The Vesper Martini is famously known as the ”James Bond Cocktail”. The drink appeared for the first (and only) time in Ian Fleming’s novel Casino Royale. It was published in 1953, and it marked the beginning of the first adventures of the famous spy with the codename 007. It is a powerful drink and should be enjoyed slowly, but not slow enough for it to get warm. The attractiveness and sobriety of this cocktail may be due to the translucent appearance and the curly lemon peel that adorns the cocktail glass. The cocktail differs from the classic Dry Martini. Not only does the lemon peel replace the olive, but it also contains both gin and vodka. On top of that, the vermouth has been replaced with Lillet Blanc.

How to Prepare a Vesper Martini

45 ml of gin

15 ml of vodka

15 ml of Lillet Blanc

A large thin slice of lemon peel

Ice

Preparation

1. Fill a cocktail glass with ice to cool while preparing the cocktail
2. Pour the gin, vodka, and Lillet Blanc in a shaker and fill with ice.
3. Shake for 10 to 15 seconds
4. Remove the ice from the cocktail glass
5. Pour the filtered drink from the shaker (without the ice)
6. Finally, garnish with the curly lemon peel

History

As mentioned, the Vesper Martini was born in the novel Casino Royale, but it only appears once in the entire series. James Bond named it Vesper in homage to the female main character of the novel, Vesper Lynd. In the following novels, James Bond used to order a Dry Martini (”shaken, not stirred”, of course). The cocktail was invented by a friend of the author, Ian Fleming. He incorporated it into the story because the cocktail was different and explosive.

The original cocktail is made with Kina Lillet which was a more bitter version of the Lillet Blanc sold today. The Kina Lillet no longer exists because Lillet’s formula changed in 1980 and this removed some of the original bitterness. If you want your Vesper Martini to resemble the original as much as possible there is a way to tweak the recipe. You can get close to the original flavour by adding a bit of Angostura bitter to the other ingredients in the shaker. However, this twist is not one that we would recommend.

It is important to use Lillet Blanc and not just any white vermouth. The flavours are vastly different. You might want to consider using Stolichnaya vodka that has a high alcohol content and resembles the drink from the 50s.

The cocktail Black Russian was invented in Brussels, Belgium. The name of the cocktail is owed to its colour and its main ingredient, Russian vodka. However, other versions of the story indicate that the word Black may stem from the period during the Cold War. The cocktail was created in 1949 by Gustave Tops who managed the bar at Hotel Metropole in Brussels.

Tops created the first Black Russian cocktail in honour of the US ambassador to Luxembourg, Perle Mesta. Since its creation this cocktail has continued to gain new fans, and it is considered one of the most attractive vodka cocktails for both men and women. Perhaps the popularity can be ascribed to the absence of fruits. Instead the strength and personality of the coffee liqueur shines through in every sip.

Ingredients

4 cl Vodka

2 cl Coffee Liqueur

Cola to top up

Preparation

This cocktail is a no-nonsense kind of drink which does not need to be mixed. Simply fill your glass with ice, pour the vodka and liqueur into your glass, and stir gently. Use the cola to top up if you prefer a longer drink.

At the beginning this drink was served in an Old Fashioned glass but over time it has become popular to serve it in a Collins glass which is taller and narrower. Many people drink the cocktail as a digestif.

In a few days, we will celebrate the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020. Of course, you probably already have a menu planned for the day but did you consider the drinks? Indeed, the last evening of the year has to be celebrated with elegance and class. That is why we compiled several ideas to inspire you!

4 Delicious Cocktails for your holidays

The holiday season is a long period with many celebrations. Make sure to always have an innovative cocktail idea at hand with those four cocktails! They manage to embody both the Winter spirit and the celebratory atmosphere.

4 Original and Infallible Cocktails to revive the Christmas spirit

What is better to enjoy this time than with luscious and original cocktails? Find the recipes to make a warm vodka-based Winter Sun; a whiskey-based Rothes Original, a Pomegranate Champagne and sweet Mount Christ with orange liqueur.

3 Unbeatable Cocktails With Champagne For Your New Year’s Eve Aperitif

Champagnes are the main protagonists of New Year’s Eve drinks. How about adding a little bit of originality to them? Find delicious cocktail recipes with Champagne and toast in a different way.

7 Alcohol-free Cocktails for Everyone

Tough cocktails are often associated with alcohol, there exists a wide variety of them which are completely lacking alcohol. These alcohol-free cocktails are ideal when celebrating with the whole family as they enable each to toast!

Cocktails Galore – Choose your alcohol

Another way to decide what cocktail to make for your New Year’s Eve is to first look at the type of spirits you prefer (or the one you still have at home from last year). The most common types of cocktails are vodka-based (I) (II) (III), though rum and whiskey remain two serious contenders.

Jack Daniel’s Winter Jack

Jack Daniel’s Winter Jack,  a whisky produced by Jack Daniel’s Distillery from the United States with an alcoholic content of 15%.

Smirnoff Gold

Smirnoff Gold, s produced by The Smirnoff Company from Russia with an alcohol content of 37.5%.

Fruit cocktails? They are going out of fashion! The current trend is all about vegetable cocktails. They are beautiful to look at and look great on that perfect photo. In fact, it is an unwritten rule on social media that you must post a photo of your drink on Instagram before you take a sip. Vegetable cocktails are becoming increasingly fashionable in hipster environments and in the most popular bars.

However, this is probably not the first time you have come across a cocktail containing vegetables. For a while, it has been common to find cucumbers and celery in drinks (we’re looking at you, Gin and Tonic…). And of course, one of the most popular cocktails in the world is the famous Bloody Mary which contains tomato juice.

Therefore, today we have decided to look at 5 very easy recipes for vegetable cocktails. We can help you ensure that your aperitifs and your parties will be more ”green”.

Green Paradise

• 2 handfuls of fresh spinach
• 4 cl of vodka
• 3 cl of coconut milk
• 1.5 cl of Bénédictine
• 2 drops of absinthe

Wash the spinach and mix it with coconut milk, vodka and Bénédictine. Put two ice cubes in a beautiful old glass, pour the drink, and finish with two drops of absinthe. That’s it!

Red Bell Cocktail

• 40 g of red pepper
• 4 cl of gin
• 6 basil leaves
• One cup of lemon juice

Cut the red pepper into very thin strips. Put the strips in a cocktail shaker with lemon juice and basil. Grind the mix in a mortar to extract the juice. Then add it all with the gin and some ice in the shaker. Shake well, filter and pour the contents into a Martini glass.

Psycho Carrot Deluxe

• 4 cl of rum
• 1 cl of Triple Sec
• 3 carrots (6 cl of juice)
• 1 cl of coconut milk
• Nutmeg powder (2 pinches)

Juice the carrots (or use a good quality carrot juice). Put some ice cubes and all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake well and pour everything into a glass full of ice. Simple, right?

Zucchini Sake

• 2 zucchinis
• 2 tablespoons of lemon syrup
• 6 cl of sake

Wash and chop the zucchini, then squeeze the pulp to obtain a very liquid juice. Pour the zucchini water, lemon syrup, sake and ice into a shaker. Shake well and pour the entire contents into a glass, adding some ice cubes and a zucchini peel as decoration.

Beetroot cocktail

• 45 g beetroot
• 3 cl of lemon juice
• 4.5 cl of whiskey
• 17 g of sugar
• 1 cl of tonic
• Thyme

Crush the beet to extract its juice. Add the beet juice and sugar in a pan and heat over medium heat until the sugar has melted. Let it cool. You should have obtained about 30 ml of red turnip syrup. Add the syrup, whiskey, lemon juice, tonic, and some ice in a shaker. Shake and pour into an old fancy glass. Garnish with thyme.

The Cointreau is a fine liqueur originally from France in the mid-19th century, triple-filtered.

Grey Goose Vodka 1L

Grey Goose Vodka 1L is undoubtedly one of the most famous vodkas in the world.

Buy Grey Goose Vodka 1L

We can not deny that the world of cocktails is expanding. New flavours appear each day so that we not only drink them as an aperitif or a simple digestive but also when having a meal. Thus, cocktail pairings are strongly in trend at bars and restaurants.

The union between bartender and chef

With this pairing, we discover a new way of working in the kitchen, in which both chef and bartender connect, merge and launch fantastic creations. Both work hand in hand to complement ingredients and textures, each in their own knowledge area. This makes them mutually enriching and the result of their fusion brings new experiences to diners.

Pure craftsmanship

Cocktail pairings are usually quite similar to wine and food pairings. But they differ because they are much more creative and artisan and usually the alcohol content of the cocktails is higher. The bartender is usually a great innovator who transforms and experiments to find the right flavour: the one that best pairs with the right food.

Types of cocktails and meals

Nevertheless, we must take into account a series of recommendations when it comes to pairing food with cocktails. For example, when a combination has too much alcohol then it is better for food to be also powerful and strong, and also of slower digestion. Dry cocktails pair better instead with foods with proteins and fats.

Some cocktail pairings

In Barcelona, ​​the restaurant The Alchemix unites both worlds, thanks to the wisdom of chef Sergi Palacín and bartender Ignacio Ussía, who together create a menu of cocktails and food from Asia and the Mediterranean. They propose a mix between gastronomy and cocktails for an after-work, such as the foie temaki in ice cream cone with nori seaweed with foie mousse and alcohol macerated with amaretto. They have many more proposals.

Another classic cocktail that stands out in this pairing matter is the margarita, which in its country of origin, Mexico, usually accompanies Mexican meals. It brings a great balance to spicy and strong food.

Another example is the Dry Martini, which in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel of Barcelona is paired with special sauces or cheeses, and there is also the rum infused with chocolate.

Cocktails should be consumed in moderation, always choosing the best for each type of food and with an alcohol content as low as possible.

Smirnoff 1L

The Smirnoff Red Label Vodka is one of the world’s smoothest vodkas. Created in 1864, it is the world’s best-selling premium vodka.

Buy Smirnoff 1L

Pussers British Navy Rum Black Label Gunpowder Proof

This rum, is made by West Indies Rum Distillery with origins in England.

Buy Pussers British Navy Rum Black Label Gunpowder Proof

As daylight makes itself scarce, you might feel like retreating into your home to drink tea under blankets. This also means longer nights and more time to go out and spend time with your friends. A great alternative to fight winter blues and to make the most of your holiday season. Here are some ideas to brighten your social evenings: 

Cranberry Mojitos

What says party better than a mojito and what fruit evokes Christmas better than cranberries? None, that is why Cranberry Mojitos were created for December!

Ingredients for 4 drinks:

•  8 oz cranberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 40 mint leaves 
• 4 tablespoon of lime juice
• 8 oz of rum
• Seltzer water

Preparation:

Add the cranberries, sugar and water to a pot and let it simmer for 10 minutes (but do not bring to a boil). Once cold, you can start the making the mojitos: put 10 mint leaves,  and one tbsp of lime juice, and press the leaves to release the mint aromas. Pour 2 oz of rum and 2 oz of the cranberry preparation in the glass. Finally, fill up the glass with the Seltzer water, ice cubes and some fresh cranberries. 

Winter Sangria

Though Sangria is traditionally associated with Summertime, there is no reason to deprive yourself of a fun sangria evening thanks to this spice-rich recipe!

Ingredients for one punch bowl

• 1 bottle of sweet red wine
• 1 bottle of apple cider
• 2 clementines
• 2 apples
• 1 cup cranberries
• 1/2 cup pomegranate
• Rosemary for each glass

Preparation

Peel and slice the mandarines and the apples and cut the cranberries in half. Pour the wine, cider and sliced fruits in a large bowl stir to mix the whole and let infuse in a cold place. Serve with ice cubes and a branch of rosemary.

Jingle Juice

The perfect rum-based fruity cocktail to forget the harshness of winter and celebrate the holiday season with friends.

Ingredients for a punch bowl

Citrus Sugar:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 1 teaspoon grapefruit zest
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Punch:

• 1 cup lime juice
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 2 cups orange juice
• 1 cup grapefruit juice
• 1 cup mango nectar
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 3 3/4 cups Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
• 2 1/4 cup Grand Marnier
• 1 1/2 cups Amaretto
• 3 cups sparkling water
• orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit slices, frozen cranberries for garnish

Preparation

To make the citrus sugar, put all the zests with the sugar, the ginger and the cinnamon, press it to release the aromas and put it to rest. Next, place the citrus sugar in the punch bowl and add the add the juices and nectars while stirring. Pour the alcohol and the sparkling water. Finally, incorporate the freshly sliced fruits into the mix. 

Christmas Coffee Cocktail

The ideal drink if you want to stay awake, savour an original cocktail and enjoy the holiday spirit. Moreover, this drink can be served warm or cold! 

Ingredients

4 oz strong coffee
1 1/2 oz amaretto liqueur
1 1/2 oz coffee liqueur
1 oz butterscotch schnapps
1 oz creme de cocoa
fresh whipped cream
grated chocolate, for garnish

Preparation

Mix and stir the coffee and liqueurs in a glass. Add whipped cream and garnish with grated chocolate.

Faustino VII

Faustino VII is a blend based on tempranillo grapes becoming more and more popular. Not only in Spain but all over the world.

Porta 6 Branco 2016

Porta 6 Branco 2016 is an entertaining composition of Portuguese and French grape varieties such as sauvignon blanc, arinto and fernao pires.

Cocktails with vodka will give much to talk about from now on. In the meantime, we leave you with one of the most delicious cocktails, where vodka is the absolute protagonist.

It offers different tastes, slightly citric and stronger, and the contrast of the ginger beer. This cocktail has its origin in the liquor store Cock ‘n Bull in the U.S., in the 40s, in which two friends mixed typical flavors from this place and from a tavern where they drank beer. They chose the ginger flavor to find out its result when mixing it with vodka. And by chance, as with most cocktails, they found an exceptional taste later popularized worldwide.

Some other sources indicate that the cocktail was developed in the Mula restaurant in Hollywood, where they decided to put together all the less mixed and less demanded ingredients in any cocktail, resulting in this combination.

It is a refreshing cocktail, with a slightly exotic touch thanks to the lime. Anyway, it did not get the success often achieved with other cocktails with lime juice and vodka, such as the mojito or caipirinha. It is drunk at any time of day, but at night in the summertime tastes much better.

Ingredients

• 60 ml vodka
• 30 ml lime juice
• 90 ml ginger beer

Preparation

It’s really easy to prepare, since all we need is to mix vodka, ginger beer and lime juice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain all content in a tall glass with plenty of ice. Finally, we can decorate it with a slice of lime, and we can also frost the top of the glass with sugar to make it sweeter.

Smirnoff Red Label Screw Cap 1L

Smirnoff Red Label Screw Cap 1L

Grey Goose Vodka 1L

Grey Goose Vodka 1L

Irish coffee is a cocktail created in 1940 thanks to a delayed flight of Pan American. Its creator Joe Sheridan wanted to add Irish whiskey to his coffee, because of the cold suffered by passengers. He then presented it as an Irish coffee.

Ingredients:

• Irish whiskey 30ml, as Jameson or Bushmills Original.
• 1 cup of coffee
• Cream
• Brown sugar
• Ground Cinnamon
• Ground coffee for garnish

Preparation:

Step 1:

If you have a coffee machine, heat the cup with the vaporizer. Otherwise you can use hot water, leaving the cup enough for it to take the ideal temperature.

Step 2:

Now mix the whiskey and sugar, pour into a saucepan and heat gently. You must be careful that the sugar is dissolved in whiskey. When this is the case, pour the mixture into the preheated cup.

Step 3:

Place your coffee carefully on top of the whiskey and sugar. Pour slowly over the back of a spoon, or drag on the walls of the cup.

Step 4:

Beat the cream before putting it in the cup to make it fluffy. The goal is not to mix the ingredients. Use the same technique as for coffee. Use the back of a spoon to introduce the cream gently into the cup.

To decorate the Irish coffee, you can sprinkle a little cinnamon on the wet edge of the glass. You can also add ground coffee at your convenience. It depends on personal taste.

Paddy Old Irish Whiskey 1L

Paddy Old Irish Whiskey 1L

Tullamore Dew 1L

Tullamore Dew 1L

Viele finden es schade, Whisky zu mischen, andere widerum nicht. Diesmal möchte ich nicht auf die Diskussion eingehen und möchte Ihnen die besten Cocktails mit Whisky vorstellen. Jetzt müssen sie nur noch vorbereitet werden und danach können sie probiert werden. Wir sind gespannt auf Ihre Meinung:

Considered the most popular among the drinks made with rum, the Mai Tai is a cocktail of high alcohol content which also contains curaçao and lime juice. It was invented in the United States, but is closely linked to the Tiki or Polynesian culture because of its exotic taste and fresh appearance.

The story goes that this cocktail was created in the Trader Vic bar in California by the barman Victor J. Begeron in 1944, who entertained some friends who were visiting him from Tahiti. Testing it, one would have exclaimed ?maitai roa? (“very good”) and it owes its name to that famous speech. 

This drink, made with rum as main ingredient, was popularized in America in the late 50’s and especially in the 60’s, when the singer Elvis Presley appeared in the film Blue Hawaii drinking it. 

Until today, the original recipe from Trader Vic is regarded by purists as ?the? only way to prepare it, but if you want to experiment, there are at least a dozen ways to make a Mai Tai. 

The Mai Tai recipe comprises the following ingredients:

• 4 parts old rum.
• 1 part orange curaçao, either triple sec or Cointreau 
• 1 part natural lime juice 
• 1 tablespoon of sugar syrup or caramel syrup 
• 1 part almond syrup or amaretto 
• 1 fresh mint sprig 
• Crushed ice

After mixing these elements, stir it in a shaker and serve in a tall glass or Collins glass.

As we can see, this cocktail has a high alcoholic strength because of the spirits used in its preparation.

For example, rum is an alcoholic beverage obtained by fermentation of sugar cane, it is aged in oak barrels and can reach up to 80 degrees of alcohol, but to reduce this percentage it is added distilled water.

Meanwhile, curaçao or curacao is a liqueur produced by maceration in alcohol of the bitter bark of a variety of orange native to the island of the same name located in the Caribbean. Its alcohol strength ranges between 20 to 40 degrees.

There are several varieties of curacao, being the most common and known the triple sec or white curacao, a colorless liquor with over 40 degrees made by triple distillation from orange peels. It was invented in 1875 by Edouard Cointreau, who registered on his name in the village of Saint-Barthélemy d’Anjou (near Angers), in the Loire region in France.

Both lime juice and spoonfuls of sugar and almond syrup are added to the Mai Tai fulfill the function of sweetening the drink and give it a milder flavor. We do not recommend drinking it on an empty stomach since it is more like a digestif.

Given the fame achieved by this alcoholic beverage, there were other people who claimed themselves as the inventors of it. One is the barman Ernest Raymond Beaumont, also known asDon the Beachcomber, who told anyone who would listen to that he created the Mai Tai in 1933.

The recipe by Don the Beachcomber consists of:

• 1 part dark rum 
• 1 and 1/2 parts gold or white rum 
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoon lemon or lime juice 
• 1 part grapefruit juice 
• 1 part sugar syrup 
• 1/2 part Cointreau or triple sec 
• 1/2 tablespoon of falernum or grenadine syrup (most used option) 
• 2 or 3 drops of Angostura 
• 1 dash of Pernod 
• Ice 
• 1 fresh mint sprig 
• 1 pineapple wedge

The preparation of this version of the Mai Tai, apart from mixing dark and white rum, consists of adding the white rum after the other ingredients have been mixed and served in a tall glass.

The idea is that white rum remains at the surface, not mixed with other ingredients and stays with a more ?tropical? and bitter taste.

So, what version do you prefer? We recommend a couple of rums to make the best Mai Tai:

Ron Barceló Imperial

Ron Barceló Imperial is a warm and soft rum, perfect for mixing.

Captain Morgan Rum

Captain Morgan is a spiced rum, with the typical taste of British rum, perfect for cocktails as varied as this.

Ron Barceló Imperial

Ron Barceló Imperial is a warm and soft rum, perfect for mixing.

23,50?

Captain Morgan Rum

Captain Morgan is a spiced rum, with the typical taste of British rum, perfect for cocktails as varied as this.

 11,92?