What Will Be The Next “In” Drink?

As a slightly more than casual drinker, you tend to notice phases when it come alcoholic drinks which are currently the popular choice of the moment. The trend at this point in time popular opinion seems to be pointed towards Gin as the big drink of the day, last year it was prosecco, when I was a teenager it was alcopops like Bacardi Breezers, Archers Aqua, Smirnoff Ice and WKD, and a few years ago it was fruity cider over ice. So when it comes to trying to discern what’ll be popular in the coming season, alcohol is a lot like clothing, you have to speculate, and generally just hope for the best. My predictions are that its likely to be one of the following.

Rum

Rum is sexy and kind of exotic, it has the overtones of some tropical or island paradise where the waves are lapping against the shore, and the sun is always shining. Rum makes this list as I’m starting to see some more unusual brands turn up in bars and clubs throughout my surrounding area, so maybe this is a sign.

Port

This may be more wishful thinking on my part, but more and more people are jumping on the fortified wine bandwagon, with sales of port growing at steady levels throughout 2015 and 2016, with aged tawny port being a particular favourite, with UK sales at over £79 Million maybe, just maybe if I order a port in a bar, I won’t get looked at like some kind of a freak.

Japanese Whiskey 

Brands like Suntory are finally starting to gain traction on the UK market in fact I saw a bottle of 12 year old Yamazaki in a bar, and admittedly it was a really trendy, upmarket (i.e expensive) bar, but it was a bar in the UK nonetheless. But what may be interesting to note, is that the whiskey market in the UK has been dominated by scotch, and that swill that the yanks have the audacity to call whiskey, with a one two exceptions (like Jamesons’s Irish Whiskey) so it would be interesting to see something new, and tasty.

Advocaat 

To be honest this is a complete wildcard, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this in real life, I mean who wants an egg based drink on a night out?

 

Classic Cocktails You Should Know How To Make Part Two

Yesterday I wrote the first in a series of posts about the classic cocktails that both men and women should probably know how to make, and if not know how to make, at the very least should have some sort of clue as to what actually goes into making them. Now as I write this blog with the slightly old fashioned gentleman in mind today we’ll be setting aside the mind set of unmanliness when it comes to drinking cocktails, as often the alcohol content is more than even the strongest of draft beers. And today we’ll dive back in with some more classic cocktails that you should know how to make, and should probably try.

Cuba Libre 

(Ingredients: 2 Shots of Dark Rum, Lime, Ice, Cola) no idiot could mess up the Cuba Libre, its a rum and coke with ice and a slice. Do I really have to take you through a step by step?

Margarita 

(Ingredients: 2 Shots of Tequila, 1 Shot of Cointreau, 1 Shot of Lime Juice, Ice, Salt, Lime) Throw everything except the lime and salt into a blender and let rip for sixty seconds. Rub a lime wedge around the rim of your glass and the add salt, then pour the contents of the blender into the glass (again scale up dependent on how many people)

Negroni 

(ingredients: 2 shots of Gin, 2 Shots of Red Vermouth, 2 Shots of Campari, orange, Ice) Take some ice, put it in a cocktail shaker, add your gin, add your vermouth and stir counter clockwise 7 times, drizzle the campari in while stirring, then pour into a glass then add your orange slice. Then drink it, then make another.

Cosmopolitan

(Ingredients: 2 Shots of Vodka, 1 Shot of Cointreau, 1 shot of lime juice, top with cranberry juice, Ice) take your ice and put it in a cocktail shaker, then add the vodka, Cointreau, lime juice and cranberry juice, shake it up, strain it out into the glass and then garnish with a slice of lime.

Long Island Ice Tea

(Ingredients 1 shot of Tequila, 1 shot of Vodka, 1 shot of White Rum, 1 shot of Triple Sec, 1 shot of Gin, 2 spoons of sugar, 1 shot lemon juice, top with cola, ice) This is one of those drinks that is really difficult to get right, its a fine line between nice cocktail and vomit inducing mess. Pour all the alcohol over ice, add the sugar and stir vigorously. Then you need to add the lemon juice and then top up with the cola. And then get down on your knees and pray that it tastes alright.

Join again tomorrow for some more classic cocktail recipes that will tantalise your taste buds and pickle what remains of your livers.  

Classic Cocktails You Should Know How To Make (Part One)

The other day I wrote a piece on how to make the perfect Martini, a few people have said good things to me about it, so I thought I would use some of the knowledge that I’ve gained from years and years of experience, both behind the bar and under it, to put together a little guide on some classic cocktails that bartenders everywhere would probably hope you don’t actually order, but are always good to try and do yourself, or give a go if you are in an actual cocktail bar, order one in your local pub and there is a could chance you may get laughed at, but from the comfort of your own home, or a pool bar in the Caribbean they can prove quite the alternative, to whatever happens to be on draft.

Black Russian

(Ingredients- 2 shots of Vodka, 1 Shot of Tia Maria, 4 shots cola, Ice) For this smooth, short cocktail, you’ll need a short tumbler, put in the ice, pour in the vodka and the tia maria then top up with the cola, stir lightly with a straw and there you have your Black Russian

Tom Collins

(Ingredients- 2 shots of Gin, 1 shot of lemon juice, 2 tea spoons of brown sugar, 100 ml soda water, Ice) Take your Gin, you lemon juice and bung it into a cocktail shaker, spoon in your sugar and stir, pour over the ice in a long tumbler, then fill to the top with soda water, garnish with a slice of lemon and add a straw, and that ladies and gentlemen is a Tom Collins

Sex On The Beach 

(Ingredients 2 shots of vodka, 2 shots of peach schnapps, 2 shots of orange juice, 2 shots of cranberry juice, ice) This one takes me back to my misspent youth spent in nightclubs with this sickly sweet sensation. Firstly you take the vodka and the schnapps and the orange juice, pour it into your shaker over ice, and give it your best flamenco dance, pour this whole concoction (ice and all) into a glass, and then add the cranberry juice, and now you’ve just had sex on the beach, this time without having to floss out sand.

Mojito

(Ingredients, 2 shots of white rum, 1 lime, soda water, 1 sprig of mint, ice) whilst this mother jumping cocktail does involve a little bit of plant life, its actually pretty easy to make. Pour your rum over ice, add the mint sprig, and squeeze some lime juice into the glass, top it up with soda water, and then add another wedge of lime, just for good measure. It looks good, and tastes nice, and above all is pretty easy to make, and always goes down well if you make one for a young lady.

Pina Colada 

(Ingredients, 2 shots of white rum, 2 shots of coconut milk 4 shots pineapple juice, Ice,) this classic cocktail does require the use of a blender if you’re going to do it right, so firstly you bosh your ice cubes into the blender, then in a completely unceremonious manner, you pour in the rum coconut milk and the pineapple juice and turn on the blender to full power for about 60 seconds until you get a nice frothy head on it, then pour it out, make sure you scale up depending on how many people your catering for.

 

Join again tomorrow for some more classic cocktail recipes that will tantalise your taste buds and pickle what remains of your livers.  

How To Make The Perfect Martini

We’ve all seen James Bond, it sounds pretty cool when Sean Connery or Roger Moore, saunters over to a bar in some fancy Cannes or Monaco casino dressed up to nines in his finest dinner jacket and dickey bow and comes out with that famous line “Vodka martini, Shaken not stirred” and every man watching that screen wishes he could be that cool and sophisticated. Would you begin to question the whole foundations of manhood if I told you that every part of James Bond’s famous drink order is just plain wrong? Well question away because it is.

Lets start with the second half of the line “shaken, not stirred”. WRONG. If you shake a martini over ice, you’re bashing the ice about in a cocktail shaker, chipping bits off willy nilly, thus watering down the alcohol content. So what 007 is actually doing is ordering a watered down drink and being a bit of a pain in the arse in doing so.

Now heading back to the first part of this atrocity. A Vodka Martini. WRONG. Martini’s aren’t meant to be made with vodka at all, they’re meant to be made with gin. Preferably English gin, although Bombay gin, or what passes as gin from the continent will suffice in a pinch, and is certainly a damn sight better than vodka.

Now that I’ve outlined some of the things that make a bad martini, I’ll talk you through how to make, to my mind, the perfect martini.

What you’ll Need

• 100ml of Gin (Brecon Botanical’s for preference)
• 25ml of Dry White Vermouth (Martini Bianco for preference)
• Ice
• A cocktail shaker
• A Coctail Spoon
• Two green pitted olives.

How To Do It

Put your ice in the cocktail shaker then add your vermouth, I, for preference go for a full shot, but some people range from a pretty hefty double to just mixing the drink in front of picture of a bottle of vermouth, but for my method stick to a full single measure (25 ml), then add all of your gin (don’t cheap out on the gin, you want something that tastes nice, not something that tastes like paint stripper or a widow’s tears). After you’ve added your gin, stir the mixture 7 times clockwise and then once anticlockwise (I’m fairly certain this is just something that I picked up from a Harry Potter book, and does nothing to enhance the flavour). At this point you need to put your olives in your glass (a proper cocktail glass) and then strain the mixture into the glass. Now drink up.

 

About Me: Five Favourite Cocktails

I’ve been writing this blog seriously for over a year now, so maybe its time we got to know each other a little better. I like Booze. So here are some of my favourite cocktails.

Negroni 

Martini 

Pina Colada

Strawberry Daiquiri

Black Russian  

How To Make The Perfect Negroni

Its a little bit like a Martini, but a bit sweeter and served over ice, so it isn’t as strong.

 

 

Ingredients: 

2 shots of Gin (I recommend Hendricks)

2 Shots of Sweet Red Vermouth (Go with the Martini Rosso)

2 Shots of Campari

A slice of orange

Ice (don’t be a dick, use your judgement on how much)

Method:

Take some ice, put it in a cocktail shaker, add your gin, add your vermouth and stir counter clockwise 7 times, drizzle the campari in while stirring, then pour into a glass then add your orange slice. Then drink it, then make another.

30 Before Thirty (Comics & Graphic Novels)

I’m going to be thirty in just over 2 years and at this moment in time I’m OK with that (how I feel about it in 10 minuets is up for debate) but one of the things that I realised is that there are a fair few things I still want to accomplish whilst the career and social goals are somewhat out of my control things like films I want to see, albums I want to listen to and books I want to read are very much in my control, especially as I have 25 months to accomplish it. Here is a list of the Comics and Graphic Novels that I would like to have read by the time I’m thirty.

Grant Morrison’s 18 Days

Camelot 3000

Miracle Man: A Dream Of Flying

All Star Superman 

Preacher: Gone To Texas

The Crow

Sandman Preludes and Nocturnes

Alan Moore’s: Saga of The Swamp Thing

Marvel 1602

Saga: Volume 1

 The Order: Die Mensch Machine

The Complete Scarlet Traces 

Button Man

Ronin 

Superman: Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow 

The Infinity Gauntlet 

Amazing Spider-man: Kravens Last Hunt

Promethea Book 1 

Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus 

Multiversity 

Son Of Superman 

Hellblazer: Original Sins 

The Authority: Relentless 

Hellboy: Seed Of Destruction 

Doctor Who: Emperor Of The Daleks

Death: The High Cost Of Living  

JSA The Liberty Files 

Alice In Sunderland 

Daredevil Yellow

The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch

How many of these do you think I’ll get done before July 21st 2019?

30 Before I’m Thirty (Films)

I’m going to be thirty in just over 2 years and at this moment in time I’m OK with that (how I feel about it in 10 minuets is up for debate) but one of the things that I realised is that there are a fair few things I still want to accomplish whilst the career and social goals are somewhat out of my control things like films I want to see, albums I want to listen to and books I want to read are very much in my control, especially as I have 25 months to accomplish it. Here is a list of the films that I would like to have read by the time I’m thirty.

How Green Was My Valley 

Gentleman’s Agreement

From Here to Eternity

Gone With The Wind

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

West Side Story

Lawrence of Arabia

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf

Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner

Funny Girl

Fiddler On The Roof

All The Presidents Men

Milk

Kramer Vs Kramer

Terms of Endearment 

The Cider House Rules

An Education

The Wolf Of Wall Street

Guardians of the Galaxy 2

Moonrise Kingdom

Saving Private Ryan

Going In Style 

Wall Street

King Ralph

Planes Trains and Automobiles

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The Monuments Men

Good Will Hunting

Good Morning Vietnam 

This Is Spinal Tap

How many of these do you think I’ll get done before July 21st 2019?

Drinking Games & Why They’re Stupid

Drinking games play a big part in the social lives of many people in this day and age, from ring of fire to beer pong, and quarters to buzz and the dreaded never have I ever. Many of us have taken part in that bit of fun. But it hit me the other day, when for some reason, when Marianna was staying with her grandparents, I was drinking with several 19/20 year olds (on a school night as well, no less) and the subject of drinking games came up (namely who wanted to play one). I must admit my objection was bordering on the vehement, and I wasn’t sure why. Then it struck me, that I have outgrown drinking just for the sake of getting drunk.

Back in the days when I first started going out to pubs and clubs when I turned eighteen *ahem* fifteen *ahem*, I would drink with the sole purpose of getting drunk, because the feeling was new and it was a novelty. But as I’ve grown up alcohol has become more of a social lubricant, I no longer intentionally drink my self into an absolute mess (note intentionally), I no longer use sentences like “a pint of snakebite and your strongest cheapest shot.” Now my taste in alcohol is judged on actual taste, not solely on alcohol content.

So this is why I find that drinking games are best to be avoided, and that isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy a game whilst drinking,  a couple of hands of poker, a game of foosball, darts or a couple of racks of pool all help a nice tipple to go down well and are vital parts of male bonding. But playing a game whilst drinking, where the point of the game is drinking, seems a little bit redundant and if I’m honest a little bit stupid, I mean if I wan’t a drink I’ll drink, if I wan’t to play a game, I’ll play a game, if I wanted to get trousered its within my means and knowledge base to get absolutely gazeboed, without prescribing to the convoluted rules and whims of those controlling the game.

The Lazy Ramblings Of A Lazy Guy (On Being In Love)

I was recently introduced to the Idle Thoughts Of An Idle Fellow by Jerome K Jerome. The book consists of 14 essays on 14 topics

1. ON BEING IDLE.
2. ON BEING IN LOVE.
3. ON BEING IN THE BLUES.
4. ON BEING HARD UP.
5. ON VANITY AND VANITIES.
6. ON GETTING ON IN THE WORLD.
7. ON THE WEATHER.
8. ON CATS AND DOGS.
9. ON BEING SHY.
10. ON BABIES.
11. ON EATING AND DRINKING.
12. ON FURNISHED APARTMENTS.
13. ON DRESS AND DEPORTMENT.
14. ON MEMORY.

Jerome K Jerome is pretty much me down to a tee. He’s lazy and just writes whatever comes to mind. He doesn’t care who he offends, and I often felt that he may have been somewhat high when he picked up the pen. But Mr Jerome has inspired me, so I am going to be writing a series of posts on the topics that Mr Jerome turned his hand at. (I know I’m ripping the guy off, but quite frankly I don’t care)

On Being In Love 

Have you ever seen someone and known that they would be a terrible distraction to your life. That was how I would describe it, that feeling of knowing that this person is going to really change your life. That knowledge that this is going to be massively inconvenient.

That’s how it all begins then you slip into it, the early days are all wine and dinner and flowers and dancing, but then comes the big pants and netflix, the cups of tea, the farting and the lack of make up, if you can get through that, that is true love. The enduring real world version of the thing.

Foreigner wanted to know what love is, well its two people who have decided to just give up and settle with each other because they find the other person somewhat less detestable than the rest of humanity, that my friends is love.

This is the second in series of posts ripping off the work of Mr Jerome K Jerome and his seminal piece The Idle Thoughts Of An Idle Man.