Vive La Cocktail! Whatever you choose to drink in Australia today is limited only by your imagination and the season. Nowhere is this better reflected than in the modern cocktail revolution, where the emphasis is on flavour, fruit and more flavour. Modern fruit-based liqueurs like Midori, Original Peachtree and Monin Triple Lime now complement traditional favourites like Cointreau and Mandarin Napoleon. Choose from the multitude of fresh seasonal fruits, tropical and temperate, to make cocktails long and short, sweet and dry, to suit most palates and occasions. All you need is a few extra spirits, a shaker, a blender, some ice and a touch of daring. If you want to experiment with your own fruit cocktails, try this technique. Choose two different fruit liquers which you expect to complement each other, then add another complementary fresh fruit juice or pulp and lemon juice to taste. The acidity of fruit juices like lemon usefully counters the sweetness of the liqueurs used in the mix. A popular example of this type of cocktail is the Midori Sour, which combines the honeydew melon flavour of Midori with the orange of Cointreau and fresh lemon juice. Mix equal parts of all three with ice and shake, before straining into a cocktail or Martini glass. Cointreau is the neutral-coloured liqueur based around the flavour of the Seville orange, and blended with a fine colourless and smooth brandy base. Its pronounced citrus flavour and a versatile lack of colour lends itself to a spectrum of different cocktail recipes. White rum is a popular spirit base for cocktails, seeing it is virtually tasteless and allows you to choose your flavours more carefully. Daiquiris are still very popular and easy to make with almost any fruit. Just add around 30 ml of white rum with 15 ml of sugar syrup and 30 ml of lemon juice with the pulp of whatever fresh fruit you want to experiment with and a dash of egg-white. Either shake it all with ice and strain or blend it all together, depending on what texture you prefer. A Barbados is a blend of 30 ml Bacardi, 30 ml Malibu, 30 ml Ashanti Gold, 90 ml coconut milk and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream, served in half a coconut. Another rum-based cocktail you might experiment with is the award-winning Theo’s Nectar. Add 60 ml Bacardi, 30 ml Midori, 30 ml lemon juice, 15 ml Malibu and a dash of egg white to a shaker; then shake and strain into a tall flute and garnish with a strawberry. Galliano is Italy’s most important contribution to the cocktail culture. The Vicki’s Lament is real experience, requiring one peeled kiwifruit, 15 ml of each of Galliano, White Creme de Cacao, Cointreau, lemon juice and a shot of Bacardi, which are all blended with ice and poured into a large old-fashioned glass or tumbler. You can make a luscious concoction called Southern Peach by blending 15ml Southern Comfort with 30 ml fresh cream, 15 ml Original Peachtree and one fresh peach with ice and straining into a 5 oz cocktail or Martini glass. Garnish with a wheel of kiwi fruit. The Passionate Scene is another award-winning Australian blend. Pour 45 ml of Suntory Strawberry liqueur into a 10 oz highball glass, then add one scoop of ice. Then add 60ml of fresh orange juice, a dash of lemon juice and 60ml of lemonade, making sure to add them in that order. Top the drink with a teaspoon of passionfruit pulp and garnish with an orange wheel and strawberries. A long, cool evening drink fast becoming popular in Australia is the Long Island Tea, so called because of the the colour given it by cola. Into a tall highball glass and ice-cubes build 30 ml vodka, 30 ml tequila, 30 ml white rum, 15 ml Cointreau, 30 ml lemon juice, 30 ml of sugar syrup and a dash of cola to colour. Garnish with a twist of lemon and mint leaves. Make variations on the theme with a different mix of white spirits. Wine has been used as a base for mixed drinks for centuries. The object in behind many of these drinks was to instill warmth and health, which explains why most are served hot and instilled with herbs. After a long day’s apres-ski you might try either of these vinous alternatives. A Rum Toddy is made with 30 ml dark rum, 15 ml tawny port, 90 ml boiled water and two or three drops of cloves, which you mix and stir in a punch glass. A Gluhwein may be made by boiling together 180 ml claret, three sugar cubes and one clove, which are served very hot. You might like to drop in a slice of lemon. Prior to tackling the slopes next morning, replace some lost vitamins by dropping some ice into a tall glass, adding 15 ml of grapefruit juice and filling with rose wine. The Appropriate Aperitif It’s essential to start an occasion with something appropriate. Aperitifs are designed to whet the appetite, so they should be clean and fresh, not sweet and cloying like the sweet apologies for sherry one encounters all too frequently. Champagnes of the blanc de blancs genre, made only with the elegant and lighter chardonnay grape are often perfect, but they’re discussed elsewhere in this book. However you can do things to champagne, just for fun. Try pouring 30 ml of Baitz Goldwasser into a champagne flute, then topping up with champagne. Then drop in just a drop or two of bright red Grenadine for effect. Look closely and see why it’s called Seeing Stars. The gold flakes you see are actual 22 carat, originally believed by the alchemists of Danzig to prolong life. We will have to wait and see. A classic French idea is to drop some cassis, or blackcurrant liqueur, into white wine to make a Kir, or into champagne for a Kir Royale. Only add a small dash, for the cassis has an exceptionally concentrated flavour. For something different, try the same idea with strawberry or raspberry liqueur. The most interesting are those made by Crozet, in the mountainous French village of Thizy, from the intensely-flavoured local berry fruits. One of the more under-rated European aperitif concepts is to simply take an aniseed or liquorice-based liqueur and serve it with ice in a short glass. Depending on whether your mood is French, Italian or Greek, try Ricard, Sambuca di Galliano or Barbaresso Ouzo. As you might expect, this idea is particularly effective before barbecued seafoods and lamb. Aperitif cocktails should be similarly clean and refreshing. Here are two new examples. An Oasis is made by shaking together 30 ml Original Peachtree, 15 ml Suntory Strawberry, 15 ml Bacardi, 15 ml apricot juice and 15 ml lemon juice with ice and a generous dash of egg whites. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a strawberry and a pineapple leaf. It’s fairly potent, so save it for bank managers, creditors and wealthy relatives. Make an Orangutang by shaking with ice 30 ml Mandarin Napoleon, 30 ml Midori, 90 ml pineapple juice, 90 ml orange juice and 15 ml lemon juice. Garnish it with fresh fruits. Finishing On A High Much of the creative energy spent in devising the multitude of beverages which surround us today has been devoted to that period of time between desserts and daylight. There are several basic choices, ranging from the classic spirits of cognac and Scotch whisky, to port and other fortified wines and cocktails invented especially to help finish on a high note. Cognac is perhaps the most revered of all the spirits. When served correctly – in a small narrow balloon glass with a thin stem and not the fishbowl-like monstrosity with which cognac has become unfortunately associated – its immense complexity, fragrance and mellowness are easy to appreciate. Remy Martin VSOP Cognac is remarkably elegant, aromatic and soft, with a minimum age of twelve years. The Napoleon is older, with eighteen years’ maturity, is also delicate, elegant and lively, with complex flavours of honey and quince. Darker in colour and remarkably soft and mellow, the twenty-four year-old XO is more voluptuous and rich, with the intensity and power expected from such a mature spirit. The Remy Martin Centaure and Louis XIII almost defy description in their sheer intensity, richness and elegance. They offer absolutely no hint of aggression, but a welcoming depth of complex flavours and softness. Is there a better way to complete the perfect dinner? After-dinner cocktails are sweet, rich and intensely-flavoured. A look at a few illustrates the patent indulgence they are; reason enough to try some. The Venus is a cream cocktail, made by shaking and straining 30 ml of each of Galliano, dark Creme de Cacao, Cherry Brandy and cream into a cocktail glass and garnishing with grated chocolate. Another after-dinner cream cocktail is the God Daughter, made with 30 ml Sambuca di Galliano, 30 ml Amaretto di Galliano, 30 ml fresh cream and 5 ml Grenadine, which you shake and strain into a champagne saucer, the sort of glass from which you sip spumante at reception centres. Garnish with chocolate flakes and ease a strawberry onto the side. Something equally rich, sweet and creamy is a Peaches and Cream, simply made by shaking together 30 ml of each of Original Peachtree, Remy Brandy and cream. Strain into a cocktail (martini) glass and garnish with nutmeg. A Turkey’s Delight is a particularly strong, but different adaptation of a Rusty Mail. Shake and strain 45 ml Wild Turkey Bourbon with 15 ml Drambuie, 60 ml Orange Juice and a dash of egg white. Pour into a sugar-rimmed cocktail (martini) glass. Scotch is one of the oldest spirits, first stilled in the Scottish Highlands in the early fifteenth century, not long after the Arabs first used distillation for alcohol in the Middle Ages. The art was apparently transferred from Ireland by missionary monks. The better Scotch whiskies are still in a class of their own. Worthy of your attention after a meal are the blended and single malts. Amongst the premium blends are the well-known names of Dimple Haig, Johnnie Walker Black Label and Chivas Regal. But paramount amongst Scotches are the rich, smooth and unashamedly individual single highland malts of Glenmorangie, Macallan and Glenlivet. Although serious Scotch drinkers, who take it without water or ice would undoubtedly frown at the suggestion, there are some cocktails, old and new, which offer some drinkable alternatives. However I wouldn’t recommend anything better than a proprietory brand Scotch for any cocktail. Old Fashioned is made by placing a sugar cube into an old-fashioned glass (large tumbler) and adding two dashes of Angostura Bitters. Muddle them about until the sugar melts, before adding ice and 60 ml Scotch, twisting a slice of lemon over the ingredients and garnishing with a cherry. The Taste of Honey is new and very different. Shake 30ml Scotch, 30ml Kahlua, 30ml Drambuie and 30ml cream with ice and strain into a standard cocktail glass (martini glass). Garnish with a fanned strawberry. Make The Richmond by shaking 30ml Scotch, 15ml Cointreau, 15ml Campari, a dash of orange juice, a dash of Angostura Bitters and 15ml Dubonnet with ice and strain into a standard cocktail glass (martini glass). Garnish with a twist of orange and a cocktail cherry. Port is a traditional and under-rated after-dinner alternative. Australia shares with Portugal the appropriate conditions to make wonderful tawny ports, of which many available today have considerable age and maturity. Made as a blend of several vintages and matured for many years in old oak casks, the best tawny ports combine complex vinous fruit flavours with the smoothness and richness of old spirit, which helps to balance their appealing sweetness. Portuguese ports tends to be drier than Australian, many of which are riper and more forward than the lighter, more spirity traditional Portuguese style. Vintage ports present another alternative. It is generally premature to open them before they survive a decade. Although Australian vintage ports age to resemble old Australian tawny ports, they are indeed made from a single vintage and can soften out with time to become extraordinarily intense and complex wines. More earthy, ripe and fuller-bodied than the tawny ports, Portuguese vintage ports come together superbly with time, of which they need plenty. Quite unapproachable while young, they transform into rich, smooth and sophisticated wines of incomparable quality. You may not feel it all the time, but when it comes to choosing something new and different to drink, you most certainly do live in the Lucky Country.
