A half-drunk Sidecar…
This is the fifth of five…yep, a little intoxicated…aint it grand!?
What cheers you?
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Old Fashioned
1 teaspoon sugar
3 dashes Angostura bitters
1 teaspoon water
2 ounces bourbon (or rye whiskey, if preferred)
Garnish: orange twist
Add the sugar and bitters into a mixing glass, then add the water, and stir until the sugar is nearly dissolved. Fill the mixing glass with ice, add the bourbon, and stir until well-chilled. Strain into glass over one large ice cube. Express the oil of an orange twist over the glass, then drop into the glass to garnish.
My last cocktail was a smoked orange old fashioned which used Woodford Reserve and smoked orange liqueur. Or use Cointreau.
You can light a cinnamon stick and invert a glass over the smoke before making the drink. There are lots of Old Fashioned variations. I’m not usually a whiskey drinker, but Woodfords works well. Chin-Chin!
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I love an Old Fashioned… it’s all in the stirring… Wonderful drink.
That’s a good recipe. I like the addition of Cointreau. I’ll try that, next time.
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Appleton & Stones
Was introduced to this in Jamaica by a bartender who said only Jamaican bartenders drink this and was amazed I liked it.
- 1:1 ration Appleton Estate golden rum and Stones Ginger Wine
- Served at ambient temperature. No ice. In a brandy glass.
Ginger & Amaretto
Pretty common in bars in Tokyo and great drinking outside on a warm evening instead of a boring G&T.
- One tall glass filled with large ice cubes.
- One bottle of Canada Dry
- One shot of amaretto
- Wedge of lime
Of course, I don’t drink anymore and the day I discovered Campari, cocktails were dead to me. Drink of choice before I went tea total: Pint glass filled with ice and then Campari to the brim.
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By far best Margarita recipe I have tasted.
As mentioned below it requires good 100% agave silver Tequila. 
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whats a cup or ounce?
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Nice conversation table.
And a cup is about 236ml. but for ice it’s just a reference. No need for precision measurement.
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Sloe gin and ginger ale.
Slug of gin topped with mini can of ginger.
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I’ve never tried that, but will!
Seems to go under a variety of names:
Foghorn, Gin Buck, London Mule…
I love a good Margarita and the best are, naturally, my own (ha ha). I’m fussy about pretty much all the elements of it and particularly the limes, which need to be smoth skinned and plump with a nice “give” when you squeeze it. I’ve got a few recipes but the killer is…
You’ll need a cocktail shaker, bar spoon, lime squeezer, a liquid measuring device (the egg cup type thing with measurements up to at least 50 ml, and a Hawthorne strainer.
- One lime as described. Once squeezed and don’t over squeeze the heck out of it or you’ll get a bitter taint, measure the juice and whatever that equates to becomes the measure for the Cointreau and Tequila. A decent lime tends to produce around 35-40 ml of juice. If it only produces 25, add another half of lime so that you don’t shortchange yourself on the finished cocktail.
- The tip of a bar spoon of sea salt, add to the lime juice and stir until dissolved.
- A bar spoon of agave syrup or nectar
- A measure (see above) of Cointreau
- 2 measures of Silver Tequila - El Rayo, Olmeca Altos or, interestingly, M&S’s own brand, which, at £18 when I bought it was a bit of a bargain are all good, don’t use anything with a plastic sombrero on it!
- 3-4 drops of Chocolate bitters
Add an ample amount of ice to your shaker tin and shake about 20 times (too much and the ice will break and spoil the finish).
Pour into a chilled (freezer for 5 minutes will do) Martini glass and finish with a splash of Xtabentun licor (OK, that might be a bit difficult to find but it’s worth it if you want perfection).
I don’t salt the rim of the glass because I prefer to add the salt to get the right balance.
All OK with that? Steeviebee, you’re excused, you’ve had too much already 
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Your Margarita recipe sounds gorgeous @Dave.
Having had a heavy Sidecar night, I’ll save it for another time. I agree about having nice, plump limes.
Wasn’t too struck by the M&S Tequila when I tried it but the Olmeca is a cracker. I tend to prefer gold over silver, generally. I adore a good Mezcal too (my wife loathes it).
When shaking I go by my fingers - when the tin goes from merely cold to arctic.
Chocolate bitters? I’m intrigued.
I don’t know the ‘xtabentun licor’… will google.
Interesting, I never tried the chocolate bitter.
I’ll put it on my “Next to try” list for sure!
Doing your own negroni means keeping some items chilled in the fridge with a short best before date once opened.
These little tins avoid that problem and taste even better than the real thing.
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Almost frozen tonic, gin, no ice and lemon. Fast (and can turn furious).
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If a can tastes better than a fresh Negroni, something’s wrong at your cocktail bar!
I’m no fan of ready-mades, but I have to say I was fairly impressed by Nio…
Apart from their Daiquiri - I drink, and make, a lot of Daiquiris and theirs was not much like a proper one.
But for parties or evenings where you don’t have time to mix a boatload of different drinks, Nio aren’t bad.
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Negroni had always been my go to.
Lost count of how many I’ve had in hotel bars over last 25 years.
Not a big fan of the tins. It’s an easy one to whip up.
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21 days?
That’s dedication!
You mix enough to fill that barrel?
The three bottles in the picture fill the barrel 2/3.
So 21-25 Negronis… Hic!
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