3 Cocktails Every Bartender Should Know
If you follow my daily exploits over on instagram then you’ll know that over the past few months I’ve honed my cocktail making skills and become a next level bartender…for myself.
It’s actually been a pretty cool little skill to learn. I’ve always pictured liked the idea of making my own high quality cocktails from home. I think it’s probably due to the fact that so my idea of a cocktail in University was either Tesco brand vodka and lemonade or a lucid green drink called a ‘Banta lad’. Both of which were incredibly lethal and cost-effective, but I think they’ve lost their appeal since graduation.
While in my final year of University I actually wrote and designed a full 26 page magazine devoted to drinking. Which looking back sounds like a really unhealthy way to spend my final year of University (bare in mind I also had to write a digital dissertation). But my lecturer for this module had spent most of his youth (And a fair bit after his youth) working for Ministry of Ibiza in the 00’s. He used to play old footage of the nights out and pass around old copies of his magazine.
If ever comes across this blog post (Which I doubt) I just want to clarify that the man was one of the best people I met during my whole degree. He was a brilliant teacher and able to get on with the students like a house on fire. I remember him taking a big interest in my magazine; which I’d affectionately named ‘Last Orders’.
I still have several copies and the PDF file of that magazine, I worked so damn hard to make it pretty. But I also made some really useful connections in the pubs and clubs across town. Some of them surprisingly gave me real cocktails for free instead of coloured water for photoshoots; which meant I turned up to several lectures absolutely tipsy and was able to call it ‘research’.
Long story short, I like a drink or two. But I also appreciate the quality of a well-made cocktail with a slightly high proof. Lockdown gave me the perfect opportunity to practise my skills and turn it into something I could realistically do at home.
So as we move away from Summer, with sweaty beer gardens and over priced long island’s; I thought it was time I start to bring my cocktails to the blog. Over the past few months we haven’t really been able to go out and drink, but Halloween season has always been my cocktail season. Why? The drinks are AMAZING.
But that’s a post for another time, today we’re covering the basics my friend. Here are 3 cocktails you should really know how to make before you even consider life as a bartender.
Pornstar Martini
A classic so good that it’s almost overused. But we’re not quite done with this fruity way to start the day just yet.
Personally, Pornstar is the one drink I just can not stand anymore. I had several on a night out once and instead of painting the town red I decided to paint the bathroom neon orange.
What you need:
2 ripe passion fruits (they should have a crinkly appearance), halved
60ml vanilla vodka
30ml passoa
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp sugar syrup
prosecco, to serve
How you do it:
Scoop the seeds from one of the passion fruits into the glass of a cocktail shaker, add the vodka, passoa, lime juice and sugar syrup.
Add a handful of ice and shake well, strain into 2 martini glasses, top up with prosecco, then add half a passion fruit to each.
Serve immediately.
Long Island Iced Tea
I absolutely love Long Island Iced Tea. It’s my drink of choice when opting for a spoons pitcher and I’m sure I’m not alone in this chic. However you do have to be an absolute madman to down it all. The drink is made with four spirits after all!
What you need:
50ml vanilla vodka
50ml London dry gin
50ml reposado tequila (silver tequila will work just fine)
50ml rum
50ml triple sec
50-100ml fresh lime juice
ice
500ml cola
2 limes, cut into wedges
How you do it:
Pour the vodka, gin, tequila, rum and triple sec into a large (1.5l) jug, and add lime juice to taste. Half fill the jug with ice, then stir until the outside feels cold.
Add the cola then stir to combine. Drop in the lime wedges.
Fill 4 tall glasses with more ice cubes and pour in the iced tea.
Blue Lagoon
What you need:
few handfuls ice cubes and some crushed ice
100ml blue curaçao
100ml vodka
1 lemon, juiced
1 orange, juiced
1 lime, juiced
8 maraschino cherries and 1 tsp of the syrup
200ml soda water
How you do it:
Put the ice cubes in a large jug. Pour over the curaçao, vodka, fruit juices and 1 tsp syrup from the cherries. Stir until the outside of the glass feels cold.
Half-fill four hurricane glasses with crushed ice, then strain in the cocktail.
Top up the glasses with the soda water and gently stir, then garnish with the maraschino cherries.