The Chronosphere

The Chronosphere

"We have also earnt the right to be the first to test the newest addition to our arsenal, the Chronosphere."

-Gunter von Esling introducing the Chronosphere

Legends say, Albert Einstein built this phenomenal device in 1946 to help the Allies against Stalin's forces. In 2012, Celestino built this phenomenal shooter to help people chronoshift into bars or if used too rapidly, to the bathroom.

I introduce you to the Chronosphere!

To create this mind blowing (freezing) experience, you need to do some preparations. All ingredients, including the glass should be frozen cold. 

• 2 cl Sambuca
• 2 cl Blue curacao
• a small lime wedge

Fill a shot glass with crushed ice, half-way fill it with sambuca and carefully pour in the curacao. Remember that the curacao will freeze solid if held too long in the freezer. What I did was put it in the fridge first and in the freezer only for about 1½ hours so the liquod became thicker but wasn't completely frozen. Add a lime wedge (you can press the juices on top of the drink), stick a small straw in the glass and with one sip finish your drink!

Phoooie!

Sambuca's anise-flavors combined with the citrus from the curacao make an interesting combination. A few variations of the Chronosphere will be made, one with peppermint schnapps and one made in a tumbler, for a "longer" drink.

Red Corona

RED CORONA

"Opened up another vial, started drinking more beer
So I could wake up next to Heather Locklear"

 - Nine Coronas by Weird Al Yankovic

Today we're making a beer "cocktail"! Tuning up the original Corona to make a Red Corona you need:

• 1 bottle of Corona Extra
• a slice of lime
• 2.5 cl vodka (1 shot)
• a dash of grenadine

I used a British shot measure, 4 cl of vodka (using the Finnish standard) could be implied but I want to stay loyal to the original recipe so to speak.

What you need to do is the following. Open the corona and take a few sips until the beer level is around the bottle neck. Add the vodka, grenadine and squeeze in the lime wedge. Now using your thumb (or any finger that'll fit and make the bottle airtight), stick in inside the bottle and slowly turn the bottle upside down so the ingredients mix up properly.

That's it!

I couldn't taste the vodka at all! Then again it is no big surprise since as I have stated many previous times, grenadine has a nasty habit of overwhelming most flavors with great ease. In this case too, it tasted slightly like beer, more like fizzy grenadine with a little bite. I could imagine having a bunch of these with good friends. Actually, a Red Corona would be perfect with friends. Since this drink still has that deviously  hidden vodka kick, just watch not to have too many. Drink responsibly!

Blood and Sand

BLOOD AND SAND

This cocktail's history goes all the way back to the 1920's. It was named for Rudolph Valentino's 1922 bullfighter movie Blood and Sand (wiki'ed it, deal with it). I've heard some wild rumors of this cocktail and according to different sources the ingredients/measures vary a bit too. Maybe it's one of those "find the best proportions yourself" - kind of things, but this is how I rolled this cocktail:

• 3 cl Scotch
• 3 cl Blood orange juice
• 2 cl Sweet Red Vermouth
• 2 cl Cherry brandy (the original recipe calls for Cherry Heering, which I don't have, so I used De Kuyper Cherry brandy instead)
• a flamed orange zest

Add all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, fill it with ice and shake it! Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and flame up an orange zest, go around the glass's rims with it (having released the essential oils in the drink) and drop it in the drink. 

 This drink was...okay. Using scotch in a mixed drink wasn't really something I've used to do, and the cherry brandy's taste did overwhelm this cocktail a little bit. Also, the blood orange juice was well hidden. Overall, a slight disappointment as far as I am concerned. Next time I definitely have to use Cherry Heering or as some recipes mention, orange juice instead of blood orange juice. Go figure.

Americano

AMERICANO

Americano, 2012

Americano, 2013

Unlike Yolanda Be Cool and producer DCUP, today we do speak Americano! This is one of the more famous aperitifs so I had to give it a go. As I have mentioned earlier that I am not a big fan of bitter cocktails, especially those with Campari, but I just had to try this one and see if it lived up to its name.

First of all, what you need is:

• 3 cl Campari
• 3 cl Sweet Red Vermouth (Martini Rosso)
• Club soda
• An orange slice for garnish

Fill a tumbler (on-the-rocks-glass) with ice, pour both the campari and vermouth in the glass and top it off with club soda. Add a slice of orange for garnish.

That's it! As for the taste, I was a bit on the fence on this one. The club soda took most of the campari's edge off so it wasn't too bitter for my taste. The vermouth's sweetness gave this definite pre-dinner cocktail a nice touch, I admit. Just like the Campari Orange Passion I made a little while back, this cocktail had that sweetness which in my opinion helped a lot in making me like this drink. They're also super easy to make for a larger group of people, say as a beginning of an evening meal so I give the Americano a big thumbs up!

Some say Campari at its finest, I say close, but no cigar.

Sidecar

SIDECAR

In the course of my cocktail endeavours I have stumbled upon many different types of drinks. But in the end I can clearly see why some are just...better than the others. It goes without saying (although I am going to say it now) that those labelled as "traditional" truly live up to their names!

I present you with the Sidecar:

• 2 cl cognac (I used Meukow VSOP)
• 2 cl triple sec (Cointreau)
• 2 cl lemon juice

Or simply, 1 part each. There are several variations of the measures given but I used the ones mentioned above. I also used double measures because of my largish cocktail glass. This drink also reminded me of the Japanese Slipper cocktail I made some time ago, given the melon liquor is now replaced with cognac.

Firstly, use a lemon wedge to coat the rim of the glass and cover it in sugar. Put the glass in the fridge some time before you prepare your cocktail; add all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, add plenty of ice, shake vigorously and strain in your now chilled cocktail glass. Add an orange wedge on the side of the drink. Enjoy.

Just...wow. I can understand the popularity of this cocktail! I blew my mind away! The lemon juice's sourness and Cointreau's sweetness combined with the cognac's mellowness...It was a trip I didn't want to end.

This is a 5/5 cocktail hands down.

Campari Orange Passion

CAMPARI ORANGE PASSION

Beauty in a glass! This is a variation of the basic Campari & OJ I found from their site. For my taste, Campari & oj is a bit too bitter, given it works as a nice aperatif. This recipe has a sweetness in it and I did like this so much more, although creating it takes more time. But it is worth it:

• 2 slices of orange (or wedges)
• 1 tsp of brown sugar
• 4 cl Campari
• 12 cl orange juice
• crushed ice
• a maraschino cherry to garnish

Take the orange slices and drop them in the high ball glass. Add the sugar and muddle gently. Then add the crushed ice, campari and orange juice and give it a gentle stir. Top it off with a bit more ice and top this cocktail with a cherry and a straw.

Now that summer is close(r) by, having one of these babies outside...wonderful.

Screwdriver

THE SCREWDRIVER

Probably the most well-known cocktail ever made, I happened to have a bunch of oranges at my disposal so of course I wanted to create this simpe but ah, such a nice cocktail:

• 4 cl vodka
• 12 cl orange juice
• 1 orange slice to garnish

Or simplified, 1 part vodka and 3 parts orange juice. The trick is to use only premium orange juice if made a true "cocktail". Of course anyone can pour vodka and oj in a high ball glass but I was feeling fancy so what I did was the following:

Pressed the juice out of the oranges, measured the ingredients into a cocktail shaker, added plenty of ice and shook it briskly. Strained the drink (to get rid of the excess pulp) into a high ball filled with ice, added the swizzle stick and garnished it. Avot!

The beauty of this drink becomes more apparent depending on the oj used! Many don't seem to understand this. They undermine this cocktail completely because their experience has been with cheap-ojs found from any grocery store...Spend some time with this and I assure you the taste is so much different...and better.

Blue Lagoon

BLUE LAGOON

Inspired by the far most greatest movie of all time, here's one of the summer hit cocktails everybody knows!

Just look how awfully I've made these Blue Lagoons in the past. Oh gosh!

Now here's a properly made cocktail, at least visual-wise!

This cocktail does not need much of an effort to make but hot damn it sure does look fine!

• 2 cl vodka
• 2 cl blue curacao
• lemonade (sprite/7Up)

Build this drink in a highball glass filled with ice cubes. Garnish with a lemon, lime or even add a sprig of mint like I did (*edit* when I was young and didn't know better)!

Taste-wise, it's hardy mentionable. I believe the visual effect gives more than it actually tastes like. Not being a strong cocktail either, you can have a couple of these with great ease. And if you haven't had one before...I feel sorry for you. Not a true "classic", but a famous drink nonetheless.

(unlike the movie, it sucked)

Post-edit 2013

So I made this cocktail once again, third time's the charm. Having learnt the art of...cocktail making (and perhaps a little bit of photography [given with the equipment I have at my disposal]) you can really see how the earlier pictures are quite horrible compared to my newest one; kind of like when I made three Mojitos in six years. You can really see the difference.

Still didn't make the cocktail any better. Better looking, yes. Better tasting? Absolutely not.

Firebird

FIREBIRD

Continuing our cocktail experiences, I present you with the Firebird:

•  2 cl tequila (white)
•  2 cl créme de bananes
•  2 cl lemon juice
•  4 cl lemonade (sprite/7up)

Shake the first three ingredients with plenty of ice, strain into a tumbler filled with a few ice cubes and add the lemonade. No garnish needed!

All in all, this cocktail tasted kind of funky. The combination of banana liquor and tequila does work! The fizzyness of the lemonade gave this drink a nice mouth-feel as well.

If you haven't had one of these birds before, go ahead and try one! NOW!

Smiley Face

SMILEY FACE

Another amazing shot! You have probably noticed how many of the shots I have shown are layered. That is because I like making ones! I get many good flavors in one glass, what's there not to like?!

Anyhow, here's how it's done:

• 2 cl of Kahlúa
• 2 cl créme de bananes
• 1-2 cl of fresh cream

Layer the ingredients and shoot! Tastes just as it should; a creamy coffee-banana mix at your service! The Kahlúa is a tad dominating but in my opinion it doesn't hurt the cocktail per se. I liked it.

Jafar

JAFAR

Inspired vaguely from the Disney cocktail Esmeralda my friend challenged me with, I present you with Jafar, a shot I invented.

Jafar being all bad-ass

This shot consists of three parts:

• 2 cl Jägermeister
• 2 cl Strawberry liquor
• 1 cl fresh cream

I used ice-cold Jäger, poured it first, layered the strawberry liquor and topped it off with a layer of fresh cream. What I had in mind that the Jäger would've been much darker and layered with the liquor make a more distinctive "black-red" shot, but this'll do just fine. 

Tasted surprisingly good! Sweet and creamy, the Jäger didn't give its usual edge to this shot at all, that was the "surprisingly" part. I give it a solid 4/5. I can imagine changing the liquor to any "flavored" one, blueberry, apple, you name it...

Pineapple Tequila

PINEAPPLE TEQUILA

As promised, the Pineapple Tequila! I had a little "accident" with my first bottle, that is when I put it (=forgot) in the oven for a disinfection I ended up with a melt cap as seen in the picture:

Yeah, that sucked majorly and to add insult to injury, this happened during Easter so I couldn't even get myself another bottle! After the holidays I got TWO bottles and instead of using the oven I just washed them in hot water and let to cool off.

After this procedure I used a coffee filter to strain the excess vanilla seeds off the liquid...

...and double strained it afterwards to get a clearer product.

What do you know, it turned out OKAY!

Here I let my inspiration flow freely; silver tequila is usually drunk with lemon + salt, golden tequila with orange + cinnamon so how could one have this? I got an idea...

...a slice of grapefruit + vanilla sugar!

It was awesome. Scent was extremely pineapple-y and taste-wise I could clearly taste the flavors of this fruit. Combined with the sweet/sourness from the grapefruit and sugar...

'Nuff said.

Coming of Age

COMING OF AGE

Esmeralda has come of age. It has come time for her to face the brave new world! Don't be afraid, young child! Seize the moment and you will be successful!

This is an exact copy of my friend's earlier recipe of Esmeralda with the following exception:

• added a tea spoon of Parfait Amour after straining the cocktail
• decorated with a maraschino cherry

To add the parfait amour gave this cocktail not only a vibrant color but a sense of grown-up among its peers. The extremely red cherry as a garnish shows passion in this drink. We truly have a lady drink here.

Taste-wise, I give it a solid 4 out of 5. Martini bianco's vanilla flavors work extremely well with parfait amour's flavors as if in total harmony. Highly recommended and better yet, easy to make!

Esmeralda / Friend challenge #1

ESMERALDA

I present you with the very first cocktail introduced by a friend of mine on this blog! As a co-worker I made me a drink which he calls Esmeralda. It is made of:

• 5cl vodka
• 2cl Martini bianco (vermouth)
• grapefruit juice (I used 8cl in this one) 

Shake with plenty of ice, (double)strain into a chilled cocktail glass. As a garnish I used a cape gooseberry fruit. You could also consider either a twist of lemon if you're feeling fancy. Overall,

an excellent cocktail this is! The vermouth's sweetness combined with the grapefruit bitterness...nice. I am honored to make this cocktail! 

In addition, I will be creating a more...adult version of this cocktail later on. Brace yourselves... 

PS. Keep challenging me! I'm up for it!

Creating Pineapple Tequila part 2

THE PRODUCT

Here it is, the product in its making! It's been three days now since I bottled up my pineapple tequila! Next weekend (at least when I have a day off) I'll strain the tequila into a sterilized glass bottle and use the pineapples in a dessert with bourbon vanilla ice cream. I might even heat up the fruit just to show I care.

I'll report more when the "product" is bottled and ready to serve!

Creating Pineapple Tequila part 1

THE PLAN

The title might give away the fact that today I'm making my own Pineapple tequila! I got the recipe from a cocktail book I own but as for getting the ingredients it was rather iffy for a long time;

• 1 liter of silver tequila (I'm using 0.7 liters)
• 50g brown sugar
• 1 large pineapple
• 1 vanilla pod

 Sterilise a big jar by rinsing it first and then putting it in the over (about 100ᴼ celsius/~212F) for some 20 minutes. Let it cool off completely. Meanwhile, prepare the pineapple (cut into chunks and so on). 

In a jug mix the tequila with the brown sugar until it has dissolved. Pour it in the jar with the vanilla pod (which you have cut in half and scraped the vanilla seeds), add the pineapple chunks and let it agitate for about a week. Later on you can use the pineapple chunks for a warm dessert or so!

Keep in mind I need about a week before I can give you any results how I succeeded with this task. Don't worry, I'll post pictures and describe you with all of the valuable information you need as soon as possible!

Stay strong!

¡Ándele!

Jellyfish shot

JELLYFISH SHOT

Another shot at your disposal! I present you with the Jellyfish shot! I got this recipe from TipsyBartender and thought "why the heck not?" Looking kind of like the Alien Brain Hemorrhage, layered shots like these are

1. fun to make

2. beautiful

3. good in taste, in a weird way

What you need is:

• 2 cl creme de cacao
• 1 cl of amaretto
• 2 cl of baileys
• a few drops of grenadine

Add about half a shot glass with the creme de cacao. The gently pour the amaretto on top of it to create a layer. After that make another layer of baileys on top of those. Create the jellyfish by adding a few drops of grenadine on the shot. The amount I used was roughly a tea spoon.

Taste-wise...well kind of a mish-mash. Baileys was very dominant as well as the end grenadine. But want to impress your friends (again) with layered shot? Totally worth it.

Fallen Angel

FALLEN ANGEL

Every now and then there comes a cocktail that just doesn't cut it. The Fallen Angel is one of those cocktails. I could guess the cocktail truly lives up to its name. Okay let's go through the ingredients first:

• 1 dash of angostura bitters
• the juice of 1 lemon
• 4cl gin
• few dashes of creme de menthe

In a shaker, combine the lemon juice, gin and angostura bitters. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Finally, add a few dashes of creme de menthe which will sink to the bottom.

For my taste, this cocktail's sourness level made me grinch with the power of over 1000 lemons. Pretty much like drinking lemon juice in general. The grande finale, lemon flavored peppermint liquor...no. Didn't work then and it will not work later either. This cocktail I wouldn't do again, so horrible it was! Esthetic-wise, looked fancy enough. But don't let the looks fool you!

Japanese Slipper

JAPANESE SLIPPER

Back in the days

A totally better picture, 2013

Greetings from the Far East! This cocktail is also one of my all time favorites. I present you with the Japanese Slipper. Invented in 1984, here we have a drink that has a strong melon-y taste powered up with flavors of lemon and triple sec.

• 1 shot of Midori
• 1 shot of lemon juice
• 1 shot of Cointreau 

Since standard measures differ depending on the country, I will not put exact measures, just remember that 1 shot of everything, let it be 25ml, 30ml or even 40ml. Moreover, if you have a smaller cocktail glass, of course it is better to use less of the ingredients. 

Just add all of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker, add plenty of ice, shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Drop a maraschino cherry to the bottom of the glass or alternatively, a slice of honeydew melon on the rim works fine as well. Go big, go Japan!

Squashed Frog

SQUASHED FROG

Another easily made and good tasting shot, this drink makes a good party starter! 

What you need:

• 1.5cl Grenadine
• 1.5cl Midori
• 1.5cl Advocaat (an egg based liqueur, but any cream liqueur would do the trick)

In the given order, layer all of the ingredients into a shot glass, let it settle and go! If you want to make a "hemorrhage" version, add the Midori and Advocaat first, then add the grenadine which will sink to the bottom to create the effect given just like in the Alien Brain Hemorrhage drink.

Chocolate Baileys Martini

CHOCOLATE BAILEYS MARTINI

To all of you chocolate-drink lovers, here's a real treat! Given this drink is not a martini per se, but it sure tastes good! What you need:

• 4cl Baileys Irish Cream
• 2cl creme de cacao (white)
• 2cl vodka
• 2cl fresh cream
• chocolate powder for decoration

Put the cocktail glass in the fridge (or freezer) beforehand. In a cocktail shaker, combine the first four ingredients, add plenty of ice and shake it but don't break it! Double strain the drink into your chilled glass and lastly decorate your cocktail with chocolate powder. Optionally, chocolate flakes work perfectly as well!

Tastes strong, creamy and extremely chocolately! A perfect after dinner drink or with your favorite dessert. When I had a friend couple over for a pleasant evening the other day, I served this with some crème brûlée. Satisfaction guaranteed!

Irish Coffee

IRISH COFFEE

2011

2013

2015

Here it is, the famous Irish Coffee. I admit right away, I did this cocktail wrong; I did whip the cream a bit, according to the original recipe heavy cream is indeed used, but it is not whipped per se. Plus I didn't have the Irish Coffee glass either...(editor's note; now I do!:D) Yeah and the chocolate flakes were extra, but I think it gave the drink a nice touch. Well now that we're at it, adaptability with even cocktails is okay, right? Right? :)

Not being the biggest coffee (in cocktails) kind of guy, I gave this all time classic a go and managed to pull a decent cocktail. Ingredients as follows:

• 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
• 4cl Irish whiskey
• 8cl hot coffee
• fresh cream

Add the brown sugar in the bottom of the glass (remember to heat up the glass before!), add the whiskey + coffee and stir. Float the cream on top of the drink with the help of a spoon. Serve immediately.

Personally, as mentioned before I can't say this is a truly amazing cocktail. Lies all lies! During the past year or so I've come to appreciate this cocktail so much more!

But I could now do understand its effect on a cold winter's night with good friends with good music in the background. That said, the next time I would make this...definitely for friends.

Tequila Sunrise

TEQUILA SUNRISE

Here is one of my all time favorite cocktails (made at home), the Tequila Sunrise! Easy to make yet and tastes amazing!

• 4cl silver tequila
• 12cl orange juice
• lemon juice from a wedge
• a few dashes of grenadine

Of course, prefer only the highest quality orange juice wherever possible. This way you get the best result. So here it is done. In a cocktail shaker pour in the tequila, orange juice and squeeze in the lemon juice from the wedge. Shake vigorously with plenty of ice and strain in a high ball glass filled with (crushed) ice. Then gently pour a few dashes of grenadine to create the sunrise-y effect as shown in the picture. You can garnish with a slice of lemon if you like. Add a straw and enjoy.

I don't usually order these at bars since they can't make them right (mainly because the orange juice I've seen at bars are not of great quality read the cheapest stock kind).

 A magnificent drink at any occasion...okay, during summer.

Caipiroska

THE CAIPIROSKA

How everything started! I can't remember it like yesterday, but I do know it was the 23rd of June, 2009. I specially prepared four caipiroskas for me & my friends. At the time I didn't have Cachaça to make a caipirinha so I used regular vodka. In my opinion I made a pretty good job for a first timer!

So the caipiroska contains:

• ½ a lime cut in 4 wedges
• 2 teaspoons of (brown) sugar
• 5cl vodka

Put the lime wedges in a tumbler, add the sugar and muddle. Add the vodka, stir gently and pour crushed ice on it. Stir again. Done!

This cocktail is easy to make and tastes brilliant! As mentioned, the caipirinha is the "original" cocktail and like many other cocktails, this masterpiece can be easily modified as well by changing the alcohol to something else. But if you ever happen to get your hands to some Pitú, totally try to make one of these babies!

A true classic this cocktail is.

Triple Threat

TRIPLE THREAT

Double the action...triple the threat! Here we have another "fan made" cocktail I got from the forums. Albeit being rather "costly"/drink (considering the required articles for only two cocktails), this drink has the ability to be modified easily. The recipe serves two.

What is needed:

• 1 orange
• 1 blood orange
• 1 grape fruit
• 1 dl of alcohol (e.g. vodka, gin or even flavored vodka)

 Squeeze the juices from all fruits into their separate cups. Remember to save thick-ish slices of each fruit for later garnishing. Pour the juices into a cocktail shaker, add the chosen alcohol and ice, shake vigorously and double strain into two high ball glasses filled with ice so none of the pulp reaches the drink. Decorate with the fruit slices (as seen in the picture above).

What I now suggest is that you only use half of everything and shake one cocktail at a time. When I first did this with the "full measures", my shaker was extremely (too) full thus the shaking wasn't at its best.

This drink is absolutely and plain wonderful. The mixture of three citrus fruit combined with the alcohol gives that little something to your "glass of juice". Double straining this gives it a nice homogenenous look with no actual pulp in the drink. For a summer evening, just perfect.

Challenge me!

Here we go again, with a twist!

Since I like to create cocktails, I am giving you the opportunity to challenge me with a good cocktail you think I should prepare. Should I have the ingredients to pull it off, I'll make it and post a picture of it here with the challengees regards!

So if you have anything good on your mind or once tasted that awesome drink at a bar, I can try my best to make that moment happen again! (with the exception that I'll be drinking it :) )

PS. Okay if you want to troll the living crap out of me to make a low tier cocktail, don't worry I'll still make it. Not every cocktail is a good one...

 

Colt Cruiser

Colt Cruiser

Another cocktail I truly enjoyed. The Colt Cruiser is easy to make and tastes rather sweet. In addition, one wouldn't think the ingredients for this drink would work so well together! Here we go:

• 2cl rum (white)
• 1cl amaretto
• 1cl creme de bananes
• 2cl lemon juice
• 12cl lemonade

Shake the four first ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a high ball glass with ice. Top the mixture with lemonade according to taste. You could garnish the drink with one or two maraschino cherries. I added a dangling rind of orange as well.

As said, this is a surprisingly excellent choice for any occasion. Highly recommended!

The Predator

The Predator

Here you have the Predator. I got this recipe from a Finnish cocktail based "forum", history of this drink is unknown. So I decided to give it a shot. To be honest, I can't really remember much of this drink. But if I really try to think hard I believe the ingredients are the following (at least the proportions):

• 2cl lime juice
• 2/4cl blueberry liquor
• 2/4cl brandy
• battery energy drink

I believe using 4cl of both alcohols give an edgier drink. So what needs to be done is to build the drink in a high ball glass filled with ice and top it up with energy drink. Garnish voluntary. Now a word of warning for you all. Any energy drink has a bad habit of totally dominating the drink. What I can remember from this as well, I couldn't taste much of anything except for the battery. If that's a good thing...that's up to you. If I would make this cocktail again, I would substitute the battery with 7Up.

Cuba Libre

Cuba Libre

Cuba Libre, 2010 May

Here's the Cuba Libre, one of my all time favorites! (when made correctly) You might notice how the Bacardi bottle has not been opened yet (gasp!) but since I still had left overs from my 0,7L bottle, this picture serves as kind of a promotional purpose as well.

As I mentioned in my very first post, there are rum&coke kind of drinks and there are Cuba Libre kind of drinks. Here I explain how to make a Cuba Libre. What you need is:

• 4cl of white rum
• ½ a lime
• coca-cola

Instead of pouring all in a high ball glass and stirring it up, what you should do is the following: Add a couple of ice cubes in a cocktail shaker. Squeeze the juice from the lime (a lime presser is a very handy tool for this) into the shaker, drop the lime in as well as the rum and give it a good shake! Then fill a high ball glass with ice, strain the lime-rum mixture in the glass and then top it off with coke. I assure you that it is going to be so much better...Remember to garnish with a lime wedge.

Cuba Libre, 2013 March

Jamaican Mule

The Jamaican Mule

Here's the Jamaican Mule. As you might or might not know, there are several versions of the mule. For example the Moscow, the London or the Mexican, to name a few. Here's the Jamaican version using:

• 4cl of Spiced Rum (in its essence, any rum is okay except white)
• ½ a lime cut half
• ginger ale

In a high ball glass filled with ice, squeeze in the lime wedges, add the rum and top it off with ginger ale. Garnish with a lime wedge.

I must say this drink was a huge disappointment. Why? Because Schweppes "ginger ale" is utter shit. Never...never use it if all possible! I can't express in words how furious I am when describing how horrible this commercial piece of garbage Schweppes somehow managed to produce. If and when I get over this huge tragedy I barely can call a cocktail, what I suggest with deepest sincerety, for the love of God, use this brand of ginger beer instead next time:

Nuff' said.