Five: Tokyo Blossom

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There are some products that get a hard time from bartenders. Whenever they're mentioned in conversation, we wrinkle our noses and shake our heads for whatever reason, if we've given it enough thought to come up with a reason. Take - for example - Midori. The fact that it was launched in Studio 54 at the Saturday Night Fever wrap party in 1978 has left the liqueur with a cheesy disco tag it may never shake off, and its popularity among young girls with a sweet tooth and drinkers of the saccharine, unbalanced, fruit concoctions the 80's were famed for are not helping its reputation with old-school cocktail revivalists. Midori does a couple of things very well. It brings an instant hit of fruit to a drink, along with a stand-out colour and a good degree of sweetness. These can all be helpful characteristics, so long as they're not allowed to overpower the whole drink. It might have an image problem, but Midori can be a useful ingredient when it comes to start thinking about summer cocktails.

Tokyo Blossom

30ml Absolut Citron
15ml Midori
5ml Kwai Feh lychee liqueur
30ml White Grape juice

Stir all ingredients with ice. Snap an orange zest over the top, but don't drop it in. Garnish with a cherry.

Here's one I made earlier

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A couple of weeks ago, I put a plan into motion. A plan so momentous it would spell the end of civilisation as we know it. Of course, by "civilisation as we know it", I mean three grapefruits and a bottle of vodka. The plan was best described as basic: Strip the peel off the grapefruits? Check. Soak in 40% ABV vodka (I used Finlandia) for two weeks? Check. Shake every couple of days? Check. Strain out the grapefruit peel? Check. Add simple syrup to make up a third of the total volume? Check. Leave in the fridge for a week to marry? Big ol' check.

So, three weeks after the start of this groundbreaking project, I humbly present ednbrg's Finest Grapefrucello! It's got a lovely translucent golden honey colour to it, with a smooth, syrupy mouthfeel. On the tongue, it's fairly uncomplicated - it tastes of grapefruit and that's about it - which is to be expected, I guess. Being a first attempt there are a couple of things I'm unhappy with. For one, there's a bit of a burn from the alcohol coming through when the liqueur warms up, and the flavour doesn't seems to finish rather more quickly than I'd anticipated (though that could be a thing that happens with grapefruit?). But, as my maiden voyage into the world of home-made liqueurs and syrups, I'm pretty damn happy with it.

Coincidentally, I'm heading into work to do some cocktail training so hopefully I'll have a couple of recipes to share later on.

Perfect 10?

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I am nothing if not a dedicated following of the whole drink-blogging fraternity and, over at Kaiser Penguin, they've birthed a bouncing baby meme that I am, of course going to jump right on board. So - what would I have if I could only have ten bottles of alcohol for the rest of my life? Looking around, I noticed that the choices at the Pegu Blog included six gins, so I'm going to make my life that much more awkward by limiting myself to one of each of the main spirits and approaching this from a cocktail creation point of view - what's going to let me make the widest range of drinks?

Gin - Martin Miller's Westbourne Strength has that same cool eccentricity as Hendrick's, but for me it's backed up by a really bold, flavourful juniper base that comes through well in old-school gin drinks. Vodka - Wyborowa. Now, luxury vodkas are great. No-one here's saying they're not. It's just, look...It's not you, it's me. I'm sorry, maybe I'll change in time. Let's stay friends, ok? Rum - Mount Gay XO gets it because a) I have no imagination and b) I'm a fool for big, punchy English style rums, heavy on the molasses and the vanilla. Whisky - I'm going for Monkey Shoulder because, genetically, I'm wired to pick a Scotch. Handy that it works so well in bourbon-based drinks, too. Brandy - Remy Martin VSOP. Brandy = something I need to work on.

I figure that I could probably get by without a Tequila, Cachaca or Pisco. Obviously, my desert island drinks cabinet will be of little use if any Central/Southern Americans stop by. Any Yankees would probably be pissed, too. But, still got five to play with:

Cointreau, because you'll always need a decent triple sec - actually, the same goes for bitters where Angostura Aromatic Bitters would get the nod. A bottle of Cinzano Rosso satisfies the need for vermouth as the big ednbrg Book of Truth says dry martinis are essentially pointless. I'll lob in a bottle of Tuaca for its versatility and that leaves the final spot for...

Ooh, toughie. I'd be tempted to go for Chambord, again for the versatility, but then I don't like it that much. On the other hand, I love St Germain elderflower liqueur but it's kind of limiting in what you can use it with. So, a liqueur, I guess. Oh, sod it. I'll be here all night. Stick in a bottle of Disarrono Amaretto and be done with it.

I'm now having visions of the brands I didn't pick looking disappointed and shaking their heads at me. Definitely creepy.