Wanting to throw a cocktail party, but confused about what to serve? IANS lists the top 10 cocktails as detailed by the experts.
The list has been prepared after jamming with bartenders and chefs at various bars and restaurants in the capital - Smoke House Room, Harem, Second Sin, Restaurant Drift at Epicentre, Kasturi, The Spice Market, Zura Bistro Bar Bakery and Park Plaza Noida.
Here's the list:
1. Charlie Chaplin cocktail: Charlie Chaplin is the first actor to have a drink named after him. With an equal mix of lime, apricot brandy and sloe gin, the drink is a gentle mix of sweet and sour.
Ingredients:
1 oz (ounce) apricot brandy
1 oz sloe gin
1 oz fresh lime juice
lime peel for garnish
Method: Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake it well. Strain it into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish it with a lime peel.
Price: Rs.450 per glass plus tax.
2. Naked Lady: A sophisticated cocktail with a name that is really an attention grabber. Making the cocktail is simple and easy.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 oz Bacardi Superior Rum
1 1/4 oz Noilly Prat Rouge (sweet Vermouth)
1 1/2 oz Apricot brandy
1 1/2 oz pomegranate grenadine
1 1/5 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 or 3 ice cubes
Lemon zest to garnish
Method: Put all ingredients into a shaker, throw in the ice and shake until the exterior of the shaker gets very cold. Double strain into a chilled or frozen glass. Finally, garnish with lemon zest.
Price: Rs.450 per glass plus tax.
3. Sex on the Beach: One of the most popular cocktails, Sex on the Beach is a delicious fruity drink in almost anyone's favourite drink list. It's a great tropical highball apt for hot summer evenings or for noons at the beach.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz vodka
3/4 oz peach schnapps
1/2 oz creme de cassis
2 oz orange juice
2 oz cranberry juice
Orange slice, Maraschino cherry to garnish
Method: Pour all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes and shake well. Strain into a highball glass and garnish it with orange slice and maraschino cherry.
Price: Rs.450 per glass plus tax.
4. Blood and Sand: The Scotch based cocktail is named after a 1922 movie starring Rudolph Valentino and Rita Hayworth. Blood and Sand is one of the few classic mixed drinks which has Scotch. It is ideal for those who like strong drink.
Ingredients:
3/4 oz Scotch whisky
3/4 oz cherry brandy
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
3/4 oz orange juice
An orange slice for garnish.
Method: Put everything into cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake it well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange slice.
Price: Rs. 450 per glass plus tax.
5. Bloody Mary: Termed as 'the world's most complex cocktail', Bloody Mary is a popular cocktail and it is never out of circulation. It was one of the earliest vodka cocktails to gain popularity in the US and is equally popular even today.
Ingredients:
1 Oz Of Smrinoff No 21 Vodka
3 Oz Of Tomato Juice
2 tblsp Red Hot Sauce
2 tblsp Green Hot Sauce
1 Dash Of Worcestershire Sauce
0.5 Oz Of Lemon Juice
1 pinch of Salt
1 Pinch Of Pepper
1 stalk of celery
Method: Add Smirnoff No. 21 Vodka with all ingredients including sauces and lemon juice. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour back and forth between two mixing glasses. Strain into an ice-filled highball glass and garnish with celery stalk.
Price: Rs.299 per peg plus tax.
6. Red wine Sangria: Sangria takes its name from Spanish word - sangre, which means "blood" and refers to the blood-red colour of the drink. The drink made from fresh fruit and wine is a perfect beverage for summer parties and offers a freshness to wine enthusiasts.
Ingredients:
1 cup of cubed seasonal fruits
1 cup orange juice
1 bottle red wine
1/2 cup sugar
2 tblsp cognac
2 cups soda
Method: Heat up orange juice, and sugar till the sugar dissolves. Mix all the ingredients in a pitcher, except ice and soda, which you add just before serving. Serve in wine glasses.
Price: Rs.1,800 per pitcher plus tax.
7. Tequila Sunrise: The drink is called Tequila Sunrise because of the way it looks after it is poured into a glass - denser ingredients settle down, creating gradations in colour that look like a sunrise. The cocktail is considered a long drink and is usually served in a highball glass.
Ingredients:
2 oz Tequila
1 glass of orange juice
Dash of grenadine
Method: Pour tequila in a highball glass with ice and top it with orange juice then stir it. Add grenadine by tilting glass and pouring grenadine down side by flipping the bottle vertically very quickly. The grenadine should go straight to the bottom and then rise up slowly through the drink.
Price: Rs.300 per glass plus tax.
8. Cosmopolitan: It is a cocktail made with vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice, and freshly squeezed lime juice. It first appeared on the scene in the 1980s but it was TV series "Sex and the City" that got it international recognition.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 oz vodka
1/4 cup cranberry juice
1/4 cup oz lime juice
1/4 cup triple sec
Method: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Quickly shake and pour into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lime twist.
Price: Rs.225 per glass plus tax.
9. Singapore Sling: It is one of the oldest cocktails developed by Ngiam Tong Boon, a bartender working at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel in Singapore. The attractive pink- coloured cocktail is quite popular among women.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz gin
1 oz lemon juice
1/4 oz sugar syrup
1 1/2 tsp powdered sugar
2 oz club soda
1/2 oz cherry brandy
A lemon slice and maraschino cherry to garnish
Method: Pour gin, lemon juice, sugar syrup and powdered sugar into a shaker with ice cubes. Shake it well. Strain into a highball glass with ice cubes then add club soda.
Float the cherry brandy on top by pouring it over the back of a bar spoon and garnish with lemon slice and cherry.
Price: Rs.250 per glass plus tax.
10. Watermelon Jolly Rancher: If you want the sweet taste of a watermelon and a great buzz to party, then this is your drink.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz watermelon
0.5 oz sweet & sour mix
1/2 oz grenadine
2 tblsp lime juice
Method: Shake vodka and watermelon with ice and strain into old fashioned glass over ice cubes. Fill with sweet and sour mix, add grenadine for colour and stir. Add cherry on top and serve.
Price: Rs.250 for a glass plus tax.