Cocktail No 11 French Cocktail

OK, for a starter you have to really like Pernod for this one. It helps if you like Gin as well. Luckily for me they are my 2 favourites. If you don't like aniseed - skip this one.

Initial taste reminds me of Pernod & Black - come on we all did that as teenagers and it either wedded you to Pernod for life or made you vow never to touch the stuff again. The "black" aspect comes from the grenadine which is a surprise as such a small amount is used - powerful flavours from those pomegranates! Its also what gives the drink the lovely rose pink colour.

The Pernod gives the drink a transluscent colour and I would bet it will fluoresce if you put it under a black light. Add a teaspoon of water to make the Pernod go colloidal and give that milky effect which you get with Pernod and water.

The Gin is almost completely masked, but its sitting there in the background adding evilness to the lethality of this drink

I will definitely be adding this to my repeat list: Come on and try it and relive your early days of drinking!

Recipe

1 Measure Gin, 0.75 measure of Pernod, 1 teaspoon of Grenadine.

Shake on Ice and strain into cocktail class - what could be simpler?

Cocktail No 7 Balalaika

Named after the Russian stringed instrument similar to a lute, it should come as no surprise that this is a vodka based cocktail. It one of my all time favourites and a gentler variation on the Margarita, substituting vodka for the tequila. It is therefore much fresher and lighter, but just as lethal, so be warned.

I used Raspberry vodka this time and to be honest, it doesn't work - too strong a flavour. Its needs a pure, clean neutral vodka to let the lemon juice and the orange flavours in the Cointreau / Triple Sec come through.

Remember to twist the orange peel (or cheat and add add a few drops of Fee Brothers Orange Bitters) to release the citrus oils and really lift the taste.

I made this one with my Art Deco cocktail shaker, which has a lemon squeezer built into the top - its a beautiful piece of design.

Recipe

2-3 ice cubes

40 ml Vodka

15 ml Cointreau or Triple Sec

15 ml Lemon juice

Spiral of orange peel

A vodka, Cointreau or Triple Sec and lemon juice to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass.

Decorate with a spiral of orange peel (twisted).

Enjoy.

Cocktail No 6 Havana Club

Getting back to the classics, which to be honest is the majority of cocktails that I drink.

Havana Club - how to describe it - the molasses from the rum gives a great warm under belly to this drink. I used spiced rum, which gives an extra kick whilst the original calls for white rum.

The rosso vermouth has a strong flavour so be gentle on the measure. It provides a complexity of flavour from all the herbs and aromatics - too much will create bitterness and cloying sweetness. The ratio of 2:1 is about right IMHO.

Shame I have run out of rum - a second one would be most welcome. This one is a keeper in my books.

Recipe

Add 2 measures of White Rum and 1 measure of Rosso Vermouth to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. Decorate with a cocktail cherry on a stick.

Cocktail No 5 Take Two

Be very careful with the Campari on this one - its surprising just how strong and bitter it can be. I usually refer to measures, but in this case will give a defined measure to balance the amount of Campari - I think I overdid it in mine - still pleasant, but if I could pull back on the astringency and let more of the Cointreau come through it would be better balanced.

Actually, its growing on me the more I taste it.

Recipe

25 ml Gin, 15 ml Cointreau, 2 teaspoons Campari.

Shake on Ice and pour into Martini glass.