The Spirits: Heatwave Special

Think of the cocktails

Friends —

The moment feels auspicious. Britain is due for its seventh Prime Minister in as many weeks. We are approaching the tenth anniversary of “Take Back Control”. Football is coming home. And moreover it is hot. Unbelievably hot. The schools are closing. No one is answering their emails. Stokes Croft is even sketchier than usual. And look, the Met Office has just issued its forecast for 2056:

The excellent thing about cocktails, however, is that there are cocktails appropriate for every moment. Celebration and commiseration; temperature highs and temperature lows; temperature middles, too, come to that. With this in mind, I thought it would be worth collating five cocktails that might just help everyone get through the next few days. (If you’re in Bristol, of course, you will head to Filthy XIII and simply demand they make you an Absinthe Frappé.)

Look out for the usual Friday dispatch — for this you will need lemon sorbet, prosecco and vodka gin. And I’m preparing a little Cabinet post on blue curaçao, too. Should you wish to sign up to the Spirits and open up the full archive you can do so by pushing the button below.

Be cool,

Richard x

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~ THE FROZEN BANANA DAIQUIRI ~

Half a slightly overripe banana
50ml light rum
25ml lime juice
20ml golden sugar syrup
10ml Green Chartreuse (optional)
~120ml crushed ice

Put everything bar the crushed ice into a decent liquidiser (the Nutribullet is ideal) and, well, liquidise for ten seconds or so, until the banana is no more. Now add the crushed ice and blitz again for five seconds — or until the drink is a uniform slush. Pour into a silly glass and garnish with a slice of banana or, if you fel that doesn’t quite cut it, dehydrated citrus and an Angostura swirl. The Chartreuse is optional but ever so good.

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~ THE PIÑA COLADA ~

45ml light rum
100ml pineapple juice
30ml coconut milk (i.e. from a can; I recommend Aroy-D)
20ml golden sugar syrup
~150ml crushed ice

Place everything into a LIQUIDISER and blend at high-speed for no more than five seconds. Pour unstrained into a tall glass and garnish with umbrellas, glacé cherries, pineapple wedges and fronds, etc, and serve with a straw. Or, failing that, a lime wheel.

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~ THE BOURBON PEACH SLUSHIE ~

60ml bourbon
20ml orange liqueur
20ml lemon juice
~10ml peach jam (about one heaped teaspoon)
Dash of Angostura bitters
~120ml crushed ice

Measure out the bourbon, orange liqueur and lemon juice in a Nutribullet or similar, then add a good heaped teaspoon of the peach jam and a dash of Angostura. Add the crushed ice and blitz for about five seconds until you have a uniform slush. Pour into an attractive cocktail glass and garnish with a cherry. You can drizzle over a little extra cherry juice too, if that’s your thing. (NB: You can use peach liqueur if you like but peach jam works really well and is cheaper).

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~ THE FROZEN STRAWBERRY DAIQUIRI ~

Four strawberries, hulled
50ml light rum
25ml lime juice
20ml golden sugar syrup
10ml Campari (optional)
~120ml crushed ice

Put everything bar the crushed ice into a decent liquidiser (as mentioned, the Nutribullet is ideal) and liquidise for ten seconds or so. Now add the crushed ice and blitz again for five seconds. Pour into a silly glass and garnish with a strawberry. Again, the Campari is not strictly speaking necessary — but it is really really nice.

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~ THE WATERMELON SPRITZ ~

30ml Campari
60ml watermelon juice
60ml dry white wine/prosecco
30ml sparkling water
Dash absinthe (or ouzo!)

This one isn’t a frozen cocktail — but it is unbelievably refreshing and I invented it. Combine all of the ingredients in a wine glass or tumbler filled with ice cubes. Rather simple really. Garnish with olives (black?), mint, lemon and well, I guess watermelon wouldn’t go amiss.