Mix Me a Molotov

Last week: I invented my own cocktail

My passion for cocktails was fuelled by a 2009 trip to the Big Apple. Struggling to find a beer that suited my palette, I decided to go in a different direction and ordered a Margarita. Plus, when in NYC, it just seemed, well....rude not to. It was something I rather quickly developed a taste for and, on returning home, I was quick to invest in a cocktail shaker. Ice crusher and fancy glasses followed this year as a much appreciated birthday gift and now I'm all set to become Belgium's number one mixologist! I've now managed to master a half decent Margarita and also added Mojitos, Cosmpolitans and Caipirinhas to my repertoire.

Unless you're laughing all the way to the bank and have a home bar well stocked enough to put Oliver Reed to shame, homemade cocktails depend pretty much on what happens to be lying around lurking in the depths of half drunk/half forgotten bottles or whichever spirit is going cheap at your local supermarket. With UK branches of Lidl, offering bottles of Pimms for just £9.99 on my recent visit, it was hard to resist.

I'm still not entirely sure what it is, but I love Pimms. I can't get enough of the stuff. There's nothing more refreshing than a shot or two of Pimms topped up with lemonade and served over ice, orange and cucumber. Cucumber for me is possibly the most sinister of foodstuffs, tainting everything around it with an evil flavour that I just can't quite put my finger on (not bitter, not sweet, just....vile). Allegedly the Romans used cucumber to scare away mice, which is probably one of the few things it's good for. However, it takes on a new identity when bobbing around in a tumbler of Pimms and Lemonade and it's certainly the only way I can stomach it, not that I'm suggesting that this should represent part of your 'five a day'.

Last Friday night was cocktail night with my brother-in-law as our guest. Starting with a Pimms and Lemonade and then a Tequila Sunrise courtesy of Bri, I decided to get a little experimental. Here's what I made:

Fruit Fly

1 measure Tequila

2 measures Pimms

1 measure Orange Juice

2 measures Grenadine

2 measures Sparkling Water

Crushed Ice

2 Strawberries

*This adds up to 8 measures which, with the ice included, tops up an Optima Ikea cocktail glass very nicely thank you very much.

Rather horribly, I named my delicious concotion 'Fruit Fly' due to all the winged nuisances that were hanging out in my kitchen attracted by the sliced cucumber and strawberries.

Would I try it again? Oh, I already have!

Some of my memorable cocktail moments:

Jet Lounge
Amsterdam
Fellini Martini 
By far one of Amsterdam's coolest bars, ran by the legendary Mark Hodson who briefly played with The Cramps. Their most hardcore cocktail is called a 'Raging Alcoholic' and is served in a brown paper bag, ensuring you look the part. The menu stated that the Fellini Martini contained "Vodka, Sambucca and Weird Shit". We later found out that the 'weird shit' was plastic insects.
http://www.jetlounge.nl/

Sweet Ups
Williamsburg, NYC
Blackberry Bramble
The yummiest cocktail I've ever tasted. If I remember rightly, it was sloe gin-based. Sweet Ups is a rather cool cocktail joint which is part of the Williamsburg pub crawl in Brooklyn (emphasis on the crawl, as there seemed to be at least 2 miles between each bar and I was spitting feathers). Not sure about the Dexter theme though.

Skyline Bar
Hotel Radisson Blu, Riga
Latvian Mojito
Kicked off my fourth wedding anniversary at this swish 26th floor bar overlooking delightful Riga, whispering sweet nothings as we got wasted on cocktails laced with local firewater, Black Balsalm.
http://www.skylinebar.lv/

Lou's Bar
Liege
Dr Funk
Whiskey, rum, absinthe and grenadine.....ouch! Foolishly ordered this on a warm afternoon with my poor jetlagged friend Maria. It goes down a lot better once the ice has melted. I think it took Maria 3 hours to drink hers. But then again, Spaniards can be lightweights, jetlagged or otherwise.