Cocktail No 48 Muddy Water

So Cuba Libre (Rum & Coke with Lime to most people) replacing the lime with orange juice. The OJ makes a real difference. Since I am not really a Coke fan, I can't really say whether I am enjoying this.

It lives up to its name and looks like a muddy slurry. I guess the relatively high proportions of Rum and Orange Juice to Coke makes this a potent drink and changes the balance of flavour. Its definitely not a Rum & Coke. It is growing on me, but not sure its a repeater.

Mmmmh can't really say much more about this, but most people will have the ingredients in house, so try it and let me know what you think.

NB - there seems to be multiple completely different recipes for the Muddy Water.

Recipe

Fill a Highball glass with Ice. Add 1 measure White Rum with 1 Part Orange Juice and 2 measures Cola.

Cocktail No 38 Hemingway

I bought a grapefruit just to make this one, and since it is freshly squeezed explains why I made this and the Lieutenant on the same evening.

I've been reading a bit of Hemingway recently and therefore wanted to make this one. First I read "The Sun Also Rises" as I was visiting Pamplona and it was quite a good read. Just finished "A Farewell to Arms" and can't really say it worked for me. Not sure why, but I found it hard work.

Quite unlike this cocktail on the other hand. This is entering into my pantheon of favourites and will be repeated I am sure. The mix of Rum and Cointreau with a sour is always a winner. At equal measures you would expect it to be very sweet and it is, but less than I expected. Far less so than the Apricot Brandy in the Lieutenant. A benefit of this is that the Grapefruit Juice comes through clearly and very pleasantly. The Sparkling Wine gives a great lift and tingles in the mouth, making it a great drink sensation as well as taste.

Recipe

2-3 Ice cubes
40 ml White Rum
40 ml Cointreau
40 ml Grapefruit juice
Sparking wine

Add White Rum, Cointreau and Grapefruit Juice to a shaker and shake very well on ice. Strain into a Champagne glass and top up with Sparkling Wine.

Cocktail No 33 Between The Sheets

Continuing the Brandy theme, I present a classic that is an official cocktail according to the International Bartenders Association, although they call for lemon juice instead of the orange juice and I do think it would be better with a bit of extra sharpness.

Its still very pleasant though. The Brandy and Rum mixes so well together - really good robust mouth feel and a sweetness from the Rum and Orange Juice. It certainly packs a punch and is wonderfully warming on a cold autumn night like this one is.

Recipe

Add 1 measure Brandy to a shaker, with 1 measure White Rum, 1 measure Cointreau and 3/4 measure of Orange Juice (or Lemon Juice). Shake on Ice and strain into a Cocktail glass.

Cocktail No 21 Mississippi

The Old-Fasioned went down very quickly and the Mississippi was on the same page and looked very good, so that's the only excuse I will offer for indulging!

I didn't have Rye whisky in so I made this with Scotch. Can' say its made much of a difference. This is from the same family as Daiquiri's - in fact you could describe it as a Daiquiri using 50:50 whisky and rum. It has much less sugar so the tartness of the lemon juice really cuts through. Its cold and raining here, but you can imagine how refreshing this would be on a balmy summer night in the Southern states.

The whisky and rum blend well together. If you know there are there, you can identify their individual tastes, but I think it would take a very refined palate to identify them in a blind tasting.

Recipe

Add 1 measure each of Rye Whisky, White Rum and lemon juice to a shaker with 2 dashes of sugar syrup. Shake on ice and strain into a tumbler. Decorate with a spiral of lemon peel.