Author: The Cocktails Must Flow

Our first cocktail is the El Draque, and is the first cocktail ever mixed. It was created by Sir Francis Drake in 1586, somewhere near Havana, Cuba, and is the precursor to the modern mojito.

According to legend, Francis Drake and his fleet were somewhere near Havana, in the Caribbean, plundering Spanish ships and towns, when his crews were taken ill and were too sick to sail.

Drake, using local medicines from the local Taino and Ciboney Indians as ingredients, created an-all new elixir; lime to treat scurvy, mint to calm the stomach, chuchuasi tree-bark, which has numerous healing benefits, soaked in rum and a little cane sugar to enhance the taste. This remedy is today known as the El Draque after Francis Drake himself, using his Spanish nickname.

(more…)

Our third and final cocktail is the Orchard Breeze; this is an adaption by Simon Difford of a cocktail created by Wayne Collins in 2002.

There is a few ingredients here we’ve either not previously used together, but it is very much worth trying; a mix of vodka, elderflower liqueur, dry white wine with apple and lime juices.

(more…)

Our second cocktail is the Hard Cherry Coke. Unlike the

(more…)

Our first cocktail is the Sunset Safari, a refreshing brown cocktail made from Amarula, amaretto, citrus liqueur and cinnamon..

(more…)

Today is Amaretto Day and we have a cocktail to share; todays cocktail is the Black Almond from Kita at Pass the Sushi. She says that the cocktail was created by her father; the only change to the recipe we’ve made, is that we are using Kraken Black Spiced Rum instead of Captain Morgan’s Black Spiced Rum, as we have the former but not the latter (which doesn’t seem to be available in the UK).

I’m a big fan of almond, or things which taste like almond such as Disaronno, so when I was looking for a cocktail to use and found this I was intrigued.

Unless Captain Morgan’s Black Spiced Rum has some extra dark quality to it, I think there has been some trickery with the photos on the Pass the Sushi site to show pictures of the drink looking so dark, as it came out a medium brown (which I would expect with brown amaretto and pale brown ginger ale. However, it is very good and one I’ll return to again in future.

A last note; often the reason for the date of a particular day is not known, but 19th April was selected as it is the birthday of Domenico Reina, who first started producing Disaronno in Saronno, Italy, in the 20th century..

(more…)

Our third and final cocktail is the bourbon Passion Fruit Cocktail. This is a very refreshing, fruit, bourbon-based cocktail, perfect for summer days in the garden.

(more…)

Our second cocktail is the Aperol Spritz. A classic spritz made to a 3-2-1 ratio of prosecco, Aperol and soda water, served over ice with a garnish of orange wheel.

(more…)

Our first cocktail is the Amarula Martini, which combines Amarula cream liqueur and gin with aromatic bitters and which is served over ice with a slice of lemon.

(more…)

I decided to do Easter cocktails today, but once I got looking into it properly, I realised that most of the cocktails talked about on “i cocktails for Easter” are really just ordinary spring or summer cocktails. Rather than jumo onto that train, I’ve selected a single cocktail for this evening.

That cocktail is the Easter Cocktail, which was created by Created by Simon King at MJU Bat, Millennium Hotel, London, in 2003.

If anyone knows of cocktails actually related to Easter, I’d appreciate a heads up for next year.

[cocktail-ingredients]

Our third and final cocktail is the Limoncello Spritz. This is a modern addition to the Sprintz family of cocktails; a lovely refreshing cocktail, perfect for a hot summer day.

(more…)