Peaches and Cream

It's not often I feel the urge to drink peaches and cream. But when I do, I can follow the following recipe (and so can you):

Peaches and Cream

50ml (1.6oz) Archers peach schnapps

20ml (0.6oz) double cream

80ml (2.6oz) soda water

Shake schnapps and cream in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a high-ball glass with fresh ice, top with soda water and stir some more.

Move over, Girly Drink, you've been out-girled.

Coffee Frappé

Wells Deli

15 The Quay

Wells-next-the-Sea

Norfolk NR23 1AH

Ice, coffee, milk - blended. Coffee frappés are just the thing on a hot day. This one, £2.30 from Wells Deli, came with almond syrup (just a dash or two, mind - I prefer the flavour rather than the sweetness). Creamy and cold, and light, it was down quickly and woke me up gently. If only someone could invent a self-cleaning blender I'd have one for breakfast every day.

Chai Latte

coffee@33

33 Trafalgar Street

Brighton

East Sussex

BN1 4ED

I like to keep a box of chai teabags around, for a gentle cuppa of sweet spice in the mornings, as an apperitif to a mug of strong coffee. The paper cup pictured above, from Brighton's hip caffeine hangout coffee@33, was an altogether more pungent version. Chai (or 'masala chai' to use its proper name - chai being the generic Indian word for tea) is said to contain any combination of cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, star anise, peppercorn and cloves, blended with black tea. I can't say for sure what combination of spices coffee@33 used for its secret chai syrup, but even after the addition of hot milk to latte things up it packed a spicy punch and no mistake. M claimed it was making her throat itch, but for me this milky concoction was chai untethered; a force of nature. I hear they make good coffee too.

Raw Milk

FoodLovers Market
Rupert Street/Winnett Street
Soho
London

*Guest post by Marina*

I've been wanting to try raw milk ever since reading about the controversy over it in the US. Luckily, A and I went to check out a new food market in Soho and there was a stand from Hook & Son serving up half pints of raw milk to try for a quid. I seized the opportunity and received a plastic cup of milk that was much whiter and opaque than the milk I get from the supermarket. To be fair, I usually drink skim milk, which is quite watery when compared to full fat milk, but not only did the raw milk taste creamier, it was also tasted milkier, if that makes any sense. They also had raw milk cream and butter at the stand - I might have to try making my own butter out of their cream some time - I bet it would taste incredible. If you like milk, you should try this stuff - it's concentrated milk goodness.

Oreo Milkshake

Byron
33-35 Wellington Street
London WC2E 7BN

Byron is a growing chain of burger bars that make really good burgers. Fortunately, for this blog, they make a decent drink too. The Oreo milkshake, ice cold and sludge-thick, speaks for itself. The glassful pictured above was around half the total serving (the rest waiting patiently in the metal beaker behind). Try one.

Peppermint Cream

Having picked up a slender bottle of Creme de Menthe from a supermarket for a mere £4, I let it sit in the cabinet for a few weeks while I wondered what to do with it. Finally, as always, I turned to Google for some advice, and It recommended making one of these...

Peppermint Cream

22.5ml (0.75oz) creme de menthe
22.5ml (0.75oz) white creme de cacao
22.5ml (0.75oz) Frangelico hazelnut liqueur
22.5ml (0.75oz) Baileys Irish cream
30ml (1oz) milk

Pour the creme de menthe, creme de cacao, Frangelico and Baileys into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well, and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with milk, to taste.

The overall taste was pleasantly minty but not too sweet. "Like a Thin Mint," said M, referencing something from her homeland. For anyone lacking Frangelico, don't worry too much - it'll work without. In fact, you could probably get away with using various combinations of whatever liqueurs come to hand. As long as it's creamy and minty, you win.

Chilli Hot Chocolate

*Guest post by Marina*

This is quite a fiery drink, though it may be because I used a regular sized red chilli rather than the tiny birds' eye chillies that are in the picture accompanying the recipe. Anyway, it's lovely and warming and rich due to the dark chocolate - I used a Belgian 72% cacao bar. If you're feeling indulgent, I bet using whole milk would add a lot of creaminess to this. Recipe below makes two servings.

Chilli Hot Chocolate

325ml skimmed milk

1 cinnamon stick

1 red chilli, halved and deseeded

12g demerara sugar

50g dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces or grated

Place milk, cinnamon and chilli into a saucepan and heat until simmering. Simmer for a minute, then turn off the heat and let things infuse for five more minutes. Remove the cinnamon and chilli and place milk back over medium heat. Add sugar and chocolate and stir until dissolved. Pour into glasses or mugs and serve.

Creamy Cocktails

Drowning in double cream left over from a couple of tasty home-made treats, I decided to experiment with a couple of creamy drinks recipes from the The Savoy Cocktail Book.

Belmont

15ml (0.25oz) grenadine
45ml (1.5oz) gin
30ml (1oz) fresh cream

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a cocktail glass.

The Belmont - described somewhere as "a beautiful cocktail" - looks fairly horrible (above), but strangely the cream and gin balance rather well, while the pomegranate-based grenadine is not as sweet as I expected here.

Cordova

30ml (1oz) dry gin

15ml (0.25oz) sweet vermouth

1 dash absinthe
1 teaspoon fresh cream

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Stronger and richer, but also thinner, than the Belmont, with the absinthe providing a lovely aftertaste (right).

Hot Choc Shot

Sometimes pictures are better than words and this is one of those times: just looking at these warm and boozy chocolate shots seems to play havoc with the salivary glands. Inspired by a revelatory hot chocolate experience last month, this little creation is not necessarily recommended for those on strict diets. For everyone else, it's best made in batches, so multiply the ingredients accordingly.

Hot Choc Shot

15ml (0.5oz) crème de cacao blanc

1.5 squares dark chocolate

15ml (0.5oz) cream

1/4 teaspoon icing sugar

Whipped cream topping

Add chocolate, cream and icing sugar to a pan on the hob and stir until mixed and melted. Add crème de cacao and stir again. Pour into a shot glass and top with fresh whipped cream.

This was my first attempt at using crème de cacao, a clear, dryish cocoa liqueur (25% vol), and it worked out nicely, making the drink boozy and extra chocolatey without overdoing the richness. Originally I tried vodka instead but it overpowered the chocolate somewhat, and we can't be having that. The fresh cream was whipped with my NO2-charged cream whipper, which is fast becoming useful as well as fun to play with. I would have described the Hot Choc Shot as a great after-dinner drink - but I can't imagine turning one down at any time of day.

Hot Shake

ShakeAway

22 Lion Yard

Cambridge CB2 3NA

Everyone's had a milkshake, plenty have tried a hard shake. But a hot shake? This was a new one on me. I'm quite fond of ShakeAways, with their giant menus of ludicrous combinations (Farley's Rusk and caramel shortbread shake, anyone?). My favourite ingredient is Reese's Cups, which I put down to a formidable Marathon milkshake I had as a teenager, made from peanut butter and ice cream. Walking past a ShakeAway recently, on a day as cold as Greenland, I was confronted with the most provocative pink and yellow sign: "Winter warmers. Hot milkshakes." Which is how I ended up with a piping hot Reese's Cup shake. I think they must have used steamed milk in place of some, if not all, of the ice cream, because this drink was thin. Still tasty, mind: warming and peanutty and salt/sweet. If the weather stays like this for much longer I may have to go back for another one. But as soon as it's warm enough to remove my balaclava it's back to the ice cold thick shakes and no mistake.

Matcha Green Tea Blast

Jamba Juice
600 Congress Ave. #G280
Austin
Texas

The scary-looking green stuff in the polystyrene cup, obtained from US fruit smoothie merchant Jamba Juice, was an excruciatingly cold but tasty beverage, made by blending matcha (powdered green tea), soya milk, plain sorbet, non-fat vanilla frozen yoghurt and ice. I got a 16oz serving, the "small" size (costing $4.25 - around 2.60 sterling), but in true American style they were also offering a 32oz cup - that's two pints! Jamba likes to stress the alleged health benefits of the green tea, which also provides a 75mg caffeine lift in each serving, but the Matcha Green Tea Blast tasted more indulgent than worthy. The guy making mine suggested adding banana at home, and I would also have left out the sorbet, which probably made it sweeter than I needed. For me, this drink was badly timed (brainfreeze in December is not necessarily pleasant, even in Texas) but it was good value, and further welcome evidence that the future will be made of frozen yoghurt.

Innocence Lost

The Innocence Lost is what happens when a virgin pina colada (also known as an Innocent pineapple, banana and coconut smoothie) is relieved of its virginity with the help of some rum of questionable quality.

There is something particularly annoying about the calculated tweeness peddled by Innocent's marketing managers in a bid to convey their sense of "fun". I'm referring, for example, not to their suggestion that you shake the carton before serving, but to their helpful footnote that it's best to screw the cap on before you do so. And so tediously on. There is therefore something especially satisfying about taking Innocent's admittedly tasty, and healthy, fruit smoothie and adulterating it with liquor - in this case some leftover rum.

60ml (2oz) Morgan's Spiced rum
180ml (6oz) Innocent pineapple, banana and coconut smoothie

Pour rum into a glass. Add Innocent smoothie. Stir thoroughly until properly mixed. Pop in a glacé cherry, if you have one.

And there it is: what was once pure rendered impure; what was "fun" made fun.

Eggnog

Feeling brave? Then try making this legendary winter beverage. I discovered a recipe for Eggnog here, but decided that since one is likely to drink just the one (I reckon raw eggs and cream are better in smaller portions) it made sense to up the booze content a fraction and be done with it.

30ml (1oz) dark rum

30ml (1oz) brandy

0.5oz light brown sugar

60ml (2oz) cream

1 whole egg

Nutmeg*

*Lacking ground nutmeg, I was forced to use allspice, which I found a little too dominant; clovey. Do stick to nutmeg.

Mix rum, brandy, sugar, cream, egg and a pinch of ground nutmeg into a shaker. Fill with ice and shake "like your life depends on it". Strain into glass and garnish with a secondary nutmeg pinch.

A handy definition of a winter drink is anything you'd find abhorrent on a hot July afternoon. Eggnog definitely falls into this category. It's creamy and comforting, rather than warming, but probably just the ticket in certain undetermined circumstances.

Gingerbread Latte

My long-standing semi-boycott of Starbucks, confused somewhat by the coffee giant's recent conversion to Fairtrade, is always most tested at winter time, when its selection of festive coffees hits the stands. Waiting for a train at Victoria station last weekend I succumbed to a Gingerbread Latte. It was full of those special seasonal spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger - that make you feel Christmassy inside. No matter, this time, that those same spices were delivered by a few squirts of industrially-produced sugary syrup: mine tasted just fine. I went for a medium/"grande" (skimmed milk, no whipped cream), which cost a ridiculous £3.20 - another reason why my Starbucks fix comes but once a year.

Calabatini

Following my annual forage into "cookery", this time to make a baked pumpkin cheesecake, I ended up with some extraneous pumpkin puree (don't you hate it when that happens?). Astonishingly, there are quite a few cocktail recipes out there requiring pumpkin, and M bravely agreed to try a tequila-based Calabatini. The name comes from the Spanish word for pumpkin, calabaza, and the Calabatini was described on tinternet as "an excellent autumnal drink", which sounded perfect because I prefer to celebrate the seasons retrospectively.

The recipe requested Monin Pumpkin Spice syrup, but I read elsewhere that pumpkin puree (mine came from a tin) was a reasonable substitute. A couple of other tweaks were made (I was using up some leftover sour cream too, which in turn demanded a balancing dash of sugar syrup) and the resulting recipe looked like this:

45ml (1.5oz) Reposado Tequila
60ml (2oz) sour cream
30ml (1oz) milk
15ml (0.5oz) pumpkin puree
Dash of agave or sugar syrup
Ground cinnamon for garnish

Pour ingredients into cocktail shaker with ice. Shake like crazy. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Sipped against a background of baking aromas, this was a lovely cocktail, sweet with a little spice, and surprisingly gentle for a tequila drink. The pumpkin added structure rather than flavour, and if anything I could have gotten away with using a little more of it.

I know pumpkins are generally confined to Halloweens and Thanksgivings only, but if anything can put an end to such unseasonal segregation it's a glass or two of this winter spice.

Lassi

New Tayyabs
83-89 Fieldgate Street
London
E1 1JU

I've always been a defender of lassis ever since one saved me from certain chili-related death in a curry house over a decade ago. These watery yoghurty shakes are a balm to fiery tongues and throats - the soothing dock leaf to the balti stinging nettle. I was a little disturbed to see a salty version on offer at Tayyabs Pakistani restaurant, where we had gathered for a spiced meat feast, and went for the sweet one instead (two quid). When it was served in a pint-sized metal bucket, chilled and only slightly sweet, I realised I should have ordered an entire jug of the stuff (five quid). Mine was unpolluted by fruit, although D rated his mango one highly too. The lassi's pleasing qualities got us wondering what it might socialise with - and the consensus was rum. I'm not sure how lassi traditionalists would feel about such spiking, but since frozen yoghurt seems to be so sought after these days, I'm sure something even more delicious could be made of the lassi too.

Hard Shake

The Diner
21 Essex Road

London

N1 2SA

Do milkshakes and alcohol mix? A good place to start such an inquiry is The Diner, with its interesting selection of "hard shakes". M and I decided to share a Colonel Parker (35ml of Four Roses Bourbon, vanilla ice cream and peanut butter) and top it up with an extra shot of bourbon. It tasted stronger than I'd expected, with the booze almost overpowering everything else, including my burger (message to self: stop messing with the ratios and just drink what you're given). But as M pointed out, it's better to treat these things as liquor with added shake, rather than the other way round. J sampled the Strawberry Cheesecake (with Cognac, Galliano, and strawberry ice cream), which tasted way too sweet for my liking. So, do milkshakes and alcohol mix? Not sure, I may have to do some more research.