The Cocktails Must Flow

Following closely on the heels of World Gin Day, today is World Martini Day. We’ve done a number of martinis since the site was launched.

The first we did was the Classic Martini and followed it immediately after with the Vodka Martini. We took a delve into the origins of the martini by doing a Martinez, which predates the martini itself.

There are endless variations of the martini, including the Tuxedo and the Perfect Martini, which itself has variations such as the Queen’s Jubilee Martini.

There are also fruit and cream based variations of the martini, of which we have made quite a few. All the martinis we’ve made can be found here.

However, for today we have a recipe for a martini we’ve not posted as of yet. This is the Queen Martini; like the Queen’s Jubilee Martini, the Queen is a variation of the Perfect Martini which uses equal proportions of gin, dry vermouth and sweet vermouth.

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Got something to celebrate (such as a new job)? Why not do it with a celebration cocktail which was created by Devis D’Ercole in 2015 at Imperial Beach, Sn Benedetto del Tronto, Marche, Italy.

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Redheads make up less than 2% of the population of the planet, but are more common in northern and western European peoples. You can celebrate Irish redheads with this cocktail named after them. Typically using Jameson’s Irish whiskey, but you can make it smokier by using Connemara Peated Single Malt Irish Whiskey instead.

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Opening this evening with our own cocktail which is loosely based on the Banoffee Buffalo from The LiqueurLab in Telford, England. Some ingredients were removed or replaced and cream added to make a rich, tasty dessert cocktail.

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Today is World Gin Day and we’re bringing you a classic gin cocktail; the Casino.

The Casino is an IBA official cocktail made with gin, maraschino liqueur, orange bitters and fresh lemon juice. The cocktail first appears in Recipes for Mixed Drinks compiled by Hugo R Ensslin in 1917.

There are many versions of the Casino, but we’re using the official IBA one. Part of the reason for picking the Casino is that it uses Old Tom Gin which is a traditional style gin which ws long out of favour, but has seen a resurgence in recent years.

Old Tom Gin (or Tom Gin or Old Tom) is a gin recipe popular in 18th-century England. In modern times, it became rare but has experienced a resurgence in the “Craft Cocktail” movement. It is slightly sweeter than London Dry, but slightly drier than the Dutch Jenever, thus is sometimes called “the missing link”.

The name Old Tom Gin purportedly came from wooden plaques shaped like a black cat (an “Old Tom”) mounted on the outside wall of some pubs above a public walkway in 18th-century England. Owing to the Gin Craze, the British government tried to stem the flow of gin with prohibitive taxes and licensing, which drove the scene underground. Under the cat’s paw sign were a slot to put money in and a lead tube. From the tube would come a shot of gin, poured by the bartender inside the pub.

Old Tom Gin was formerly made under licence by a variety of distillers around the world; however, one was recently relaunched by Hayman’s distillery based on an original recipe. Since then a number of other companies have followed suit, such as: Booth’s; Secret Treasures; The Liberty Distillery; Tanqueray; Langley’s; Jensens; Ransom; Master of Malt; The Dorchester Hotel; The London Distillery Company Ltd; and Sacred Spirits.

An Old Tom Gin made by J. Wray and Nephew Ltd. of Jamaica is also commonly found on the market.

Old Tom Gin is specified for Jerry Thomas’ cocktail called the Martinez in his 1887 Bartender’s Guide, How to Mix All Kinds of Plain and Fancy Drinks. The first record of it being used in the Tom Collins cocktail was the 1891 book, The Flowing Bowl: When and What to Drink.

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This is a fairly simple cocktail using Jack Daniel’s Gentleman Jack Tennessee Whiskey (although it works just fine using Old No.7) combined with maple syrup, orange juice and orange bitters; much better than the sum of it’s parts.

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The Aviation is an early 20th Century classic which was created by Hugo Ensslin and is an official IBA cocktail. It is often considered as a variation of a gin sour, which uses the maraschino liqueur as a sweetener.

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A luxurious and rich after-dinner martini for those with a sweet tooth. Instead of garnishing with grated dark chocolate you could use a sprig of mint.

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I found and selected this cocktail for our final drink of the Platinum Jubilee and only afterwards found out it is also known as an Apple Car, which was created by Harry Craddock in London, during 1935.

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A rich and spicy cocktail using Dubonnet Red and champagne (or other sparkling wine). As we’re posting this on Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, we’ve used an English sparkling wine from Lyme Bay Winery. The other ingredient, Dubonnet Red, is reputed to be one of the Queen’s favourite drinks, a taste she acquired via her mother.

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