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Something for the weekend? French Blondes and Rhubarb; the Lexi and Jones round-up of summer cocktails

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by Lexi Welch

rhubarb cocktail

The Pink in a Poke Cocktail

A bit like this year’s hit and miss weather, Jones and I haven’t really managed to get into proper summer cocktail drinking yet. However, we have still managed to indulge in one of our favourites, (Green Fizz) at the Mondrian, be disappointed by a grapefruit daiquiri at a bar that shall remain nameless and experiment with a few ideas for the Midsummer Cocktail party which we held a while back. The most obvious thing is that as the weather heats up, the allure of cocktails that are dark and smokey or rich and creamy is lost in favour of lighter brighter ones that work with ice.

I have always loved a classic Daiquiri, ever since I had the most sublime one at the Blanche House Hotel, in Brighton. Daiquiris are evocative drinks, just as the best cocktails should be. In it’s original form it is an elegant drink, just three perfect ingredients which meld together to create deliciousness. Created in 1896 in Cuba by an American who’d run out of gin, it takes it’s name from the town where he lived. Gradually it spread to the States where it became popular, due in no small part to the devotion of one of America’s heroes, Ernest Hemingway. He and the bartender, Constantino Ribailagua, at his favourite bar El Floridita, created the Daiquiri #3 which adds maraschino liqueur and grapefruit to the original recipe. It doesn’t work for me but many claim this is the only acceptable variation on the classic. (Fruit daiquiris are to be treated with disdain…)

I practised my daiquiri making skills for our cocktail party and was pretty pleased with the results. It’s not for everyone though, as one of my guests spat it out, spluttering ‘Oh no, that tastes like loo cleaner”. She then enjoyed my Pink in a Poke cocktail (yes, I made up the name!) which is homemade rhubarb syrup, gin and Prosecco. It’s too sweet for me, thus proving my belief that you either go for sweet or citrus in a cocktail and rarely shall they combine. I was determined to use up my father’s excess rhubarb by making my own syrup and it turned out to be simpler than I thought. The result was a beautifully sweet/tart syrup and the solids made a delicious spread that worked very well on little the little almond sponge cakes I shouldn’t eat but do. The only downside was that the rhubarb itself was golden rather than pink and so the syrup look more like a thick apple juice. I cheated and put some pink food colouring into. Vibrant rosy syrup was the result.

Another guest always likes to make herself a French Martini (champagne, Chambord and pineapple juice). Again I drink that’s too sweet for me but, with it’s deep pink body and velvety layer of froth it looks lovely, like the world’s most sophisticated Guinness. On cruising the internet’s cocktail sites, I came across the recipe for a French Blonde on the Saveur website and wondered if they were related. Not at all it seems as the French Blonde is elderflower liqueur, gin, Lillet Blanc, Grapefuit and lemon bitters. Now that sounds gloriously and deliciously like loo cleaner! Have yet to try it but I will soon.

Finally, whenever I go to one of my parents BBQ’s (and they barbeque like savages … no gas burners allowed here. Only real flame and mountains of meat) my mother always throws a huge glass of yummy fizzy stuff at me which tastes both vaguely alcoholic yet incredibly refreshing. It is a less than precisely blended combination of lemonade, fresh mint and vermouth. Someone gave her a bottle years ago and it seems I’m working my way through it, one BBQ at a time. It’s so old it would qualify for the vintage section in the Experimental Cocktail Clubs menu…

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The bar at Blanche House in Brighton where I had my first, and possibly best, Daiquiri

 

Give it a Try

midsummer

The Lexi and Jones Cocktail Party, before the guests arrived!

The Classic Daiquiri

2 oz White Rum
.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
.75 oz Simple Syrup

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake thoroughly to build up a nice, foamy head. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lime wedge.

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Hemingway, drinking what looks suspiciously like a daiquiri.

Daiquiri #3

1.5 oz White Rum
.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
.5 oz Fresh Grapefruit Juice
.25 oz Simple Syrup
.25 oz Maraschino Liqueur

Combine ingredients with crushed ice in a blender. Blend thoroughly, pour into a chilled cocktail glass, and garnish with a lime wedge

Pink in a Poke

Fresh rhubarb, Sugar, Powdered ginger, your favourite gin, Prosecco

Make a rhubarb syrup by putting lots (don’t expect me to be precise, you’ll know how much you need!) of rhubarb in a pan, just cover with boiling water and then tip in far more sugar than you think you need. I also added some powdered ginger. Cook until the rhubarb is completely disintegrated and the sugar has dissolved. Let it cool completely and then strain, ideally through muslin stretched across a sieve. (But just a sieve will do if you lack the pre-requisite muslin…)

Set the solids aside, they make a delicious spread. Store the syrup in an airtight jar, in the fridge.

When making the cocktail pour two parts gin to one part syrup into a glass then top up with Prosecco.

French Blonde (from the Saveur website)

12 oz. elderflower liqueur, like St. Germain
1 oz. dry gin
2 oz. Lillet Blanc
2 oz. fresh grapefruit juice
A few dashes lemon bitters
Vigorously shake together all ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker for at least 30 seconds. Strain into a martini glass.

limes (2)

 


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