Leonardo DiCaprio

You don’t need to perform any capers with a shaker for this strong cocktail by Tess Posthumus, because you can simply stir it. 

Fill a mixing glass with ice cubes.

Add the whiskey, sweet vermouth, honey syrup, Cynar and Angostura bitters.

Stir all the ingredients until frost starts to form on the outside of the mixing glass.

Fill a rocks glass with one large piece of ice.

Strain the cocktail into the glass.

Garnish with a slice of blood orange and a maraschino cherry.

Extra

Would you like a non-alcoholic celebrity cocktail? Fill a long drink glass with ice cubes and add 15 milliliters of pomegranate syrup, 15 milliliters of fresh lemon juice and 120 milliliters of ginger ale. Give it a brief stir and garnish the Shirley Temple with a lemon slice and a maraschino cherry. Leonardo has finally got his much-coveted Oscar, and I thought he deserved a cocktail named after him too. The base for this Leonardo cocktail is rye whiskey because it is American and has a slightly rougher flavor than bourbon. Sweet vermouth and blood orange are a nod to Blood Diamond, honey because it naturally attracts bears (The Revenant), and Cynar with a dash of Angostura bitters because it was naturally very ‘bitter’ that, until recently, he kept missing out on the Oscar. (Especially because Shirley Temple had already got hers at the age of six.) Served over one large block of ice, because that is of course the iceberg from Titanic.

Honey syrup

250 g honey | 250 ml water | optional: 25 ml vodka

Put the honey and water in a saucepan.

Heat over medium heat. Do not let it boil, as this will give the honey syrup a different flavor.

Stir well until the honey has completely dissolved.

Let the syrup cool.

Pour the syrup through a fine sieve to remove any pieces.

Add 25 milliliters of vodka to the syrup and stir briefly.

Store the syrup for up to 1 month in a clean, tightly sealed glass bottle in the refrigerator.

Info: When making a cocktail, honey is often difficult to measure precisely with a jigger because of its viscosity. Honey syrup is therefore much easier to dose and also dissolves more quickly in the cocktail.

Pomegranate syrup

500 g granulated sugar | 250 ml organic pomegranate juice | optional: 50 ml vodka

Put the sugar and pomegranate juice in a saucepan.

Heat over medium heat. Do not let it boil, as the sugar will caramelize and acquire a different flavor.

Stir well until the sugar has completely dissolved.

Let the syrup cool.

Pour the syrup through a fine sieve to remove any undissolved sugar crystals.

Add 50 milliliters of vodka to the syrup and stir briefly.

Store the syrup for up to 3 months in a clean, tightly sealed glass bottle in the refrigerator.

Info: Pomegranate syrup is the same as grenadine, but grenadine is almost never pomegranate syrup. Grenadine often owes its red color to added coloring agents, and its flavor is nowhere near that of pomegranates. It is quite a chore to remove the seeds from a pomegranate without ending up covered in bright red juice yourself. But the tastiest syrup is made by taking on this task and then juicing the seeds in a centrifugal or slow juicer. Replace the packaged pomegranate juice with this fresh juice.

Cocktails with Tess
Tess Posthumus
€ 25,-
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Image: Saskia Lelieveld