March Cocktails: 3 For Spring

It’s March… The month of my birth, the peak of spring, and the start of the summer solstice. I thought I’d start my return to this blog with some classic ‘me’ cocktail. So below you’ll find 3 long, fruity and rather gorgeous looking cocktails. All of which will naturally be sweet.

I have been looking for a cocktail that really matches how I’m feeling this march. I’ve been off alcohol for so long that I just want something to really hit home. I looked for cocktails with a well-balanced yet complicated cacophony of flavours and, where possible, cocktails that had a little something special.

I eventually settled for a Tropical Tequila Cocktail: The White Peach Tequila Cocktail, a Pisco sour flavoured with thyme: The Pisco Thyme, and finally a favourite I’ve yearned to make myself: The Canon Cocktail.

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Cocktail #1: White Peach Tequila Cocktail

Recipe:

2 ripe white peaches

60ml silver tequila

60ml peach liqueur

60ml lime juice

2 tbsp. sugar syrup

Garnish: Sliced Peaches & mint sprigs.

 

Method:

• Pit, peel, and chop the peaches before blending them and then sieving the puree into a bowl.
• Combine the puree, and all other ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
• Serve over ice in a large rocks glass and garnish with the sliced peach and mint sprig.

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Cocktail #2: Pisco Thyme

 

Recipe:

60ml Pisco

30ml Lime Juice

30ml Thyme Simple Syrup

Method:

• Shake all ingredients over ice until well chilled. Around 20seconds.
• Double strain cocktail into a coupe glass and garnish with a sprig of thyme.

 

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Cocktail #3: The Canon Cocktail

Recipe:

1 measure Rye Whisky

½ measure sweet vermouth

½ measure Ramazzotti Amaro

Cointreau Foam

Bitter Truth old time aromatic bitters

Method:

• Stir first 3 ingredients over ice.
• Strain into a chilled rock glass and top with a Cointreau Foam
• Using a dropper, place a few drops of bitters on top of the foam.

This final cocktail is the signature cocktail of the Canon Bar, Seattle. Canon is a bar owned and run by a legend in the bartending world: Jamie Boudreau. It’s a great cocktail I’ve always wanted to try. Sure it’s a whisky cocktail, and whisky is not my favourite, but this Manhattan-old fashioned style hybrid cocktail really has an air of class about it.

To give some idea of how the legend himself makes this cocktail please refer to the attached video below:

Jack Daniels – through the seasons: New Years

The last cocktail in my Jack Daniels through the seasons themed gift was one of my very own creation. It’s a cocktail that will be at home on any cocktail menu throughout the year but, due to the nature of some of its ingredients (specifically the cranberries), is better utilised during the new year period…

Please note that I use fever tree ginger ale in my cocktails, almost exclusively, so it may taste different to what I intended if you use other brands (just tweak it a little to better compliment the brand you use).

New Years’: The Fervent Shaker Tennessee Mule

About the Drink:

Created in a top secret laboratory hidden away in an underground bunker, this cocktail has been slowly tweaked and re-tweaked for months. Like a strain of the cold virus, no two versions have ever been the same. Until today.

This cocktail has finally come to fruition and the depth in flavour is superb when compared to other similar mixtures. Its moderately simple combination of Jack Daniels Tennessee whisky, apple juice, lime juice, our in-house cranberry simple syrup, and a top of ginger ale, results in a well-balanced yet slightly sweet cocktail that should take the bite out of the whisky whilst keeping all of the flavours intact. The joy of this cocktail is, of course, its depth in flavour.

Using an in house cranberry syrup recipe we can control the flavour balance that is integral to the core of this drink. Thus the measurements are strict in that this recipe relies on the delicate balance between sweet and dry.

This cocktail is perfect for your new year celebrations but also for almost any other special occasion. Just bear in mind that the use of cranberries may restrict this to being a more seasonal tipple.

Tweak note: The Ginger ale can of course be substituted for a lighter flavoured soda although please be aware that doing so can impair the intended flavour profiles.

Recipe:

• 1 ½ measures Jack Daniels
• 1 ½ measure Apple Juice
• ¾ measure in House Cranberry Simple Syrup
• ½ measure Fresh Lime Juice
• Top-Up Ginger Ale*
• Handful of fresh/frozen cranberries

Method:

• Combine the all of the ingredients, except for the ginger ale, in an ice-filled cocktail shaker.
• Shake until well-chilled or until the tin ices over. Around 15-30 seconds.
• Strain into a glass filled with crushed ice until ¾ full.
• Top up with the ginger ale and garnish with a skewer of fresh/frozen cranberries.
• Serve with a straw and enjoy!

This was a really fun and interesting gift to create and put together and should be something you can all emulate for your friends and family!

Disclaimer: All of the pictures used across the previous four posts i’ve shared with you (links below) are from the Official Jack Daniels website and when you’re done here, why not check out their other recipes for a little inspiration?

Spring Cocktail

Summer Cocktail

Autumn Cocktail

Winter Cocktail

Please note: this post is in no way endorsed or supported in any way by Jack Daniels or any of their affiliates. This is all my own thoughts and words people! Go me!

Jack Daniels – Through the Seasons: Winter

The fourth cocktail in the Jack Daniels through the seasons is a Winter themed special.

You’ve all tried the Lynchburg Lemonade served at your local weatherspoons right? It’s a cocktail so easy to make and so refreshing that a lot of cocktail bars/pubs will serve it throughout the summer.

Well this next cocktail is similar in that it is refreshing and a great cocktail utilising the warmth of Jack Daniels but adds a nice seasonal twist to an otherwise standard cocktail…

Winter: Lynchburg Cider

About the Drink:

Perfect for the winter months, especially the colder ones, this cocktail is a simple yet highly effective concoction suitable for most affluent drinkers.

The cider can be of any type but stick to your favourite or research which types work best with which types of whisky. This recipe is best followed by utilising your favourite hot cider mixture – if only so you know what to expect from the cider itself.

The cinnamon and lemon are purely for aesthetics and fragrance, although given enough time they’re sure to add their own imprints to the mix.

The Lynchburg Cider is a hard cocktail to get right but if you used the flavours you love and a good quality cider, there’s not much that can go terribly wrong…

Recipe:

• 1 measure Jack Daniels
• 5 measures Hot Apple Cider
• Cinnamon Stick
• Lemon Slice

Method:

• Simple build in a mug (or coffee glass).
• Garnish with the cinnamon stick and lime slice.

 

Jack Daniels – Through the Seasons: Autumn

The third cocktail in the Jack Daniels through the seasons is, of course, autumn.

This refreshing cocktail is perfect for the autumn, but tastes so good you can be sure to enjoy it all year round… Especially for those looking for an American escape sometime soon…

Autumn: New York Sour

About the Drink:

A classic sour cocktail is as simple as it can get: Spirit + Lemon Juice + Simple Syrup + Shake = Sour Cocktail. The spirit used can be anything from Vodka or Rum to Melon Liqueur or Limoncello (and everything in between).

When it comes to the New York Sour the classic whisky sour was taken, added to and sold on as an improvement, so to speak. Some see confusion and a strange muddle, whilst others see the genius in adding further depth of flavour. It’s an odd idea for sure, but once you’ve tried a whisky sour with the wine topper, no whisky sour without it will ever taste the same!

Arguably the most versatile aspect of this drink is its ability for tweaking where needed. When using different types of whisky (Scotch, Tennessee, Rye, Bourbon etc.) you can use different types of red wines to compliment the whisky and get the most out of the cocktail.

Recipe:

• 1 ½ measures Jack Daniels
• 1 measure Lemon Juice
• ½ measure simple syrup
• ½ measure Red Wine (Shiraz or Malbec)

Method:

• Combine the Jack Daniels with the lemon juice, sugar syrup, and ice.
• Shake until well-chilled or until the tin ices over. Around 15-30 seconds.
• Strain into a small rocks glass.
• Using the back of a spoon, layer the red wine on top of the sour-mixture…

 

Jack Daniels – Through the seasons: Summer

So continuing with the Jack Daniels Through the seasons cocktails we’re now onto summer!

Yes, it might be a tad pre-mature to start thinking about summery cocktails but the weather here in the UK is on its way down. Into the –^OC – shock, horror!

And as the temperature plummets we all look for ways to warm ourselves up. Not only does whisky do this perfectly, this very refreshing Jack Daniels cocktail will have you dreaming of sandy beaches and cocktail bars made of bamboo…

Summer: The Peach Muddle

About the drink:

This cocktail is slightly different to the others on this list as it contains some extremely seasonal fruit. Like the fruit this drink uses, it can vary in taste year to year. This makes it an extremely difficult drink to create year-to-year. There’s always someone who preferred last year’s slightly different taste.

The best way to make this drink is to use the best quality peaches you have available and then tweak the already small amounts of Cointreau, simple syrup and lemon juice to taste.

The beauty of this drink, really, is in its ability to be tweaked year upon year and yet still resemble that of the original concoction.

The Jack Daniels melts fantastically into this very summery mixture of high-quality triple sec, lemon juice, and peaches…

The thyme sprig garnish simply adds a final flourish and an air of savoury fragrance about this already stunning summer cocktail.

Recipe:

• 1 measure Jack Daniels
• ½ measure Cointreau
• ½ measure Simple Syrup
• ¼ measure Lemon Juice
• ½ pitted peach (skin on and cut into slices)
• 1 sprig of thyme

Method:

• Muddle peaches with the simple syrup in a mixing glass.
• Add in the Cointreau, lemon juice and Jack Daniels and fill glass with ice.
• Shake vigorously until the tin ices over.
• Fill a mason glass with crushed ice.
• Strain mixture into the mason glass and garnish with the thyme.

 

Jack Daniels – Through the Seasons: Spring

I recently worked on a gift for a couple of friends who love their Jack Daniels.

It was a simple collection of cocktails, presented in menu form and then a collection of recipe cards to help them through the creation process.

These cocktails were set out in a specific way: 1 cocktail for each season of the year and then one extra cocktail especially for new year’s. The latter one being a cocktail of my own creation!

The seasonal cocktail were simply taken from the Jack Daniels official website (it’s hard enough coming up with 1 brand new recipe, and perfecting that – let alone another 4 as well!).

It might seem a bit of a cop-out but I made sure I picked 4 cocktails that my friends would not only like but cocktails that fit their chosen season well. They’re also quite different from each other – that way they could taste the various flavours Jack Daniels works well with…

The gift itself comprised of the following:

1x 70cl bottle of Jack Daniels

2x Limes

75ml (ish) homemade cranberry simple syrup

100g cranberries, whole

2x mason mugs

And the menu + Recipe cards.

This was a small collection of things to make a nice little hamper.

The cocktails are all extremely refreshing so I’ll be sharing them all over the next few days starting with the Spring Cocktail below…

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Spring: The Tennessee Breeze

About the drink:

A surprisingly refreshing combination of Jack Daniels, Cranberry Juice, Orange Juice and Tonic water; this cocktail is simple to create yet easy to get wrong.

The balance between sweet and dry is so perfectly poised that the slightest deviation threatens to completely sink this titanic cocktail.

Jack Daniels is a perfect example of American freedom in that The whisky is simple unique in nature. This cocktail appreciates that fact and aims to elevate the spirits’ natural flavours and pepper them with various levels of sweetness. The sweetness is tapered somewhat by the tonic water but the drink in its entirety is one to really get you excited about a summer that is, very nearly, right around the corner!

Recipe:

• 2 measures Jack Daniels
• 1 measure Cranberry Juice
• 1 measure Orange Juice
• Top-up Tonic Water
• ½ tsp Honey
• Ice

Method:

• Using a blender combine all of the ingredients, except the tonic water, and blitz until the right consistency (try for a slushie-style consistency).
• Pour into a chilled rocks glass until ¾ full.

Top with tonic water and garnish with a cranberry skewer or cherry (with stem).

Special Occasion? This calls for a Cocktail!

Cocktails for all occasions

There are some cocktails out there that are best saved for those big occasions; you know all the weddings, birthday parties and fancy shindigs you are all getting up to! Here in this list are 8 drinks that are best utilised for relaxing nights in with your friends or small cocktail soiree’s.

From simple build-a-spritzer combinations to slightly intricate shaken mixtures this list contains a healthy balance of both – not to mention everything in between.

We’ll start with relaxing events. So these would be times when you have friends over for a chilled out evening either with a film or generally have a good time…

Spiced Whisky Ale

Recipe:

50ml Whisky of your choice

125ml Fever Tree Ginger Ale

Method:

–          Build ingredients in a glass, over ice.

This cocktail is simple. Just pour the ingredients in a glass and enjoy. And that’s the whole point, relaxing cocktails are about putting a few ingredients together following a simple method allowing you to spend more time with your guests, and enjoy that time too.

New Yorker

Recipe:

50ml Vodka of your choice

125ml Cranberry Juice

Wedge of Lime

Method:

–          Build in a glass over ice.

–          Either drop in the lime wedge whole, or squeeze it in the drink before dropping it in.

This again is a very simple yet elegant drink. The cranberry juice is a perfect complement for the Vodka. With Smirnoff, Finlandia and other companies bringing out different flavoured vodkas, it might be worth finding one you like and trying it out. Finlandia Grapefruit works particularly well with this drink.

Pimms No.1 & Lemonade

Recipe:

50ml Pimms No.1

100ml Lemonade

Garnish: Orange slice, Cucumber slice, Strawberry, Mint Sprig.

Method:

–          Build the ingredients over ice in a tall glass.

–          Garnish with the above ingredients.

Of course Pimms cocktails are always better prepared as jugs/pitchers but for chilled evenings with friends sometimes a little intimacy is called for. There’s no trick involved in the garnish either, use a swizzle stick and mix the fruit in the drink – not only does this mix the garnishes up, but also mix the drink a bit better!

Spiced Ice-Tea

Recipe:

50ml Captain Morgans Spiced Gold Rum

125ml iced tea

Pinch Ground Cinnamon & Ground Nutmeg.

Method:

–          Combine the ingredients in a mixing glass over ice and stir well.

–          Strain into an ice filled Collins glass and serve with a straw.

This drink is a little more artsy, with the cinnamon and nutmeg making an appearance, but this drink could easily stand a test without them, should you not like the flavours. The iced tea recipe can be a basic recipe, but I find a standard tea works well, maybe an earl grey?

Mahiki Breeze

Recipe:

50ml Mahiki Coconut

10ml Spiced Gold Rum

80ml Cranberry Juice

35ml Grapefruit juice

Garnish: Lime wedge

Method:

–          In a cocktail shaker, combine all ingredients and shake well (until the shaker ices over).

–          Strain into a tall glass, half filled with ice.

–          Drop in the lime wedge, or squeeze in if preferred.

Rum and Citrus is an age old combination dating back to when people had the good sense and taste to drink them together. That’s right it’s an awesome mix and you should try this cocktail at your next party to prove my point. The Cranberry & Grapefruit juice compliment the rum and each other well, not to mention the coconut flavour of Mahiki blending in well too. This drink is shaken well before serving so it is both mixed well and chilled.

Gran Cran

Recipe:

25ml Grand Marnier

50ml Cranberry Juice

7ml Lime Juice

Method:

–          Shake the ingredients together over ice and strain into a tall glass filled with crushed ice.

–          Garnish with a lime wedge and serve with a straw.

A rather unusual use for Grand Marnier, but a cocktail that allows this fantastic spirit to shine is more than ok with me! Try this after food – it’s perfect for settling your stomach and helping cleanse your palate. Not to mention it tastes pretty darn good.

Archer Cooler

Recipe:

50ml Archers Peach schnapps

50ml Orange Juice

50ml Cranberry Juice

Method:

–          Combine the ingredients in a tall glass, over ice, and stir well to mix.

–          Serve with a straw

Holiday Schnapps

Recipe:

50ml Archers Peach Schnapps

125ml Pineapple Juice

7ml Lime Juice

Method:

–          Build the ingredients in a tall glass, over ice.

–          Garnish with a lime wedge and serve with straws.

This cocktail is as refreshing as they come, blending the peach schnapps with pineapple juice helps bring back those long forgotten summer holidays of old. The Lime adds a crisp finish to a very refreshing drink. This versatile is perfect for cocktail parties or just quiet nights in.

So there you go, 8 cocktails for you to use at any parties/occasions you deem them relevant. But remember they are best suited for relaxing events; BBQ’s, Soiree’s, and general evenings in with your mates.

N.B.the recipes in this post are from, or inspired by, recipes on www.uk.thebar.com and the pictures are partly taken from the same website as well as others (including this iced-tea recipe from Sensibiliteas). Recipes that differ from those on the first website have been tweaked or changed by myself and myself alone. Enjoy them responsibly folks!

Happy New Year!

Celebrate in style…

So where do I start? This is my last post of the year of 2013. And I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped me over the past 24 months. This blog was set up through my love of cocktails and a need to write about them.

I love cocktails and I need you all to know it!

So whether it’s a mild mannered rooftop Soiree…

So from the 57 Bloggers , 190 Tweeters & 133 Facebookers out there down to each and every individual person who has ever read/commented on one of my posts: A very humble thank you.

When I first started this blog I never imagined to have got as far with it as I am. 13 months after I started I’m sitting here having reached over 3000 views in one month (December 2013 – 3110+) and am sitting on just under 18,000 total views. Just WOW!

Or whether it’s a rather messy Student mash up…

My spare time is dwindling as i work on my 2 cocktails books and also a side project (Sci-Fi – novel) but i will still aim to hit you with about 4-6 posts per month (more so when I have more time!).

I’ll be hoping to take this blog into new areas of alcoholism and of course cocktails will feature as heavily as they have done. Hopefully I’ll even have a prize draw for all you UK readers at some point (as well as looking at going “.com” at some point).

Thank you again and may you all enjoy a fantastic 2014!

Remember to always have fun, even it that means playing ‘go fish’ with the family…

Stairs to the cocktail heaven:

It might rain, so say the weather people; Rainy Day Cocktails is my response…

Even Sharks love cocktails…

If you don’t like sharks, how about a Mule?

Fizz things up a bit with a Fizz cocktail or 10.

Here’s Cointreau with their Fizz Cocktails too…

And even some 3 course cocktails…

Penultimately here are my two Champagne Collections:

Christmas 2013

Not just Bellini’s and Mimosa’s

And finally, my collection of several Summer Cocktail lists:

Whisky Exchange, Tequila, Gin, Vodka, Rum, Liqueur 43 & Cointreau. Not to mention my entire collection of Cocktails O’ Clock Posts.

 

Enjoy and again a very happy New Year to you all!

Cocktails O’ Clock: Whisky Wednesdays…

Eclipse

If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times; I do not like whisky. But recently I’ve been finding some that are quite bearable, including the one that happens to be the focal point of this post…

The book in which I found this recipe: “Pink Drinks” (published by Hamlyn) was a present from my sister, who thinks she is funny with Christmas presents like this, and is annoyingly full of some rather good cocktail recipes (hence this post).

Recipe:

2 measures Jack Daniels

½ measure Chambord Liqueur

½ measure fresh Lime Juice

Dash Agave Nectar

1 measure cranberry juice

1 measure raspberry puree

Garnish:2 Raspberries and a Lime wedge.

Pink over ice. Perfect for those nights in with friends…

Method:

1. Combine the whisky and other ingredients over ice and shake until ice forms on the outside of the shaker.
2. Fill a highball glass with crushed ice and strain in the mixture.
3. Garnish with the raspberries and lime wedge (use a skewer for the berries – it helps) and stick in two straws.

Combining a relatively sweet whisky with some lime juice and berries this drink creates a sweet-sour combination that really tingles on your tongue. The crushed ice both lengthens the drink and cools down the whisky.

“if you’re dreaming of that sparkly something that could take a long time in coming, then this is the drink for you. A divine mixture of raspberry puree, Jack Daniels and lime juice – it could be a long night” – Pink Drinks; Hamlyn books.

The best thing about this drink is that by tweaking two of the ingredients you can change the ‘girly’ pink hue of the drink whilst keeping the basic idea of the drink whole. Instead of using the raspberry ingredients try using a collection of darker berries:

–          Replace the Chambord with Crème de Mure (Blackberry Liqueur)

–          Replace the Raspberry Puree with a Blackberry & Blueberry puree.

–          Replace the Cranberry Juice with Pomegranate & Blueberry Juice.

This will result in both a darker shade of red, a deeper flavour thanks to the summer berries and a drink the men in your group will not mind (as much) being seen holding. Failing that just make them some whisky sours with the left over Jack Daniels…

Using Blackberries will darken the drink making it less girly; for all you blokes out there…

So there you have it, no excuses male or female, shake a few of these up for you and your friends and chill out with a good film or even a pizza.

London Cocktail Week – A drinkers thought’s

I’ve just jumped of the tube at Covent Garden, naively thinking it was the best choice being the closest to where I had to go. Everything was good, people were in high spirits, well as high as they can be sitting on the tube. After disembarking I had two choices…

1)      Wait with the large crowds for a lift,

2)      Or, Take the stairs.

I didn’t see the point of waiting for the second lift and being crammed into a sardine can so I took the ‘easy’ way out. It wasn’t until I was in the current of people already pushing their way up the stairs that I read a message that made my heart sink:

Or course it was too late as by then I’d commited myself to the program. Now I’m not the fittest person in the world, but 1/3 or the way up and I passed a couple of older walkers, obviously in too deep so I used that as incentive to keep going and not turn back (if they weren’t turning back I’ll be damned if I was). It wasn’t until about ½ way up I started to feel it, a slight tingling in my thighs, which turned into an intense burn around 2/3’s of the way up. Then every step felt like 10, with people having the same problem stopping more frequently. The only people that seemed to keep on was me and a group of Italian girls. As we got to the top we were sharing moans and groans about how painful it was and eventually made it, laughing together before making our own way onwards.

Anyway this was a bit of a tiring way to start the day, but an otherwise exhilarating one and needless to say on the way back down I took the lift…

Greeting’s from the London Cocktail Week team!

I’d been waiting for a while for this day now, having booked 2 events;

1)      Gaz’s Historical Tour (at the Monkey Shoulder DIY Kitchen)

2)      Discover Sipsmith, a tour of their distillery

These events will have separate posts, both coming soon. In the meantime the day as a whole was good fun. The collection of ‘pop up’ bars and ‘push bike’ bars creating a very Wild West style vibe across both Monmouth & Earlham Street. The two most noteworthy were the Fever Tree and Disaronno Sour stations. The former offering Tanqueray G&T’s as well as tasters of their brands various carbonated drinks (including Ginger Beer, Classic Tonic water & Elderflower Tonic). I don’t like Tonic water at all, excluding in a G&T of course, but there was something special about the elderflower tonic that was obviously an occurrence of the Elderflower adding a sweet tint to the otherwise dry tonic.

Definitely something to look at with further cocktails and posts and one of which will deal exclusively with Fever Tree as an overall company (including their products compared to other similar ones), however for the meantime let it be said that this was one of the better pop-ups on the day.

The other, Disaronno’s  stand, was serving freshly mixed Disaronno Sours to anyone with a LCW wristband. The Sour is the cocktail of the moment for Disaronno, with them spending a lot of time try to promote it, alongside Disaronno’s use in cocktails (which is a good idea seeing as it is perfect for such a use).

The drink itself is strange, an enigma if you will, combining lemon juice with the liqueurs almond flavour as well as sugar should result in an odd and almost unpleasant taste one might be mistaken for thinking but the fact is that it actually tastes rather nice. The lemon juice adding a little acidity to the sweet flavours of the liqueur and sugar with the almond holding its own and supplying enough of a hit to let you know it’s alcoholic without it being painful.

A rather nice afternoon, but then it was time for the first event Gaz’s Historical Tour; a 90 minute seminar on the history of Whisky cocktails through the ages (courtesy of Monkey Shoulder).

When I saw this I thought “Gaz Regan? No, cant be!” but it was, in all his glory, the great and legendary Gary Regan. He’s been an icon ever since I started reading about cocktail culture and learning about recipes and where they came from (as well as how they came about). And to finally meet him, in the flesh, well that was something special…

And there were no disappointments, he was just as hilarious and eccentric as one would expect and was very welcoming to the 15 or so people in the group (including me). After introductions were made, including with the Monkey Shoulder brand ambassador; Grant Neave, who was fantastically insightful and also extremely welcoming, the talk ensued…

Starting with a sampling of Monkey Shoulder itself and an introduction to their first cocktail on the list: The Athol Brose (a middle aged brew of whisky, water, honey & oats) and culminating with the Debonair; this talk was very educational.

I’m the first person to admit I’m not the biggest fan of whisky, in any form – Including its cocktail counterparts, but I went to this event for two reasons:

1)      To meet the great Gaz Regan (Mission Completed).

2)      To learn about both monkey shoulder and whisky in general (both straight and cocktail forms) (Mission Completed).

Overall the event was great value for just £15 I got an extended (it started late but lasted longer than billed) introduction to monkey shoulder and a fantastic tour of the most important whisky cocktails through the ages. Overall a great event and topped off perfectly with a handshake from both Gaz Regan himself and the brilliant Grant Neave. Awesome afternoon!

Next time on the Fervent Shaker LCW special: Discover Sipsmith – A Gin of epic proportions and historical significance…