Rye whiskey, Cynar, milk chocolate, peppercorns,
Hidalgo oloroso sherry
Bourbon, spiced rum, lime, root spirit, dandelion simple,
maple syrup, egg white
Tequila Blanco, American gin, Italian amaro, lemon, ginger, chamomile, rhubarb, blackcurrant, decanter bitters
Hennessy VSOP, Fernet Branca, Dolin Blanc, demerara syrup, black strap molasses, fresh squeezed lemon and lime juice
What's on the menu at today's hot bars
I love a good cocktail. Something with a bit of a bitter edge, maybe faint sweetness, a bit of fizz or a dash of citrus. Beautiful glasses - a coupe, a cut crystal highball, a weighty smoked old fashioned - make the sipping even better. No straw please; I want to sip and feel the ice, hear the cubes settling in for a deep chill.
But something seems to have happened to the cocktail. Reading the drinks menu has become a bit of a chore. In a quest to create an ever more unusual, the-more-ingredients-the-better, Instagrammable drink, we're reading longer and longer lists that puzzle rather than tempt us. An ouzo or absinthe rinse ruins what could have been a perfectly fine drink. Lots of brown liquor. And Fernet Branca with everything. It's enough to make you want to order a G+T and be done with it.
The Sicilian Sundowner - three ingredients and whole lot of fun
Summer
should be a little more imaginative, without a whole lot more work. So tonight
instead of making a Campari soda or Aperol spritz, I made up a cocktail that
ticked all my summer sipper boxes: a little bit fizzy, a little bit bitter, a
touch of citrus and a sunshiny colour. No exotic ingredients, no syrups to make
or egg whites to beat. Just a long tall drink of summer.
The Sicilian Sundowner
makes one long cocktail
1 ½ oz. Aperol
1 oz. limoncello
Fever Tree Sicilian Lemonade soda, lemon tonic water or plain club soda*
*although this is not a sweet drink, if you prefer a drink with less sweetness, use plain club soda
Fill a highball glass with a generous fistful of ice cubes. Add Aperol, limoncello and soda of choice. Give it a stir, garnish with a strip of orange zest and sip slowly.
Salute!
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