Here is our guide to making some classic cocktails
Champagne cocktail
Have you ever wondered what all those women were ordering in movies made during the 1950s? Well, here is a classic.
175 ml champagne
1 cube of sugar
Angostura bitters
Soak a sugar cube with Angostura bitters. Place the cube in the bottom of a chilled Champagne flute. Fill the glass with Champagne and garnish with a lemon twist.
Red wine cooler
Are you looking for a wine cooler that’s refreshingly different? Try this fresh take on an old stand by.
100 ml red wine
50 ml white grape juice
25 ml lemonade
25 ml soda water
Pour the wine, lemonade, white grape juice and soda water into a highball glass almost filled with ice cubes. Stir well. Garnish with a twist of lemon and a slice of orange and serve.
Watermelon martini
Looking for something colourfully refreshing? Cool watermelon in a martini, you can’t get better than that.
Some watermelon
50ml vodka (large shot)
Sugar syrup
Ice
In a shaker muddle a couple of matchbox sized chunks of watermelon, then add vodka, 2 dashes of sugar syrup and a handful of ice. Shake hard, and strain into a martini glass, garnishing with a wedge of watermelon.
The mojito
The coolest drink from Cuba – in more ways than one.
175 ml light rum
12 mint sprigs/spearmint, 8 roughly broken apart
6 tablespoons of fresh lime juice and 4 slices of lime
4 tablespoons of sugar
Soda
Place ice in a shaker and add rum, 8 broken up mint sprigs, lime juice and sugar. Shake well and serve over ice in a highball glass. Top off with a splash of club soda. Garnish with a slice of lime and a sprig of mint.
Refreshing spritzer
A classic wine drink that adds a little fizziness and life to your favourite white wine.
Dry white wine
*Aperitif of your choice (sweet vermouth, dry martini, sherry)
Soda water
Fruit (lemon, lime)
Use a tulip shaped glass. Fill to 1/3 mark with dry white wine then the aperitif of your choice till the glass is 2/3 full. Then fill to near the top with soda water, add a slice of fruit and an ice cube. *the aperitif you select determines the flavour and the type of fruit you use.
Pina colada
And while the music’s playing, an old favourite, especially with the girls.
50 ml pineapple juice
50 ml coconut cream
25 ml dark rum
Pineapple slices
Put ice, frozen pineapple juice, coconut cream, and the dark rum into a blender. Blend until smooth and frosty. Pour the drink into 2 glasses and garnish the rim with pineapple slices.