…I see America drinking the fabulous cocktails I make. America is getting stinking on something I stir or shake. The Sex On The Beach…the Schnapps made from peach! The Velvet Hammer…the Alabama Slammer! I make stuff with juice and froth, the Pink Squirrel…the 3 Toad Sloth. I makedrinks so sweet and snazzy, the Iced Tea…the Kamakazi! The Orgasm…the Death Spasm. The Singapore Sling…the Ding a Ling. America your just devoted to every flavour I got, but if you want to get loaded…why don’t you just order a shot!
Ok, so since Cruise stirred and shook us with his woefully cheesy poetry and camp bar flaring, the cocktail lists of London’s finest drinkeries have thankfully moved on enormously, and even if the Dalston trendies can be seen wearing eighties throwbacks, they are sure to be drinking something expertly crafted by a bartender that not only looks like a work of art, but is infused with the freshest fruit, home distilled bitters and the finest base of spirits that money can buy.
We love a good cocktail at Blue Tomato (like you didn’t already know), which got us thinking about what our top tips for you, our cherished readers, should be on the lookout for this year of the Olympiad.
Spiced rums have torn into the fast paced growth of Rums in the UK like Blackbeard on a swashbuckling pirate raid on a gold carrying tallship. The Kraken (Named after the fearsome behemoth of a sea monster) is a superb Black Rum from Trinidad in the Caribbean and whilst great with Coke, Ginger Ale and hot Cider, is superb in this seafaring inspired recipe…
The Kraken Hunter
50ml Kraken Rum
25ml Black tea
Shot of cinnamon syrup
Shot of lime juice
*Shake all ingredients vigorously on ice and serve
in a chilled martini glass with a lime wedge garnish.
So that’s spiced rum ticked off. But what about it’s more refined, and some say classier cousin, the un-spiced rums? Most bars now are stocked to the hilt with a mind blowing array of rums that is confusing at best, and at worst, is just outright fearful. Your bartender will easily recommend you a decent rum, based on your flavour preference for the molasses and even if you don’t know your pot still from your column still, we are loving a bit of Chairman’s Reserve right now here at Blue Tomato. We like to keep our rum cocktails pure and simple – this one harking back to the libertarian golden age of America, and whilst the recipe sparks contention between barkeeps, we think that this one is pretty darn good!
Old Fashioned
50ml Chairman’s reserve rum
Shot sugar syrup or gomme
2 dashes Regan’s orange bitters (Angostora bitters will suffice!)
Citrus Peel (Preferably orange)
*In a rocks glass. Add sugar syrup followed by dashes of bitter. Add orange peel to mixture and press lightly into a glass (with muddler, or end of rolling pin if no muddler!) to release citrus oils. Add Chairman’s Reserve Rum. Stir to combine. Add large ice cubes and continue to stir to allow cocktail to chill and infuse with all flavours.
http://www.chairmansreserve.com/
From warm climes of the West Indies, in a nice alcohol warmed fuzz, we land in Europe, and more specifically, the Vodka Belt of Eastern Europe. Hurrah! As the world’s most consumed spirit, Vodka feels an appropriately timed staging post in our run down of cocktails to try in 2012. Equally as daunting on the back bar as rums (and perhaps more so) is the stuff of our hedonistic student days. Thankfully, long gone are the sickly sweet, neon coloured and vomit inducing flavoured vodka cocktails of the nineties, such horrors being replaced with an influence from the original imbibers of the late nineteenth century. Our two picks of the Vodka’s are Belvedere Red and the Legend of Kremlin.
The Candy Apple
50ml (Belvedere) RED
75ml pressed apple juice
15ml lemon juice
15ml home made toffee syrup
*Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass.
Garnish with an apple slice.
http://www.belvederevodka.com/
The Kremlin (From Jorge Oliveria at Claridges)
100ml Legend of Kremlin
10ml Noilly Prat
5ml Louis XIII Cognac
5ml Honey
*Combine all ingredients in a glass shaker and stir, fine stir into a martini glass
http://www.legend-of-kremlin.com/
Thoroughly thawed from the Baltic chill with those two little beauties, we stay in Europe for the remainder of our trip with our next point of call in France. It’s about this time that we feel a little peckish and this next cocktail makes a superb pre dinner tipple.
Basil Grande
Grind pepper
30ml Grand Marnier
20ml Chambourd
Dash Strawberry Puree
3 Basil Leaves
*Add 2 basil leaves to the strawberry’s in a Boston shaker and muddle, add the puree and Chambord to help with the process. Add ice and Grand Marnier, Shake well. Strain once into a chilled Martini glass. Use the Basil Leaf as a boat garnish, with a grind of pepper to finish.
Charging from France to Italy like a rampant Julius Caesar and in need of some elegance and glamour, we give you the stylish Disaronno Diva. Feeling romantic (yes romantic, not drunk!) we are inspired by the Legend of the humble beginnings of the Italian Liqueur, thought to have been gifted to Bernadino Luini (a pupil of non other than Leonardo Da Vinci) after he painted a fresco of the Madonna in 1525.
DISARONNO DIVA
25ml Disaronno
10ml Kummel
15ml Lemon Juice
40ml Pineapple Juice
Champagne to finish
*Combine in cocktail shaker with ice before straining the mix into a flute and topping with chilled champagne. Garnish with lemon peel and sugar pearls.
So, as we arrive back in London, no list would be complete without a drop of the stuff that made London famous (some say infamous), and never has it been so cool to drink Gin. The juniper berry flavoured spirit has made a big comeback, influenced heavily by bartenders heading the charge, mixing gin and other spirits with more signature flavours. We love the simplicity of a G&T, but it would be rude not to try to go beyond this, so here’s our tip for a delicious late night pick me up to round of a perfect evening of cocktails.
Hot Gin Toddy
25ml gin
5ml lemon juice
20ml boiling water
1 tsp sugar
1 cinnamon stick
*Pour into a heatproof goblet, and serve.
So that’s our seven of the best for 2012 and whilst we wouldn’t advocate you trying them all in succession (we take the state of your liver seriously here at Blue Tomato – Unless you fancy turning your liver into fois gras that is!) we hope you have fun sampling them.
Written By Gary Corrin
Date posted: 17/02/2012
Category: News.
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