delicious.  But if you happen to have both, then perhaps you could taste test your way into deciding and make one with brown, one with white and one with half and half of each crème de cacao.  And if you do, please let me know if your findings are different to mine – I genuinely would love to know.  

But whichever crème de cacao you include, it will taste lovely so let’s get it on…

To your shaker full of ice add:

2oz rum (choose an aged one if you can, although I deliberately went for white rum here)

½ oz crème de cacao

½ oz lime juice

¼ oz simple syrup

As you’d expect, shake it well, strain, enjoy.  But promise me you’ll let me know if you split that ½ oz crème de cacao into brown and white? And what you thought… 

Ballet Russe

Vodka, cassis, lime juice, sugar.  What could go wrong?  Well actually, nothing.  This simple list of ingredients definitely creates a cocktail that is much more than the sum of its parts and is quite delicious!  

And to balance its simplicity, I’m not going to go on.  Let’s just get to it!

To your shaker chock full of ice, add:

2oz vodka

¾ oz crème de cassis

1oz lime juice

¼ oz simple syrup

Shake it like mad, strain into a chilled glass and enjoy!