London Cocktail Week…and a dodgy laptop.

Well it’s been one mare after another over here; my laptop has decided to go on a mad one which means I now have an unholy build up of recipes and posts that are desperate to see the light of day. This is not one I planned, however, but necessary all the same because not only does it fling my dodgy technical issues out there (for a girl who works for a digital company, I do not get anything that isn’t paper and ink…) but I couldn’t let London Cocktail Week pass without saying something.

There’s something really lovely about an evening that isn’t about your usual beer, wine or spirit & mixer combo but, rather, about something entirely more special. There’s something luxurious about cocktails that doesn’t just come from the above average price tag; it’s the colours, the fruit, the layers of flavours and – my personal favourite – the glasses. I know, it’s weird, but I definitely inherited my Mama’s penchant for pretty drinking vessels; long stems, coupe, coupette, martini and even the humble tumbler makes me pretty happy. Particularly if it contains a potent wee cocktail of gin and sourness. Or, anything alcoholic now I think about it…

Around London this week are various pop-up bars, taster evenings and master classes (like a daft sod I picked this week to just be busy every evening so can’t attend any of this frivolity myself) which you should definitely check out if you get the chance. Or, just stay at home and use this as a perfect excuse to mix yourself up one of your favourite tipples.

I think it’s so worth investing in decent alcohol, particularly if it’s something that is a main component in your preferred cocktail. For me, I like to make sure we have Cointreau in the house because despite loving a great many happy hour offering, a Cosmopolitan (with extra fresh lime!) will always be the very best way to my heart! And the if you’re going to treat yourself to a cheeky cocktail of an evening, you may as well make it with the best ingredients you can.

See my perfect recipe for a foolproof Cosmo below…

Make sure your vodka and cranberry juice are nicely chilled.

50ml vodka
25ml Cointreau
75ml Ocean Spray cranberry juice
Juice from ¼ of a lime

1. Pop some ice in your glasses a couple of minutes before pouring in ingredients so that it’s nice and cold. You could shake it all up in a cocktail shaker but I don’t really like doing that for my cosmos, I find it dilutes the flavours a little too much.
2. Chuck out the ice and squeeze in your lime and add a slick of the juice around the rim of the glass too.
3. Pour in your remaining ingredients and stir. Alternatively you could muddle all your ingredients together and then pour into your glass.
4. Garnish with an extra lime (you really never can have too many limes) and enjoy.

What’s your favourite cocktail?