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 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 73 - Bleeding Heart Birkdale Gin Martini

Thinking ahead to Halloween and looking for ghoulish cocktails: enter the Bleeding Heart Birkdale Gin Martin - a classic dry martini, garnished with a pickled baby beet that "bleeds" from the wound caused by piercing it through with a cocktail spear.

The bleed develops with time and the drink gets increasingly blood red, assuming you take that long to drink it.

Birkdale Gin is an excellent base for a martini. Its clean and fresh and paired with the crispness and vitalising herbal brilliance of Noilly Prat, makes a perfect marriage. The pickled beet isn't noticeable until you get to the bottom of the glass where it comes through as an aftertaste. You can taste the beet, but not much of the vinigar used to pickle it, which is surprising. In the very last sip, the sweetness of the beet really came through, quite delightfully.

Here in the UK, Waitrose is the only place where I have found pickled baby beets on sale.

All good fun in the name of gore & horror.

Recipe

3 parts Birkdale Gin
1 part Dry Vermouth (preferably Noilly Prat).

Shake on ice until very cold, add to martini glass. Garnish with pickled baby beet, pierced through with a cocktail spear.

Cocktail No 65 - Cooperstown

Having launched the Churchtown Deli Gin last night, which ended up being a very late night, 5 pm could not come around soon enough today for this most welcome pick-me-up.

A variation on the Martini, a dominance of gin, supported by both dry and sweet vermouths and lifted with a sprig of crushed mint leaves.

Visually, its a beautiful drink crystal clear with the faintest hing of green. The first taste is the sweetness of the Bianco vermouth, then the herbs come rushing through and suddenly you realise that you are tasting the Noilly Prat over and above the Bianco. The gin is there of course as a master slug underpinning everything with the faintest hint of mint finishing the taste profile.

A very welcome to the start of the end of a glorious sunny day.

Recipe

25 ml Birkdale Gin
15 ml Noilly Prat or Dry Vermouth
15 ml Bianco Vermouth
1 sprig of mint

Put ice in a mixing glass along with Birkdale Gin and both vermouths. Stir well and strain into a Cocktail glass. Decorate with the sprig of mint.

Cocktail No 62 - Bronx

The rosso vermouth is the first taste to come through, giving that caramel herbal flavour. Then orange blasts across the mouth, followed by the dryness and cleaness of the Noilly Prat competing for attention. The aftertaste reminds my slightly of the Dry Martini with the gin becoming noticible.

Don't think this is one for me.

Recipe

1 measure Birkdale Gin
1 measure Noilly Prat (or Dry Vermouth)
1 measure Rosso Vermouth
1 measure Orange Juice
1 dash Angustura bitters
Spiral of orange peel

Add Ice with gin, vermouths, orange juice and bitters to shaker. Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass. Spear orange peel on a cocktail stick and use to garnish

Cocktail No 61 - Bloodhound

I nearly didn't make this today as it calls for strawberries and strawberry liqueur and I have neither. Then I remembered the stewed straberries in the freezer from last year and the strawberry spirit produced from strawberry wine. Its possibly sweeter than the original, but as I haven't tasted strawberry liqueur, I can't say.

Its like a slushpuppy with high octane. The complexity of flavours and organoleptic (mouth feel) qualities of the drink are quite extraordinary.

The dash of strawberry spirit dominated the initial taste, but in a great way - none of the harshness that accompanies some Eau de Vie drinks. Immediately next is the strawberry fruit followed by sweetness. Then a warmth boosted with the herbs from the vermouths floods over the roof of the palate. The clean high notes of the Noilly Prat are clearly discernible, but so is the caramel and the earthiness of the Rosso. The Birkdale Gin is not noticible, but binding everything together we presume.

I am not normally one for sweet drinks, but the complexity and the kick of the Strawberry spirit makes this one to try. Will be fantastic on a summer's evening when the strawberry plants are fruiting.

Recipe

4 ice cubes
1 part Birkdale Gin
1 Part Noilly Prat or dry vermouth
1 part rosso vermouth
2-3 dashes Strawberry Liqueur
4 Strawberries.

Crack ice. Put half cracked ice in an electric blender with gin, vermouths, strawberry liqueur and 2 strawberries.

Blend briefly and strain into a cocktail glass. Add remaining cracked ice and decorate with remaining strawberries.

Serve with straw and a spoon.

Cocktail No 57 - Martini Dry

OK its been a while, but a new chapter has opened - we are going to have a run of classic gin cocktails made with my very own Birkdale Gin - a highly aromatic gin that is going down a storm in the locality.

We start with the absolute classic - the Dry Martini or Martini Dry.

First sip and I am slightly lost for words - in a good way. This one is a little drier than I would normally make and I am glad it is as the vermouth is still quite dominant. I couldn't get Noilly Prat, so unsure if that would make a difference. The first flavour is definitely the taste of the herbs in the vermouth. I little fire from the spirit is followed by the complexity of the gin coming through. I used a twist of orange peel instead of lemon, based on others tasting observations.

The gin is very powerful and aromatic. It works, but its not your classic dry Martini taste, where the gin is so clean its almost invisible. Birkdale Gin definitely makes its presence known.

I think its a hit.

Update - turns out I did not look hard enough and the Wine Rack did have Noilly Prat in stock, so had a re-run. It does make a difference. It's a lot cleaner than the supermarket dry vermouth which was all I had yesterday. Initially there is no taste - just a chill in the mouth and throat. After a few seconds, a warmth spreads across the top palate. The very first sip had a dominance of the vermouth, but after a few more sips, it falls very much into the background and the gin comes forward, with a herbal topnote. It still will not please those who favour the classic London Dry Martini's, but there is a complexity which makes it interesting and worth sampling.

I still think it is a hit.

Recipe

5 parts Birkdale Gin
1 part dry vermouth

Add to cocktail shaker and shake over ice. Pour into martini glass. Add twist of orange or lemon peel. Serve

Cocktail No 23 Chocolate Soldier

Considering this only contains 2 teaspoons of Crème de Cacao, the chocolate taste is surprisingly noticeable.

Its very refreshing, partly because the blending ensures its more chilled than a shaker or mixing glass delivers, but there is more to it. The immediate taste is chocolate, followed by the crispness of the Dry Vermouth, then Brandy flavoured Chocolate replaces this to fill the mouth. You have that feeling of a film around your teeth and the Chocolate continues to repeat.

That is a very pleasant surprise and so completely different to what I imagined it was going to taste like. I think I shall try this again.

Recipe

Add 2 Ice cubes, 1 measure of brandy and 3/4 measure of Dry Vermouth to an electric blender. Add 2 teaspoons of Crème de Cacao and a dash of Orange Bitters. Blend and pour into a shallow goblet (which I don't have so its in a tumbler instead.

Cocktail No 18 Vodka Gibson

Essentially the same ingredients as the previous Vodkatini, but such a different taste. Many are put off by the high alcoholic strenght of the Vodkatini with good reason - is essentially 2 shots of Vodka diluted with a capfull of Vermouth, a drop of oil from the lemon peel and whatever water comes from ice melting in the shaking step.

Its a bit of a surprise as well as I usually make my Martinis to this ratio so turns out I have been making Gibsons instead.

The Gibson (originally gin based) dates back to 1908. It uses a higher proportion of Dry Vermouth to the Vodka making for a more mellow taste. It does not have the purity of taste of the Vodkatini. The absense of citrus is very obvious - its worth trying the 2 in parallel just to see what an impact a twist of lemon peel can make.

The Vermouth is much more apparent, but it comes through as more an extra sweetness then herbals, which is a surprise as there is 10-20x the amount compared to the 'tini.

And don't miss out the onions; whoever thought to add mini picked onions to vodka was inspired. I am struggling to describe it, but the combination of sweet onion with the residue of acid vinegar with the alcohol is - well wonderful - try it and let me know what you think. I can see canapés of pickled pearl onions frozen in tiny volumes of Vodka Gibsons.

Recipe

Add three measures of Vodka with 1 measure of dry vermouth to a mixing glass or shaker. Mix with ice until very chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass and decorate with three pearl onions. Serve with a cocktail stick.

Eat the Onions whilst you are drinking the Gibson.

Cocktail No 17 Vodkatini

Or in deference to my namesake; Vodka Martini shaken not stirred.

Purity in a glass. Ensure it is ice cold and the purity of the vodka cuts through with a spark and refreshment that is sublime. This is not one to be sipped delicately - don't let it sit long enough to warm up.

The small amount of vermouth may seem irrelevant but it does add a delicate herbal top note that clearly stands out alongside the vodka. Go for the best and driest  Vermouth you can find - Noilly Prat is always a safe choice.

Remember to twist the lemon peel. It really does add those citrus oils to the drink complementing the other flavours.

These original and enduring cocktails are called classics for a good reason.

Recipe

Add 2 measures vodka to the shaker with 2 teaspoons (or capfull) of Dry Vermouth. Shake on ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Twist a piece of lemon peel and drop into the drink. Garnish with olive on cocktail stick