cocktails « Penny Golightly

Romantic champagne cocktail recipe

February 15th, 2011 by Penny Golightly

Did you enjoy Valentine’s Day yesterday? We’ve been feeling the love at Golightly Towers, yes indeedy.

In my recent ‘romance without the price tag’ article for Ask Jeeves I mentioned that you could make a very agreeable cocktail with some sparkling wine and a little raspberry liqueur to welcome your honey back home.

I’ve been refining the recipe to make it more complex and deadly, and after some gruelling consumer testing we’ve arrived at the following combination. Do be warned, this will knock your socks off, and possibly a number of other garments too…

The Lupercalia

Into a chilled champagne flute, add the ingredients in this order:

1 small drop of Angostura bitters
5ml of triple sec (Grand Marnier or Cointreau are relatively easy to find)
20ml of raspberry liqueur (I used Chambord but you can find other perfectly decent creme de framboise for a lot less)
dry non-vintage champagne to top up (or a ‘brut’/dry cava to save £££)

Add the champagne/cava very slowly and allow the bubbles to settle, then give a very brief gentle stir to ensure it’s all mixed together nicely. The dry wine is needed to cut through the sweetness of the liqueur.

So many recipes say that you should use the best champagne you can afford in champagne-based cocktails, but I take issue with that sort of talk. If I’m going to push the boat out and buy a fancy vintage champagne then I’d sooner drink that on its own and enjoy the pure flavours in it.

Besides, cocktails were almost certainly invented to disguise low-quality alcohol, probably rum. And look at how they flourished in Prohibition America thanks to bathtub gin. I rest my case – of cheap champagne.

Are you partial to a sparkling mixed drink? Do you have any favourite recipes? Please share them.

Tags: cheap champagne deals, classic cocktails, cocktails, making cocktails at home, Penny Golightly loves cocktails, sparkling wines for less
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Bartender, fix me a drink

November 2nd, 2010 by Penny Golightly

Cocktails. They’re gorgeous aren’t they? There’s nothing quite like a classic recipe, freshly made with all the right ingredients.

I’ve noticed lots of cocktail making equipment kits springing up in the department stores in time for the festive season, but they all seem kind of over the top. Too overpriced, too many gadgets you’ll probably never use. Well, save your money for interesting ingredients instead, because here’s all you really need to get going.

You can easily set yourself up with a perfectly good set of cocktail bar equipment
for less than £10.

· Cocktail shaker: You can pick up a classic all-metal shaker (sometimes
called a Cobbler shaker) from a hardware store or a branch of IKEA for as
little as £1.

· Liquid measures: Even the best bartenders measure what they put into a
drink, it’s important for getting the flavour balance right. You could buy
a metal jigger, if you don’t own some small measuring spoons already.

· Stirrer: Some cocktails are stirred, rather than shaken, in the base of
a cocktail shaker or a jug, and most households have a long handled metal
spoon for this purpose. You can buy a fancy bar spoon if you like, but you
don’t really need one.

· Ice: Nearly every cocktail calls for some kind of ice. Most freezers and
ice boxes come with their own ice trays, or you can buy them in pairs from
any pound shop.

· Ice crushing equipment: If a recipe demands cracked or crushed ice, the
easiest and cheapest thing to do is wrap some ice cubes in a clean tea
towel and whack them with a rolling pin.

· Small sharp knife and chopping board: Most kitchens have these anyway,
and they’re essential for cutting citrus fruits and preparing most
garnishes.

· Citrus juicer: Many recipes contain lemon, lime or orange juice and
trust me, freshly-squeezed is the only way to go. A plain plastic, glass
or metal juicer is all you need.

· Strainer: Professional bar staff might use a Hawthorn strainer while
pouring a perfect drink, but an ordinary tea strainer works just fine too.

· Dean Martin CD: Makes your drinks taste even better, I promise.

Are you a cocktail fan? Do you have any good bartending bargains of your own? Please share.

Tags: bar equipment, bartending equipment, classic cocktails, cocktails, learning how to make cocktails, making cocktails at home, Penny Golightly loves cocktails, setting up your own cocktail bar, shake it baby
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Making your own citrus vodka

June 26th, 2009 by Penny Golightly

Making your own citrus, or ‘citron’ vodka is a doddle, and it leaves you with a delicious batch of what’s most famously the main ingredient of that recent classic cocktail, the cosmopolitan. Oh yes.

It can also be left in the freezer and served in tiny glasses to accompany seafood, or mixed into other cocktails, or served simply as a double shot on the rocks with a couple of orange or lime wedges and topped up with cola to make a long drink. This is gorgeous stuff, and I always like to have some in the Golightly Towers drinks cabinet. You can buy various commerical versions too, but the better ones, which tend to be the drier and unsweetened ones, are a bit on the pricey side. Fear not, you can make your own for very little.

Citrus vodka recipe
One 700ml (70cl) bottle of vodka*
Peel from half a lemon
Two strips of lime peel (approx 3cm wide, 6cm long)
One strip of orange peel (approx 4cm wide, 10cm long)

Wash the fruit thoroughly to get rid of any dust or wax.
Using a very sharp knife, cut the rind away from the fruit, leaving as little white pith on the rind as possible – the pith can spoil the flavour.
Put the strips of peel into a large, very clean, wide-necked jar and top up with the vodka.
Stir well and put the top of the jar on tightly.
If you don’t have a jar, you can put the peel straight into the bottle after removing a little of the vodka, but only if you’re sure you’ll be able to get the peel back out again afterwards.
Put the tightly-capped vodka into a dark cupboard to infuse.
After two days, shake the bottle and then test it for flavour. Most of the time it only takes three or four days for the flavour to develop, so test every day until it’s a strong as you like it.
Once it’s infused, strain out the peel and discard it, then re-bottle the vodka.

Some people like to let citrus vodka mellow for up to three weeks before drinking, but it’s OK to start using it straight away. You might also like to add a little sugar syrup to sweeten it at the infusing stage, but I prefer it without. This infused vodka will keep for several months in a cupboard, and even longer if it’s lovingly stashed, ready for action, in your fridge or freezer.

* About the vodka: it’s often bandied about that you should get ‘the best vodka you can afford’ to make this infusion. I think that’s a load of old rot, and relies on the false perception that the most expensive product is automatically the best for every purpose. I’d say use the smoothest cheap or mid-priced vodka you can find because you’re adding a strong flavour that will change its taste, and I’m controversially going to recommend Sainsbury’s value vodka as I’ve found it to be better than their more expensive own-brand version, and more palatable than Smirnoff. Try it yourself in a blind tasting if you don’t believe me, although please note that doesn’t mean drinking yourself into a blind stupor.

But back to business/pleasure. It’s time for a cosmo, sweetie.

Cosmopolitan (Dale DeGroff version)
40ml citrus vodka
15ml Cointreau
10ml fresh lime juice
20ml cranberry juice
Flamed orange peel or an orange twist for garnish