… and let’s not forget the quintessential British cocktail – Pimms!
2 x Pimms, fresh apple slice, strawberry, orange slice, cucumber slice poured over ice into a pint glass, topped with lemonade and garnished with fresh mint leaves. (To make a pitcher just multiply by four). For an additional ‘kick’ you can create a Turbo-Pimms by the simple addition of a shot of good gin! Or, check out this version…
More Cocktail Recipes and Tips
These are just a few to start you off – there are plenty of cocktail recipe books available and the choice immense, a fantastic site for all your cocktail needs is The Friday Cocktail and one of the most comprehensive online databases of cocktail recipes is DrinksMixer (although you’ll need to do a lot of conversions from “ounces” to “ml” – but they have a great conversion chart for that).
There’s been much talk in the trade press recently of the resurgence of “bitters” such as Angostora, which, you may be familiar with from an old favourite the Pink Gin, but others you may find interesting that can add a little zing to your mixing can be found here
Bombs Away!
Energy bomb sales still rising in Britain’s pubs and bars. A third of all outlets in the UK now serve ‘energy bombs’ – including two thirds of bars and almost 50% of all pubs. Food and drinks consultancy CGA Strategy has reported that the high energy serve is still experiencing growth, with rates of sale in stockists continuing to rise, up 9% year-on-year. The best-selling bomb remains the Jägerbomb, a shot of Jägermeister liqueur submerged in a larger glass of energy drink Red Bull. But Glitterbombs (Goldschlager and Red Bull), Skittlebombs (Cointreau and Red Bull) and other variations on the theme now feature on bar menus nationwide. Consumer research by CGA has shown bombs are now far more than a student phenomenon, with bomb-drinking now firmly entrenched mainstream market behaviour. In a survey, CGA found that 82% of respondents, including 91% of 18-24 year olds surveyed, had ordered a bomb on at least one night out, with a fifth of respondents (and almost a third of 18-24 year olds) ordering the serve in the last week.
How To Go Completely Gaga!
For the popsters out there here’s a recipe to celebrate all that is Lady Gaga
Gaga Colada Recipe
37.5ml Havana rum
12.5ml blue curaçao
10ml Lime juice
100ml coconut milk
150 pineapple juice
A handful of banana candy floss
Pink and silver edible glitter
1 balloon
Place the candy floss into a martini glass. Shake the rum, curaçao, coconut milk with the lime and pineapple juice with ice and strain over the candy floss into the glass. Have your balloon filled with the edible glitter as you blow it up and tie it. Using a pin, pop the balloon over the drink, letting the glitter fall down onto the drink. Garnish with some candy floss on the side and enjoy!
Finally with all the guidelines and regulations on responsible retailing this is the wordage I put on cocktail menus:
“ … and now for the really small print …we are obliged as responsible retailers of alcohol to advise you that cocktails should be enjoyed for their subtle combination of flavours and not as a quick route to oblivion!”
For more advice on Running Responsible Drinks Promotions click here