4 1GT Thursday December 3 2020 | the times
the table
25ml of Italian vermouth, 25ml of
Campari, stirred over ice and served
in the same glass. However, you can
fool around with this formula. Switch
the gin for bourbon and you have a
boulevardier. Switch it for tequila and
you have a rosita.LIGHT RUM
An essential. No need to spend more
than £25, but it’s well worth looking
beyond the usual supermarket
suspects (ie Bacardi) for something
a bit more floral and flavoursome.
Basic Havana Club 3-anos (700ml,
40 per cent ABV, £18, Sainsbury’s).
A Cuban classic.
Better El Dorado 3 Years (700ml, 40
per cent ABV, £21.95, Master of Malt).
Fruity. Your daiquiris will thank you.
Also good Flor de Caña Extra Seco
(700ml, 40 per cent ABV, £21.25,
Whisky Exchange). Super-dry, with
white chocolate and coconut notes.
What to make with it A classic
minimalist daiquiri, the true cocktail
of the connoisseur: 50ml of light rum,
15ml of lime juice, 10ml of sugar syrup,
shaken, strained and served up.DARK RUM
Rum is a world unto itself, with so
much range and variety. Try subbingPour away the
vodka! A dozen
ways to upgrade
your cocktails
From rum punches to white ladies and rositas: lift
your spirits with Richard Godwin’s guide to the best
drinks you can mix up for yourself this Christmas
BOURBON
The all-American dad of the cocktail,
essential in Manhattans, whiskey
sours, old-fashioneds, brown derbies
and more. (Scotch, Irish and Japanese
are usually best sipped.) Decent
bourbon is an outlay, but worth it.
Basic Maker’s Mark (700ml, 45 per
cent ABV, £20 with Tesco Clubcard). I
always come back to this classic, which
is often on special offer.
Better American Eagle 12 Year Old
(700ml, 43 per cent ABV, £28, The
Drop Store). Outstanding value.
Boutique Elijah Craig 12 Year Old
(700ml, 47 per cent ABV, £110, The
Whiskey Exchange). As delicious
a liquid as you are likely to taste.
What to make with it The
brown derby is seriously worth
adding to your repertoire. Add
45ml of bourbon, 30ml of fresh
grapefruit juice and 10ml of
maple syrup (or honey, loosened
with a little hot water) to the
shaker. Fill with ice and shake
vigorously, then fine-strain. Garnish
with grapefruit zest.DRY VERMOUTH
Aka “French” vermouth, this is
the less sweet, herbaceous, straw-
coloured type of vermouth, essential
if you are a martini drinker. No
need to break the bank — the best
ones cluster around the £12 mark
— but do keep in the fridge so
it stays fresh.
Basic Noilly Prat Original Dry
Vermouth (750ml, 18 per cent ABV,
£12, Waitrose). Bright and honeyish.
Better Dolin Dry Chambery
Vermouth (750ml, 17.5 per cent
ABV, £14, The Drop Store).
Dry and herby.
What to make with it A 50/
martini is the best way to let
the vermouth sing. Add equal
parts gin and French vermouth
to a mixing vessel, fill with ice,
and stir for longer than you think
you should. Strain into a glass that
has been put in the freezer and
garnish with a plump green olive and
a little brine from the jar.SWEET VERMOUTH
Sweeter, spicier and caramel-coloured
in the Torino style. Italians do it better.
Basic Martini Rosso (750ml, £7,Morrisons). A classic, does the job
in negronis.
Better Cucielo Rosso Vermouth
di Torino (750ml, 16.8 per cent ABV,
£22.75, Whisky Exchange). Rich, with
vanilla, anise and bitter orange notes.
Best Antica Formula (1 litre, 16.5 per
cent ABV, £29.50, the Drop Store).
A historical vermouth.
What to make with it A Manhattan,
clearly. Stir 50ml of bourbon, 25ml
of Italian vermouth and a dash of
Angostura bitters with plenty of ice.
Strain into a glass and garnish with
a length of orange (or lemon) zest or
a cocktail cherry. Manhattans are
great with dark rum in place of the
bourbon too.CAMPARI
A non-negotiable position for me:
Campari is a permanent member of
my cabinet thanks to its starring role
in the negroni, the Americano, the
jungle bird and the true spritz. There
are paler substitutes (such as Aperol)
and interesting alternatives (such as
Fernet-Branca), but why mess?
Best Campari (700ml, £12.50, Asda).
A bright-red classic that brooks no
messing. Like Heinz ketchup.
What to make with it A negroni
is quintessential — 25ml of gin,I
f you want to up your home
cocktail game over Christmas,
you just need a decent selection
that will commune happily in
various different formations —
but will also make welcoming
consorts to any lemons or
passion fruits or bottles of
bubbly or interesting sodas that
pass through your kitchen.
As a general rule, go for bottles
that really taste of something (so
no vodka, which is the bottled water
of the spirit world) and whose
flavours can’t be replicated with
cheaper, fresher ingredients.
(Why spend £20 on a fancy
raspberry gin when you can
just mix gin and raspberries?)
All the rest can be done with
basic supermarket stuff like
lemons, limes, eggs, mint and
sugar: dissolve two parts golden
caster sugar in one part water
for an all-purpose sugar syrup.
The following bottles provide
the most options:GIN
The most in-demand cocktail
spirit, and the most economical.
Most supermarket own-brands
are decent. Some, eg Aldi’s,
outclass better-known names
in blind tastings. It’s not a
bad idea to have a basic gin for
fruitier mixtures and a classier
one for martinis.
Basic Greyson’s London Dry
(£14.19, 1 litre, 37.5 per cent ABV,
Aldi). Fresh, lemony, fine for G&Ts.
Better Beefeater 24 (£25.95, 700ml,
45 per cent ABV, Master of Malt).
Underrated and ultra-fragrant,
from an outstanding distillery.
Boutique Hepple (£38,
700ml, 45 per cent ABV,
Waitrose). A genuine
taste-the-difference gin.
What to make with it Try a
clover club. That’s 50ml of gin
shaken up with 15ml of lemon
juice, 10ml of sugar syrup and three
fresh raspberries. Be sure to use
plenty of ice, shake for about ten
seconds, then fine-strain at the end
to remove the little shards of ice.
Garnish with fresh raspberries. Add
10ml of egg white to the shaker if
you fancy a little frilly froth on top.Jungle bird
Manhattan