Cocktail No 97 Singapore Gin Sling

One of the most famous cocktails in the world. The following from Wikipedia:

The Singapore Sling is a gin-based sling cocktail from Singapore. This long drink was developed sometime before 1915^[1] by Ngiam Tong Boon (traditional Chinese: 嚴崇文; simplified Chinese: 严崇文; pinyin: Yán Chóngwén; Wade–Giles: Yen Ch'ung-wen), a Hainanese bartender working at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel, Singapore. It was initially called the gin sling^[2] – a sling was originally a North American drink composed of spirit and water, sweetened and flavored.

When you look at the recipe, it was obvious it is going to be sweet, but the dilution with soda water compensates a lot and the sour of the lemon juice makes a pleasing counter. Cherry and a hint of orange is the dominant flavour. Considering how much gin is in there it is not really noticable. 

All in all quite pleasant and if you have a sweet tooth you will love it, but perhaps short without the soda water.

Recipe

2-3 ice cubes
50 ml Birkdale gin
25 ml Lemon juice
15 ml Cherry Brandy
15 ml Cointreau
2 teaspoons caster sugar
soda water
1 lemon slice

Put ice in tall glass with gin, lemon juice. Cherry Brandy. Cointreau and sugar. Stir and top up with soda water. Garnish with lemon slice.

Cocktail No 96 Rolls-Royce

As the name would suggest this is a first class gin cocktail.The gin is king here. so make sure you use a premium gin for best taste. The Bianco vermouth adds a hint of sweekness, but not too much, being tempered by the dry vermouth A hint of herbs and complexity ends it off from the Benedictine.

Very nice indeed.

Recipe

2-3 ice cubes
25 ml Birkdale gin
15 ml Dry vermouth
15 ml Bianco vermouth
1-2 dashes Bénédictine

Put ice in a mixing glass with gin, vermouths and Bénédictine. Stir well until icy cold and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a masaschino cherry

Cocktail No 95 Rose

I was a little unsure when I saw this contained Apricot Brandy as that can often be too sweet for me, but I was light on my measures for both the Apricot Brandy and the Vermouth and it has turned out really well. It has the base of a dry martini, with a hint of sweetness and flavours from the apricots and sour from them lemon juice - classic sweet & sour mix. The herbs in the vermouth are also very pleasantly evident.

The grenadine provides the lovely Rose colour, somewhere between a light red and pink.

Really nice on the sunny Bank Holiday Sunday Evening.

Recipe

15 ml Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon caster sugar
3 Ice cubes
25 ml Birkdale gin
15 ml Apricot Brandy
15 ml Dry Vermouth or Noilly Prat
1 dash Grenadine
1 Cocktail cherry

Dip the rim of a cocktail glass in the lemon juice  and then in the sugar. Allow the frosting to dry. Since we are in lockdown and everyone is baking I can't get hold of caster sugar, so I skipped this step.

Add ice and liquids into mixing glass and stir until icy cold. Strain into the cocktail glass and garnish with the cherry.

Cocktail No 94 Ramona Cocktail

This one is a keeper - for me at least. A wonderful sour, the lemon juice bites at the back of the throat, contrasting with the gin, whilst a hint of sweetness from the grenadine redeems it. Its suprisingly minty, but delicately, not like the overpowering you get with Creme de menthe if your hand is too heavy.

A lovely start to a sunny bank holiday Sunday evening.

I recommend you try this one folks.

Recipe

1 sprig of mint
2-3 ice cubes
25 ml Birkdale gin
25 ml Lemon juice
2 dashes Grenadine

Chop the mint coursely and add to a shaker along with the other ingredients. Shake vigoursly and strain into a cocktail glass. You don't want to chop the mint too fine as it should mostly remain in the shaker when you strain it.

Cocktain No 93 Queen Elizabeth

First taste was very disapointing, but I think that was because of the overly sweet one I had just before as its growing on me. Its a very complex mix of flavours and whilst I usually eyeball quantities I think this one shouldbe measured accurately for the right balance.

The sweet/sour combo of the lemon juice and the Cointreau are the striking flavours, but the gin and the anise are definitely present and the aniseed is getting stronger as time goes on. And of course there is the cherry at the end.

Recipe

2-3 ice cubes
25 ml Birkdale gin
15 ml Cointreau
15 ml Lemon juice
Splash of Pernot or Ricard

Cocktail No 92 Queen Bee

I knew this was going to be too sweet for me looking at the ingredients. It is, but the combination of the sloe with the bitter orange and a splash of aniseed does work quite well. I might have a go at making a dry sloe gin this autumn and see how the recipe works with that.

If you have a sweet tooth, give it a go. If, not give it a miss.

Recipe

2-3 ice cubes
25 ml Sloe Gin
25 ml Cointeau
Dash of Pernod or Ricard

Put ice in shaker with other ingredients. Shake well and strain into a glass.

Cocktail No 91 Pink Lady Fizz

A fizz is then you add and egg white to a cocktail and shake it to create a froth. This version is a sour, with a hint of sweet from the genadine, but its really there for the colour. It is sharp from the lemon juice. Not too aggressive due to the dilution with the soda water and the Crema leaves you with a white tache. The egg white is otherwise tasteless.

Remember to chill your soda water before hand, otherwise you will have to add extra ice.

A pleasant refreshing cocktail.

Recipe

2-3 ice cubes
1 egg white
1 teaspoon grenadine
25 ml lemon juice
50 ml Birkdale gin
Soda water

Crack ice and put in shaker. Add egg white, grenadine, lemon juice and gin. Shake very vigourously and strain into a tumbler. Top up with soda water.

Cocktail No 90 Opera

Bellissimo! With thanks to my brother Michael and sister-in-law Carole who ensure I am stocked with Maraschino from his base in Napoli. Did anyone else's parent drink Dubonnet back in the 70/80s? Very much out of fashion at present and I had to go to a specialist wine merchants to get a bottle.

A compete change in style to fruity and sweetish, but not cloyingly so. The interplay of the cherries in the Marachino with the herbs in Dubonnet and gin is quite delightful. It tastes very light, almost alcohol free, but don't kid yourrself, this is in the 30% range.

Mild cherry is the predominant flavour, with an earthiness kicking in after a few seconds. Great for a sunny day. Don't miss out the orange peel twist, it definitaly adds extra citrus.

Recipe

2-3 ice cubes
25 ml Birkdale gin
15 ml Dubonnet
15 ml Maraschino
Piece of orange peel

Put all liquids and ice into a shaker and shake well until ice cold. Strain into a cocktail glass. Twist the orange peel to release the citrus oils and drop into the glass.

Cocktail No 89 Pink Gin

I had forgotten how wonderfully scrumptious this drink is on a warm summers afternoon. Gin and Angostura bitters are a perfect combination, each bringing out flavours from the other. Its perfect with Birkdale gin with its 15 botanical mix.

Its pretty much neat gin, so a mild burning sensation on the roof of the mouth and the tongue from the 40% ethanol. Then the complex flavours in the gin and the bitters come through. Its fiery and earthy at the same time.

A perfect way to kick off the evening.

Recipe

3-4 ice cubes
50 ml Birkdale gin
3 dashes of Angostura Bitters

Place all ingredients in a mixing glass and stir thouroughly until ice cold. Strain into a Cocktail glass and consume before it can warm up.

Cocktail No 88 Negroni

There is nothing quite like a perfectly mixed Negroni. Whoever created it was a genius. The combination of herbs and spices from the gin, herbs and sweetness from the vermouth and the herbs and bitterness from the Campari create a unique taste that is simpy wonderful. Mind you my taste leans more to bitter / sour than sweet, so it isn't going to be to everyones taste. Lovely colour down to the Rosso.

If you are new to cocktails, I recommend to follow the measures for this one. It is easy to over do the Campari.

I usually serve my Negronis short, i.e. without the soda water, but today as the sun is shining I added an equal volume of soda water to spirit and it is a perfect refreshing drink - try both ways and decide

Recipe

3 ice cubes
50 ml Birkdale gin
15 ml Campari
15 ml Rosso Vermouth
Soda Water
1 orange slice

Add Gin, Campari and vermouth to a tall tumbler. Top up with soda water. Add Ice and stir. Garnish with orange slice.

Cocktail No 87 Martini Sweet

I was dreaing this one, but is far better than I was expecting. Yes it is sweet, which I normally dislike, but rich herbal complexity of the rosso vermouth compensates and give a real deepness to the flavour. I also was quite light in the amount, so pehaps less sweet than the recipe calls for. I went for grenadine instead of sugar syrup which also added to the flavour.

Lovely colour

A dry Martini will win out every time, but I am glad I tried this.

Recipe

2-3 ice cubes
40 ml Birkdale gin
15 ml Rosso Vermouth
1 teaspoon sugar syrup or genadine.
1 Cocktail cherry

Put ice in a mixing glass with gin, vermouth and sugar syrup or grenadine. Stir until icy cold and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with the cherry.

Cocktail No 86 Martini on the Rocks

Slight spin on the classic. The traditional Martini is stirred or shaken on ice to chill it and the strained into a cocktail glass. The objective is to chill it rapidly and get it off the ice before it can melt and dilute the spirit. This version will get gradually diluted depending on how long you take to drink it.

Same flavour as the classic Martini, so look that up for tasting notes, but with the volume of vermouth this is very dry!

Recipe

2-3 ice cubes
50 ml Birkdale gin
5 ml Noily Prat (or any vermouth if you want it sweeter)
1 lemon slice

Put ice in small tumbler with gin and Noilly Prat. Stir. Garnish with lemon slice and stir.

Cocktail No 85 Martini Medium

I was going to skip this, but as I planned to do every gin cocktail in the book, taking one for the team. As I expected, it is too sweet for me. Don't get me wrong, Birkdale gin is the perfect gin for a Martini. The 15 botanicals I use to make it are a perfect complement to the herbs in vermouth, I just prefer it very dry as in the vermouth, not necessarily the amount. Some people add dry vermouth to the cocktail glass, pour it away and then add chilled gin - bit strong for me. This recipe has a bit too much vermouth for my taste at 50%, 25% is better IMHO.

The Rosso Vermouth does bring a much richer and earthier flavour than the dry vermouth which is very interesting but it does bring that extra sweetness, which kills it for me I am afraid. Still for those with a sweet palate, who have not tried or like a Dry Martini, this could be a welcome introduction.

Recipe

Ice cubes
40 ml Birkdale gin
10 ml Dry Vermouth or Noilly Prat (I would go for the former and save your money on this one)
10 ml Rosso Vermouth
Piece of orange peel.

Put Ice, gin and vermouths in a mixing glass. Stir well and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with orange peel.

ps, with a surname of Bond, I naturally have to have my Martinis shaken, not stirred.

Cocktail No 84 Mule's Hind Leg

I knew this was going to be sweet when I read the ingredient list, but for me it is too cloying. This not one of my favourites. The taste is quite good, the herbiness of the syrup, benedictine and the body of the brandy does make a complex and interesting taste profile, but the sweetness and viscosity from the apricot brandy, benedictine and syrup is something I can do without.

I didn't have calvados or maple syrup so substituted brandy and honey instead - I don't think the correct ingredients would redeem this one for me.

Recipe

2-3 Ice cubes
15 ml Birkdale gin
15 ml Calvados
15 ml Apricot Brandy
2 teaspoons maple syrup.

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass, stir well and strain into a cocktail glass.

Cocktail No 83 Maiden

This is one of my favourites. Its warming, rich, complex loveliness. The Cointreau adds a deep orangeness that complements the real orange juice. Be light with the lemon juice as this one shouldn't be a sour.

Recipe

Ice cubes
25 ml Orange juice
20 ml Birkdale gin
20 ml Cointreau
15 ml Lemon juice

Crack ice and put in shaker along with other ingredients. Shake well and strain into a large cocktail glass.

Cocktail No 82 Moulin Rouge

This one is really interesting. Very complex.

Quite sweet which we would expect from the inclusion of apricot brandy. The lemon juice completes the classic sweet & sour for this style of cocktail. The gin is noticeable but not overwhelming. The grenadine privides more colour than flavour. The sparkling wine works very well, in contrast to my previous comments on not enjoying sparkling wine with gin.

Its the apricot brandy that makes this one work so well.

Recipe

Ice cubes
25 ml Birkdale Gin
20 ml Apricot Brandy
20 ml Lemon juice
1 teaspoon grenadine
Sparkling wine

Add gin, apricot brandy, lemon juice and grenadine to shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously. Strain into shallow glass and top up with sparkling wine.

Cocktail No 81 Monte Carlo Imperial

I was a bit unsure about this one as the amount of Crème to menthe is quite high and that usually makes it taste like toothpaste, but rest assured it doesn't. It is minty, but the lemon juice and the Champagne counter it. The gin isn't terribly noticeable as a flavour, but it does make a subtle contribution and binds the flavours together.

Refreshing, light and the more I taste it, the more I am growing to like it.

Recipe

25 ml Birkdale Gin
15 ml Crème de Menthe
10 ml Lime Juice
Champagne
Ice

Add ice to shaker with Gin, crème de menthe and lime juice. Shake and strain into a tall champagne flute. Top up with Champagne.