The first cocktail - ABC

Well the very first recipe in the cocktail book seemed a great place to start. Brandy is a great base for cocktails and this one blends the smoothness and richness of brandy with sweetness and herbal uplift from Benedictine and Angustura bitters. Topping up with a brut champagne gives a sparkle and lift and prevents it being cloying - extremely refreshing in fact.

Recipe

Crack two icecubes and add with equal measures of Brandy and Bénédictine to a shaker with a dash of Angostura bitters.

Shake and strain into to a goblet. If you have an ice crusher you can turn this into a frappé by crushing 3 ice cubes and adding - I skipped this as it wasn't going to last long enough to warm up and no point diluting the spirit with melting ice.

Top up with Champagne.

Decorate with lemon slice, 2 orange segments and 2-3 cocktail cherries.

Made below with an art deco cocktail shaker and served in a Tiffany tumbler - an excellent start