Browsing Tag

cocktail

House Classic: The Kentucky Manhattan

I’m a late comer to this cocktail – call it a lockdown revelation, but it’s currently my favourite tipple. Strong, warm and silky – the Manhattan is one of the dark spirit cocktails that effortlessly crosses the seasons.

Originating in…of course… Manhattan, sometime in the mid-late 1800’s, the original Manhattan was a mix of “American Whiskey, Italian Vermouth, and Angostura bitters”, and I guess my house classic doesn’t veer too far away from these original roots.

Glassware

I like to serve a Manhattan in coupe, a shallow, saucer shaped stemmed glass. My current favourite is the Riedel Bar Crystal Glass Nick & Nora set. At 140ml, they are slightly too small for the recipe below, but it means you can leave some in the cocktail shaker chilling while you drink the first glass.

I always put the glass in the freezer for 10 minutes before making the cocktail.

Ingredients

40ml of Starlino Italian sweet vermouth
80ml of Jack Daniels
Dash of orange bitters
Dash of Angostura Bitters
Starlino cherry + juice to garnish

I’ve tried different variations of Bourbon, Rye and Vermouth brands, but this one comes out on top for me. The Starlino is an Italian sweet Vermouth di Torino, aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels. It includes wormwood, cloves, vanilla, rhubarb, ginger, cinchona tincture, grape skin, raisins, bitter orange peel and other herbs and spices, and unlike some Vermouth, is not too bitter, so it balances well with the Kentucky-originating Jack.

Recipe

Take one round, golf-ball-sized ice cube and place in cocktail shaker (square ice cubes are also fine – but bigger the better)
Add the spirits and the bitters (you could also add cherry bitter here if you like)
Stir until it’s nicely chilled
Pour, either straight up or with the single ice cube, into a cocktail glass and garnish with a maraschino cherry and a tiny drizzle of cherry juice.

Sip and enjoy with a snack.

12th September 2021

Play, Travel

Top 10 Cosmo’s of 2018…so far

Anyone who knows me knows that the Cosmopolitan is unashamedly my favourite cocktail. As we’re coming to the halfway point of the year, I’ve rounded up the best Cosmo’s from 2018 – so far. Conveniently, it makes a nice neat list of 10 – though these are in no particular order, they’re all great 🙂

Forever linked with the 90’s and Sex and the City, the Cosmo dates back much further, with its roots in a 1930’s confection featuring gin, instead of vodka. There are mentions of it in the 1970’s in America, before it was popularised by SJP and the gang. The International Bartenders Association quotes the recipe as:

4 cl Citron Vodka
1.5 cl Cointreau
3 cl Cranberry juice
1.5 cl Fresh lime juice

Shake all ingredients in cocktail shaker filled with ice. Strain into a large cocktail glass, garnish with lime slice…and voila. They also very sensibly catagorise it as an ‘All Day Cocktail‘. I’m not arguing with that!

Hakkasan, London W1

The Cosmopolitan at Hakkasan was stop-you-in-your-tracks-knock-your-socks-off-good. More than good, it was the best Cosmo I’ve had in years. A stand-out cocktail and a lovely bar to drink it at. Followed by some Michelin Starred Chinese nibbles.

Trocadero Playa, Marbella

Cocktail on the beach at sunset, perfect. Nicely balanced and a good size. Usual routine is to drop the bags off and head out for one of these on arrival.

Artesian Bar, the Langham Hotel, London W1

Well earned cocktail after a busy days shopping in London. Lovely unusual glasses. Quite red in colour but perfectly balanced.

Purobeach, Marbella

Beach club perfection – and huge too! Perfect to sip while listening to some Balearic beats and chilling out. Look at that for a holiday cocktail 🙂

Chilli Pickle, Brighton

Ordered off-menu and this wonderful restaurant made me my favourite cocktail. Lovely as a pre-curser to an Indian feast.

Charlotte St Hotel, London W1

One of London’s classic hotel bars, as expected they do an excellent Cosmo (and a great Old Fashioned too).

Mayfair Hotel, London W1

Again, excellent hotel cocktail bar – great place for meeting friends. In fact, I was having so much fun that I forgot to take a picture, so here’s one I obviously took from their website!

Nobu, London W1

These slip down incredibly well with a selection of Japanese food. Had a few more in the bar downstairs after too.

Malmaison, LondonEC1

Much better in the upstairs bar than the downstairs one, but still a good shout for a cocktail in EC1.

Iberica, London EC1

Cocktails and tapas…yum.

Any must-drink Cosmo recommendations for me?

14th May 2018

Eat

Burger and Lobster…and of course, cocktails

Two days off work, so the only thing to do was to kick start it with a few drinks with friends, followed by dinner and cocktails. We went to Burger and Lobster in Farringdon because it was easy and not too expensive. It’s on the site of the legendary old Vic Naylor’s, though there’s very little left that’s reminiscent of Vics – even the stair rope has gone.

Burger and Lobster is a chain but it’s really a very simple concept, there’s 3 things on the menu – burger, grilled lobster and lobster roll. In fact, there isn’t even a menu, and everything is exactly the same price, it’s that simple.

We had the grilled lobster, with garlic butter, which comes with fries and salad. Whatever you order is £20.00 – and the lobster always seems the better deal for that price.

I had Cosmo’s and @madgie had Old Fashioned’s, both of which were lovely, and we got to sit at the bar and eat (favourite thing, as you know). Good service, good drinks and good, simple food. It works.

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26th June 2015

Live

Car booting and park walking

Busy few weeks, at work and at home. The weekend before last I got it into my head that I was going to do a car boot sale to get rid of some of my old rubbish. Since moving the Lavish office a month ago the garage looks like a furniture warehouse and there’s loads of stuff that can go. The furniture will need to go on eBay, but the smaller things can be sold and a boot fair seemed the obvious place to start.

I somehow managed to talk Himself into coming with me, though it seemed to slighly defeat the object that we had to go and buy ANOTHER table just to put the stuff I wanted to get rid of on. Especially as I’ve got at least 3 spare tables already. Only none of those would fit in the car!

We went to Brighton Racecourse, set up our stall and waited. And waited…I’ve done car boots before and always had people clambering over the car as you’re unloading it. Not so much here.

We eventually sold a quite a few bits, though we came home with way too much stuff – I’d hoped to get rid of most of it. So now I’ve still got half the car boot stuff AND an extra table…Hmmm

Last Sunday, another early start as I got up to get into London to do the Hyde Park Race for Life with my pals Mel and Lauren. When we first started losing weight we booked to do the Race for Life as a sort of mini-milestone. None of us are exactly sprint runners, so we’d already decided beforehand to walk the course. We set off at a steady pace and completed the walk in just under an hour. It was a beautiful sunny day and as ever, reading some of the dedications pinned to the ladies was emotional. We raised a bit of money for Cancer Research (thank you to everyone who donated) and had a nice morning with a bit of exercise thrown in. And when I got home there was even an on-brand pink cocktail waiting for me.

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2nd August 2014