Fans of nineteen eighties TV will recall the old Cointreau advert in which a naughty Frenchman with a twinkling eye recalls an old liaison with a Respectable Englishwoman at a very formal dinner party. Perhaps a tad cliched (but aren’t all good ads?), it nevertheless got us thinking about Cointreau and other fine liqueurs. So for all of you former lovers with a naughty past, and the rest of us sad types who just watched the football on the telly in the bar, here’s a few mixes for the long weekend starring famous liquers. Thanks as ever to Hamlyn’s The Ultimate Cocktail Book and that ever faithful standby,The Bartender’s Guide by Peter Bohrman (Greenwich Books) Go buy a copy of each, now!
Le Mans: Fans of motor racing will know to take a tall glass, add three large ice cubes, one measure of Cointreau and 1/2 measure of vodka. Add a slice of lemon and top up with soda water. You’ll find the orangey taste of the Cointreau opens the way to vistas further south.
The Loch Lomond Monster: You need a shaker to which you add five cubes of ice. Take two measures of good industrial whisky (Johnny Walker for example) and add one measure of Drambuie. Two drops of Angostura bitters complete the mix. Shake ’em, don’t break ’em. Pour, sans ice, to a cocktail glass and decorate with a slice of orange. With its mix of herbs and heathers, Drambuie is a bit like a north-of -the border Pimms.
October Revolution: The book tells us to add five ice cubes to your shaker. Then; one measure of vodka, 1 of Tia Maria 1 measure of creme de cacao and 1 measure of double cream. Shake, then pour the lot into a tall glass, adding extra ice if necessary. We don’t know what it’s got to do with the Bolsheviks, but clearly Lenin and Trotsky must have loved it!
Hangover Cure– Accoding to our sometime correspondent Mr Gary Herbert of Buckinghamshire, an old friend of his swore by creme de menthe poured into fresh milk. Wow!
#tiamaria #cointreau #drambuie #creme de menthe #cocktails
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