How to: make classic cocktails when you’re not a bartender
Do you love cocktails but lack the skills or tools to shake them like a bartender? These cheat cocktails taste like the real deal and you can make them in no time!
The bartender
Master of an impressive range of finger-breaking techniques, an encyclopedic brain, the day-and-night rhythm of a bat and the creativity of an artist. I’m not talking about an 18th-century composer here, but a mythical figure from a more modern era: the bartender.
Shaken and stirred? None of that!
Unless you secretly aspire to a career as a mixologist deep down, developing the competencies above requires (far) too much of your time, energy and health. Luckily, there are a few ingenious tips available that allow you, as a novice, to put a classic on the table in no time. Shaken or stirred? None of the above.
Mai Tai
This legendary Tiki cocktail tastes as tropical as it sounds and has Polynesian roots. The story goes that Trader Vic, godfather of Tiki cocktails, welcomed some Tahitian friends in 1944 and made the first Mai Tai for them. Enthusiastically, the group shouted ‘Maitai roa!’ — or, very good! The recipe calls for a number of obscure liqueurs, homemade syrups, two types of rum and four years of your life. But don’t worry! Our version requires just three ingredients and the same number of minutes. Here we go!
Ingredients
- 40ml Plantation Xaymaca
- 120ml Three Cents Cherry Soda
- 15ml lime juice
- a lime wedge + a sprig of mint (for garnish)
- or: a slice of pineapple + a few cherries (for garnish)
Method
Pour the rum and lime juice into a glass filled with ice. Top up with Cherry Soda and garnish with some mint and a lime wedge, or with pineapple and cherry. Yes, that’s it. Really.
Penicillin
The antibiotic for another kind of ache: the Penicillin. A whisky cocktail with balls and a recipe that will leave you baffled. Not today! At home, you can make it in the blink of an eye.
Ingredients
- 40ml Sheep Dip
- 120ml Three Cents Ginger Beer
- 15ml lemon juice
- a splash of honey
- fresh ginger (for garnish)
Method
Pour the whisky, lemon juice and honey into a glass and stir well. Then add ice, top up with Ginger Beer and garnish with a piece of fresh ginger. There you go, cured!
Margarita
The name of an Italian queen, your favorite pizza and the world’s most famous cocktail: the Margarita. In America, you can buy it in a ready-made bottle or in powder form. The ultimate cheat, the ultimate desecration. With this slightly-less-cheaty-cheat Margarita, you’ll still be welcome in tequila heaven.
Ingredients
- 40 ml Tequila Corralejo Reposado
- 120 ml Bitter Lemon
- 15 ml lime juice
- a lime wedge (for garnish)
Method
Pour the tequila and lime juice into a glass filled with ice. Top up with Bitter Lemon and garnish with a lime wedge. Salud!
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