Friday Night Cocktail: Oliveto

A cocktail with olive oil? And why not! This recipe is from the Marvel Bar in Minneapolis, and apparently it's become rather popular there. It's a great recipe - the olive oil adds to the unctuous silky texture of the drink and provides a lovely background grassy taste, which is balanced by the vanilla and citrus flavours of the Licor 43 and lemon juice.

YOU WILL NEED

(enough for Merv too)

• 4 shots Bombay Sapphire Gin
• 1/2 shot Licor 43
• 2 shots freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 shot good quality extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 shot sugar syrup
• 1 egg white

AND TO MAKE

Add all of your ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake hard until all the ingredients emulsify and your mix has a thick foamy head. Add plenty of ice and shake vigorously again for about 30 seconds.

TO SERVE

Pour into two chilled coupe glasses, and serve. Would be lovely with a side of fat green cerignola olives.

Love Myrtle xxx

Breakfast Martini

Gin, tea and marmalade. Need I say more?

YOU WILL NEED

(enough for Merv too)

• 4 shots Bombay Sapphire Gin
• 2 tea bags
• 2 shots freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 shot sugar syrup
• 1 egg white
• 2 generous teaspoons marmalade

AND TO MAKE

Infuse your gin with the two teabags for 10 minutes. Remove the tea bags once infused, and add the tea-infused gin to your cocktail shaker along with the rest of the ingredients and plenty of ice. Shake hard, until very cold and foamy.

TO SERVE

Pour into two glasses and garnish with finely grated orange zest, or a few drops of orange bitters. Serve with hot buttered toast if you're having one for breakfast!

Love Myrtle xxx

Friday Night Cocktail: Ramos Gin Fizz

Named after Henry C. Ramos, this classic cocktail started life in New Orleans way back in 1888, and grew in popularity in the years following before Prohibition, so much so that during Mardi Gras teams of shaker boys were employed to keep up with demand! The secret to its luxurious silky texture is a very long hard shake for up to 12 minutes, which is fine if you happen to have a team of shaker boys to hand, but if you don't, you'll just have to shake until you think your arms might drop off. It does help to dry shake it first - do this without the cream to avoid ending up with a big curdled mess - and then shake again with the cream and plenty of ice, this also gives you time for a rest in between. The extra shaking is really worth the effort, the resulting cocktail is light, floral and silky smooth. 

YOU WILL NEED

(enough for Merv too)

• 4 shots Bombay Sapphire gin
• 1 shot lemon juice
• 1 shot lime juice
• 1.5 shots sugar syrup
• 2 teaspoons orange flower water
• 2 egg whites
• 2 shots double cream
• Soda water, to finish

AND TO MAKE

Add all of the above ingredients, apart from the soda water and cream, to your cocktail shaker and dry shake as long as you possibly can (I managed 5 minutes), so all the ingredients emulsify and thicken - you should end up with a thick white foam with very tiny bubbles, very similar to the head on a pint of Guinness. Stop for a breather and add ice and the cream, then shake hard again for as long as you can, another 2 minutes should be more than enough.

TO SERVE

Strain into two tall glasses (I chilled mine in the freezer), topping each one up with a little soda water. Serve with a straw, no further garnish required!

The picture above is my third attempt of the evening and finally the correct texture - my first ones weren't thick enough, the second ones curdled but third time lucky! Follow the steps above and yours should turn out just right first time.

Love Myrtle xxx

Marmalade Martini

Really it's a Breakfast Martini, but Marmalade Martini just sounds better.   Like a grown-up cocktail for Paddington Bear.

YOU WILL NEED
(enough for Merv too)

• 4 shots Bombay Sapphire Gin
• 2 shots Cointreau
• 2 shots lemon juice
• 3 teaspoons marmalade

AND TO MAKE

Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice and shake.

TO SERVE

Serve in a chilled martini glass.  Garnish if you like with an orange or lemon twist.  Present with or without one of Paddington's very hard stares...

Love Myrtle xxx