Rhubarb and Rose

A pretty pink cocktail, just in time for Valentine's Day. Not that I believe in nonsense like pink drinks.

rhubarb and rose love (serves one)

55mL rhubarb vodka
20mL rose liqueur
20mL rose hip syrup
20mL fresh lemon juice
Couple drops rhubarb bitters
Couple drops Aphrodite bitters 

 
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker or a large glass. Add plenty of ice. Stir until chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a dried rose petal.

You can hear me talk about this cocktail on Cambridge 105's Flavour programme. Catch up here.

Christmas rescue cocktail

I love Christmas. At all times of the year I am very set on what is right and what I definitely don't approve of (I'm looking at you Rod Stewart). Christmas is a time of tradition for everyone so my obsession with having everything just so doesn't seem quite so strange. However all my self-imposed festive rules and regulations became overwhelming recently. On the floor, surrounded by cards, wrapping paper and many, many lists I thought to myself "I need help". Then I realised I just needed a cocktail. A rescue cocktail.

There is likely to be many occasions over Christmas when just such a potion will be required. Between making sure we have the right sort of tree (real, particular type of needle) and the correct Christmas cards (has to be charity ones), making sure there is no chocolate in the advent calendar (the excitement of counting down to Christmas should be enough) and stressing about where I am going to get a supply of Irish crisps in England, it is an exhausting time. Cocktail!

This is a selfish cocktail, for one or two people. Not for making in large amounts, not for parties. Just for me and you if you need it. If you would like some Christmas party cocktail ideas I have plenty on this blog and my older blog. There is last year's pomegranate cocktail (3 variations on a theme),a Christmas pudding vodka cocktail, a Christmas apple punch and a spicy rosehip, rhubarb combination.

But leave the party planning for the moment; put down your notebook and pen. Let the Christmas clementine, the fresh lime and passion fruit, not to mention the alcohol, refresh and revitalise you.

I've used Kamm & Sons here as it has lots of botanicals including ginseng roots, freshly peeled grapefruit and Manuka honey.  Basically it's a health drink. You could just use gin which is also a health drink in my book.

Christmas rescue cocktail (serves two)

clementine juice  100mL
lime juice  40mL

Kamm & Sons 30mL

vodka 30mL

simple syrup  30mL

3-4 drops rhubarb bitters

2 passion fruit 

ice

lime and clementine zest to garnish

Combine all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Add plenty of ice. Shake until thoroughly chilled. Strain into a prepared cocktail glass. Use a fine strainer if you don't want the passion fruit seeds but I quite like them in there. Garnish with lime and clementine zest. 

You can hear me talking about this Christmas cocktail on the Flavour programme (Cambridge 105) at 12 noon today (Saturday 12th December).

Apple and rose hip warmer

Three years ago I ventured out to Midsummer Common to see the Cambridge fireworks display. I finally got the feeling back in my toes but I will never forget the cold, wet misery. All my own fault, I was shockingly under prepared in the wrong shoes and without cocktails. I really don't know what I was thinking. The fireworks and bonfire were very impressive and almost worth the pain but if I was to venture there again I would certainly bring a flask of this warming cocktail. 

 

The cocktail I recommend for such an occasion is very simple and combines apple juice and rose hip syrup together with a spirit such as whiskey or rum. I heat all of the ingredients apart from the alcohol together and then add alcohol to the glasses of those who want it. Without the alcohol, it's perfect for warming up cold, miserable children or anyone else who is not so keen on spirits. Rose hips are rich in vitamin A and C so if we forget about all the sugar for a moment it's almost a health drink.   

If you are out trick or treating for Halloween tonight it may be just the thing to revive you on your return.

Apple and rose hip warmer

6 parts apple juice
4 parts rose hip syrup  
1 part freshly squeezed lemon juice
2-3 parts whiskey (or rum) for alcoholic version 
few drops of apple cider or Angostura bitters (optional)
apple slices to garnish if desired

Combine the apple juice, rose hip syrup and lemon juice in a saucepan and heat gently until warm. Serve immediately in heat proof glasses or cups or you could store in a thermos for use later (on the freezing Common!). Add the alcohol directly to the cups of those who need it.

You can hear me talking about this cocktail on Flavour on Cambridge 105 on Saturday 31st November at 12pm.

Green, white and orange plus Irish whiskey. Definitely my most Irish photo to date.

 

Cocktail of the month: Midsummer potion

I took this dress to a fabulous party last weekend, although I'm starting to think it took me. It only gets out of the wardrobe for the best invitations and I am a mere vehicle for its wonder. The last time we ventured out together was to the opening of a sculpture exhibition in the garden of a beautiful inn overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

On that occasion the artist admired my dress and I planned to take one of the sculptures home before remembering the tyranny of the baggage allowance.

At the party last weekend, which was in The Fens rather than California, the artist (the wonderful Karen) also admired my dress. Apparently, we (my dress and I) had nailed the "Margot from the The Good Life" look. Happily this was the exactly the look we were going for.

I had promised to bring a cocktail. The party was to be a wondrous midsummer extravaganza focused on fire. I had to attempt a themed drink. Aperol seemed a suitable summery choice and the right colour for this fire festival. The addition of vodka (or gin) was essential to keep the booze hounds happy (a guest at this party invented The Sugar Wolf cocktail: I had some serious drinkers to impress). I added herbs and bitters to complete the potion and cast my spell. It is designed to be assembled in a jug in large quantities, then poured out into glasses as needed and topped with sparkling water. 

Photo by the amazing Karen Harvey

Midsummer potion

3 parts Aperol
3 parts gin or vodka
4 parts freshly squeezed lemon juice
6 parts herb infused simple syrup (I used a mixture of lemon balm, rosemary and lavender)
Several drops lavender bitters
Several drops rhubarb bitters
Several drops Angostura bitters
Herbs to garnish and soda water to finish

Combine all of the ingredients in a jug. Stir until combined. Add plenty of ice to a glass, fill 3/4 glass with cocktail mixture, top with soda water and garnish with fresh herbs. Prancing around in a flowery dress is optional.

You can hear me talking about this cocktail on Flavour on Cambridge 105 on Saturday 27th June at 12pm.

Photo by the amazing Karen Harvey

Cocktail of the month: rhubarb lavender daiquiri

Easter holidays call for a celebratory cocktail. I'm celebrating because I'm in Ireland spending time with my lovely family and hanging out with old friends. 

A daiquiri is a fine cocktail if you ignore anything frozen or strawberry flavoured (I don't approve of strawberry flavour - it's one of my things). It's a classic that follows the fail-safe cocktail formula I've talked about on many occasions. 

I couldn't resist infusing the rum with the first pink stalks of rhubarb I found in the market. I used exactly the same process as I use for rhubarb vodka, you can find the recipe here. 
I first tried ginger syrup in place of the simple syrup in a standard daiquiri. That was very nice indeed, ginger and rhubarb do go very well together. Then by chance I remembered my lavender syrup. I was feeling dangerous so I decided to experiment. It was a revelation. The combination of rhubarb and lavender are spring time expressed through the medium of the cocktail.

rhubarb lavender daiquiri (serves one)

60 mL rhubarb rum
30 mL freshly squeezed lime juice (about 1 lime)
15 mL lavender infused simple syrup (rough recipe below)
1 drop lavender bitters
1 drop rhubarb bitters
lime wedge to garnish

Combine all of the ingredients in a large glass or cocktail shaker. Add plenty of ice. Stir or shake until chilled. Strain into a glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a lime wedge and a cocktail umbrella for extra spring in your step.

lavender infused simple syrup

Oh I how long to be pottering around my allotment, smelling my lavender hedge. Not too long to go now that spring is here.

This syrup was a great experiment. It all began with a bunch of lavender:

I picked off the individual flowers into a bowl:

And covered them with boiling water:

I let it infuse for twenty minutes, then strained out the lavender bits. I then measured how much liquid I had and added an equal amount of sugar. Once all the sugar was dissolved, I transferred it to a sterilized bottle.

See this post for more details on the method for making infused simple syrups. 
 
You can hear me talking about this cocktail on Flavour on Cambridge 105 on Saturday 4th April at 12pm.

Cocktail of the month: Christmas cocktails

I'm not going to lie to you. There is some effort involved this month. But once you've put in a bit of work making a versatile syrup, it's all easy. I have three (yes three!) cocktails for you based on the same syrup. You will be flouncing around looking fabulous and drinking cocktails in no time.

The syrup that ties this cocktails together is made from pomegranate and fresh orange juice. I decided it was a step too far to juice pomegranates myself so I bought pomegranate juice with no added sugar from the health food shop. The exact instructions are in the recipe below. Once reduced, the pomegranate syrup is the most fantastic deep purple colour and has an intriguing sweet but bitter, slightly spiced fragrance.

The first cocktail is based on my classic sour recipe. I hope you've memorized the formula by now. 4 parts alcohol: 2 parts sour: 1 part sweet. I spiced up the gin I'm using here by adding a cinnamon stick, a vanilla pod, a star anise and a cardamom pod to the gin bottle and leaving it to infuse for a week or two. The spices are still in there, infusing away until Christmas. The recipe below serves one but simply multiply the proportions and make in a jug if you have lots of cocktail drinking guests.

The second is a fizz based cocktail, extremely simple and perfect for when visitors call in. It's not too alcoholic either so you could have a good few of these without getting too messy.

The last cocktail is non-alcoholic. Perfect for children or anyone who has to drive. In fact it is also excellent when recovering from a Christmas hangover. It is extremely refreshing due to that slightly bitter tang from the pomegranate combined with the sweetness and the fresh citrus. It is actually quite addictive. This could also be made in a large jug ready to pour out.

In addition to the recipes given below you can find other Christmas cocktail recipes on my older blog: a Christmas pudding vodka cocktail, a Christmas apple punch and a spicy rosehip, rhubarb combination.

pomegranate and orange simple syrup

pomegranate juice (no added sugar) 500mL

freshly squeezed orange juice 500mL

sugar 500g

zest of one orange 

Combine all of the ingredients in a large saucepan. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and then simmer until reduced by approximately half the volume. Allow to cool and then strain through a muslin (or clean J-cloth) lined sieve into a jug. Decant into a sterilized bottle and store in the fridge if not using immediately. I put mine in a conical flask for show because I have one and I'm a big chemistry nerd.

spiced pomegranate sour (serves one)

 

spiced Christmas gin (see above) 60mL

freshly squeezed lime juice 30mL

pomegranate and orange simple syrup  15mL

3-4 drops cranberry bitters (if you have them)

Combine all of the ingredients in a large glass or cocktail shaker. Add plenty of ice. Stir until chilled. Strain into a prepared cocktail glass. Garnish with lime zest.

pomegranate fizz (serves one)

pomegranate and orange simple syrup  20mL

cava/prosseco/champagne 

pomegranate seeds and orange twist to garnish

Add the syrup to a champagne flute. Carefully top up with your choice of sparkling wine. Add pomegranate seeds and a piece of orange zest to garnish.

pomegranate refresher (serves one)

pomegranate and orange simple syrup  40mL

juice of 1/2 a lime

sparkling water

pomegranate seeds and orange slices to garnish

Add the syrup and the fresh lime juice to a large glass. Fill the glass 3/4 full with ice. Add the pomegranate seeds and orange slices before filling with sparkling water. 

You can hear me talking about these Christmas cocktail on the Flavour programme (Cambridge 105) at 12 noon today (Saturday 13th December).

Christmas presents: eat, drink, read

Advent calendars containing chocolate, non-charity Christmas cards, fake Christmas trees. I have a long list of "Things I Don't Approve Of" and many of these are Christmas related. Top of the list are useless and unwanted presents. It can be next to impossible to know what your loved ones would like without asking them outright. A present that can be read, eaten or drunk is the most likely to be useful.

 

Read

I'm a book obsessive and I believe a present involving books is somehow more morally upright than any other (I have very funny notions, see non-approval list above). Books can and do change lives.

 

A subscription to Books Ireland is a must for book lovers in Ireland (and abroad). Buy it for yourself or as a gift subscription. Published every two months, every time it arrives on the mat during the year it will remind the lucky recipient what a wonderfully thoughtful person you are. Bonus! I'm a subscriber and occasional contributor (don't let that put you off) and I still get very excited when it arrives. It's great for keeping up to date with all the books being published in Ireland including children's books and reading it informs my book buying every time. 

 

I wrote a piece for Books Ireland on Irish food and drink books and can recommend the following new books that have come out this year:

Sláinte by Kristin Jensen and Caroline Hennessy

A Simply Delicious Christmas by Darina Allen (new edition)

The Ballymaloe Cookbook by Myrtle Allen (new edition)

Gubeen by Giana Ferguson

Eat

We are still working our way through the blackcurrant jam mountain of 2013 (not to mention the green tomato chutney lake of 2011) so several people this year will be receiving homemade goodies. Whether it's Christmas puddings, biscuits, jams or chutneys they always go down very well.

Drink

I think you all know that I am a big fan of drinking. More importantly I'm very keen on drinking nice things out of nice glasses. It's easy to go and buy a bottle of champagne or a bottle of a spirit as a present but much better is the drink related present that keeps on giving: bitters! They add so much to a cocktail and last forever. While Angostura Bitters are a classic and widely available consider giving a bottle of a less well known bitters. I would highly recommend the following:

Fee Brothers Rhubarb Bitters

Any of the range from Dr Adam Elmegirab

Cambridge Wine Merchants on Cherry Hinton Road often have Rhubarb Bitters. In Dublin the Celtic Whiskey Shop on Dawson St have a great range and I LOVE the website masterofmalt.com for all alcohol related purchases.

  

If you have time, consider looking through charity shops and antique shops for cocktail glasses. This is where I get most of my stash. If you don't have the time for the search (and it is getting a bit late now) John Lewis have a delightful and affordable own brand range including these bad boys.

Cocktail of the month: sloe warmer

I was struggling with the loss of summer last month. A few Autumn acclimatisation cocktails later and I am back with the seasonal programme. I am out a lot enjoying the scarf and gloves weather (I'm really going for walks so I can listen to the Serial podcast).

When I get back after a late afternoon ramble a warming cocktail seems like just the ticket. This weekend I hope to get organised enough to make it in advance and bring it out with me in a flask.

This is a really easy cocktail. A light sugar syrup infused with spices forms the base and is topped up with sloe gin. You can make a little or a lot of the base depending on how many people are coming out to enjoy the Autumn weather with you.

sloe warmer

2 parts water (I used 2 cups)

1 part sugar (I used 1 cup)

1 part apple juice (I used 1 cup)

spices: cinnamon stick, star anise, cardamom pods, juniper berries

squeeze of lemon

sloe gin or vodka

Heat the water, the sugar and the apple juice with the spices in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer for at least an hour. Your house is going to smell fantastic at this stage. Strain out the spices, return to the pan and add a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Ensure the mixture is nice and hot. Warm a cup or heat proof glass with boiling water. Half fill the glass with the light syrup and then top up with sloe gin. Garnish with lemon slices and spices.

You can hear me talking about this Autumnal cocktail on the Flavour programme (Cambridge 105) at 12 noon today.

Cocktail of the month: Autumn acclimatisation

I find the change in the seasons the most difficult. Once I get into the swing of Autumn I adore it: scarves, tights, hats, soup, bonfires, leaves, harvest hymns. I love it all. But while I'm adjusting, I find it tricky. I made it hard on myself this year by grabbing a few days in sunny Spain at the start of October which just delayed the inevitable. This change of season manifests itself as extreme tiredness, crankiness and an overwhelming urge to hibernate. I prescribed myself an Autumnal cocktail in an attempt to get over it. It had to be sloe based. It serves as a reminder to get out into the hedgerows and pick the last of the sloes.

 

Autumn acclimatisation

50mL medium apple juice (I like the juice from Watergull Orchards)

30mL sloe gin or vodka

20mL Adnams Winter spiced liqueur

15mL ginger & spice infused simple syrup

Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

3 drops apple cider bitters

Combine all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker or pint glass. Taste and add more lemon juice if necessary. Pour into a lowball glass filled with ice. Top with slices of apple and sloes if you have them (I freeze some every year when I collect them for garnish purposes).

Hear me talking about this lovely Autumnal cocktail on the Flavour programme (Cambridge 105) at 12 noon today.

Cocktail of the month: cigarettes and alcohol

On a quiet day recently the strains of a song from my teenage life reached out across the years. "......'cause all I need are cigarettes and alcohol". Oasis; boy had it been a long time since we were acquainted. But, as is the way, I just couldn't get the damn song out of my head. I slowly realised it was in fact a cocktail vision. A challenge from the universe.

The alcohol component I  have covered, it's got to be bourbon. But cigarettes, in a cocktail? How was I going to pull that one off? I toyed with infusing my bourbon with tobacco but even my adventurous spirit draws the line at experimenting with ingredients likely to poison my drinkers. I turned instead to an ingredient I have had my eye on for a while, Jade Perique Tobacco Liqueur. This liqueur is flavoured with Louisiana Perique tobacco, apparently one of the rarest tobaccos in the world. It's delicious: smooth, woody and herbal. I didn't want to over complicate a cocktail called cigarettes and alcohol so I based my recipe on an old-fashioned.

cigarettes and alcohol (serves one)

30mL bourbon

30mL Jade Perique Tobacco Liqueur

10mL simple syrup (I used my Christmas spice syrup for additional spice notes)

3-4 dashes of orange bitters (you could use angostura instead)

large piece of orange zest

ice

cherry and orange wheel to serve 

Combine the bourbon, tobacco liqueur, simple syrup, bitters and orange zest in a large glass or cocktail shaker. Add ice and stir well. Strain into an old-fashioned glass filled with ice and garnish with a cherry and an orange wheel.

You can here me talking about this cocktail on the Flavour, Cambridge 105 podcast here.

Simple cocktail: flat peaches, elderflower and lime

I had just polished off a cocktail I call "cigarettes and alcohol" recipe coming soon). I felt it was time to redress the balance a little. 

I was inspired by a bag of overripe flat peaches, given to me free by a lovely Cambridge market trader at the end of the day. I pureed the peaches, added a dash of agave nectar (the health freak's choice of sweetener) along with lime zest and lime juice. Delicious just by itself, I had to stop myself eating it there and then. Loosened by a glug of elderflower gin (approx 30mL), it still looks healthy even if it does have a little kick. Served over ice and garnished with slices of peach and lime it is extremely pretty and would work equally well with rum, gin, vodka or even (whisper it) as a non-alcoholic drink.

You can here me talking about this cocktail on the Flavour, Cambridge 105 podcast here.

Friday nights and plum vodka cocktails

Friday nights have always been my favourite part of the weekend. When we were young we would stock up on 7up, chocolate and Ripples crisps (they were very fancy at the time) and snuggle in with my parents to watch a film. As I got older and went out and about with my friends I used to love coming home to find my parents listening to music, drinking wine and talking through their week. I'd often join them for a glass and the lowdown on the week. It's a tradition I like to continue. If you pass by our house on a Friday evening you are likely to hear my cries of "make it cosy in here" and "put some music I'll like on". Really, The Husband has a lot to put up with. To make up for my demands I do normally make him a decent cocktail to kickstart the evening.

Last night, we had some simple plum vodka and cava concoctions. I started the plum vodka infusing just a couple of weeks ago but I wasn't able to wait any longer before trying it out. I have three different infusions on the go. Two different varieties of plum and one infusing with the stones as well. The plum vodka stockpile came about after I bagged a bargain on early plums at the Cambridge Sunday market. I was greedy and ended up with more than we could eat. It had to be vodka. Well, it could have been gin but we had drunk all of that so it had to be vodka.

I simply cut up the plums into quarters and added them to a clean kilner jar along with the stones if I was using them and a couple of tablespoons of sugar. I topped up the whole lot with vodka and let it sit for a couple of weeks. When I couldn't wait any longer I strained it through a muslin lined sieve and bottled in a sterilised bottle. I am amazed by the colour; a deep, ruby red. The batch with the stones has a subtle almond flavour which I think gives it a lovely complexity. I actually added a couple of extra tablespoons of sugar and stirred to dissolve at this stage. The additional sugar brought out the plum flavour nicely. 

It had been a long week so no fancy cocktails were on the menu. About twenty minutes before The Husband got home I stuck my last bottle of bin-end cava from The Wine Society in the freezer. Plum vodka, cava and some white currants rescued from the back of the fridge. Cocktail sorted and Friday evening well and truly begun.

Cocktail of the month: gooseberry margarita

I'm seventeen years old and Sarah and I are doing our best to get through a bottle of cheap tequilla in one night, armed only with table salt and some disappointingly dry limes. Those first experiences with tequila will certainly not be filed in the classy section of my cocktail memoirs. 

Oh but the youthful abandon, the joy, the hope for the future. The alcohol snob I fear I have become would secretly trade the vintage glasses, the bitters collection and the library of cocktail books to spend one night in a sweaty, youthful, worry-free and crap tequila-fueled fervour.

But then I pull myself together and get right back to the alcohol snobbery. The tequila we drank was horrific. I wish I had known then that the only tequila to drink should be clearly labelled 100% agave. If it doesn't say that on the label it will contain 51% agave and then rest will be made up with added sugars. Now, I'm not going to claim that tequila is some kind of health food but surely it makes sense to begin with the best ingredients we can. I'm a big fan of the Aqua Riva brand: fantastic taste, understated but pleasing labeling and available at a great price. 

I do love tequila and I was reminded of this at a fabulous brunch "supper club" I went to hosted by the lovely Ivana and Jenna. A Bloody Maria was served up alongside the brunch and as the warm tequila glow began to spread through me I knew I was going to have revisit tequila myself. I couldn't hold my head up if I didn't make it somewhat local and seasonal. Luckily for my cocktail cred the universe intervened and sent me a box of gooseberries in my veg box.

So it had to be a gooseberry margarita. Let's revisit how to make a standard margarita first. It's really not hard.

margarita (serves one)

45mL 100% agave tequila

30mL triple sec

15mL freshly squeezed lime juice

ice

salt for the rim

First prepare your glass. Run a spent lime wedge around the rim and then rotate the wet lip through a dish of salt to create your salt rim. Fill the glass with ice. Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Add plenty of ice, shake or stir for about 30 seconds. Strain into your prepared glass. Drink and feel tequila happy.

If you have some gooseberries and fancy something a bit more exotic then I highly recommend this variation. First cook down your gooseberries with a little sugar and a tiny bit of water. Once your gooseberries have disintegrated, push them through a fine sieve to create a smooth puree. The resulting cocktail doesn't look pretty but it tastes fabulous.

gooseberry margarita (serves one)

45mL 100% agave tequila

30mL gooseberry puree

10mL triple sec

15mL freshly squeezed lime juice

ice

Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Add plenty of ice, shake or stir for about 30 seconds. Strain into a glass full of ice. Drink and feel tequila happy.

Hear me talk more about this on Flavour tomorrow (Saturday 12th July) at 12pm.