Espresso Martini

 

I like this cocktail largely because of the amazing Guinness-like head you can achieve with a vigorous shaking. The following recipe is from Mr Black, the Australian coffee liqueur brand made from vodka and cold brew.

Espresso Martini

1 oz Mr Black coffee liqueur
1 oz vodka
1 oz freshly brewed espresso (or strong coffee, or cold brew concentrate)
1 teaspoon simple syrup

Add ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake hard, for longer than you really want to, to create the foamy head. Strain into a cocktail glass. Use coffee beans to garnish (not pictured, sadly).

Frozen Mexican Martini

 

I don't have the exact recipe, yet. But this Frozen Mexican Martini, from Austin cocktail bar Holiday, was epic. The ingredients are listed on their website as LALO blanco tequila, triple sec, lime, salt, and olive brine. I enjoyed the whack of salinity. If you're not immediately able to visit the bar yourself, try my recipe for the non-frozen version.

Clover Club (with raspberries)

 

A few years ago I posted a Clover Club recipe featuring grenadine, a syrup made from pomegranates, but who's got the time or inclination to keep a bottle of that around? Not I. So here's an alternative recipe, from Liquor.com, using a syrup you can make when you find yourself with a punnet of fresh raspberries that need addressing.

Clover Club (with raspberries)

2 oz gin

0.5 oz lemon juice

0.5 oz raspberry syrup*
1 egg white

* To make the raspberry syrup, add 1 cup of water and 0.5 cup water to a pot and stir over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat to low, add 0.5 cup fresh raspberries, and macerate into a pulp. Fine strain to remove seeds.

Add the ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Martini (Plymouth Gin)

 

This is my go-to Martini recipe, after several hundred experiments in the name of art, science, and good governance. I use Plymouth Gin, because it's lighter on the juniper and has this clean, almost mineral flavor that I find to be particularly more-ish. Plus I grew up not too far from Plymouth, in southwest England, so it's part of my origin story.

Noilly Prat Extra Dry has been my dry vermouth of choice for years. It adds a slightly bitter, floral note without trying to take over. The orange bitters, a more recent addition, adds a hint of zest.

I prefer to garnish with olives rather than a citrus twist, to enhance the cocktail's savoriness. The drink pictured above contained blue cheese-stuffed olives, which I've been obsessed with ever since I watched a guy with a cowboy hat ask for one in a New Orleans bar and the bartender proceeded to hand-stuff the olives in front of him. I hope he tipped well.

Martini (Plymouth Gin)

2 oz Plymouth Gin
0.5 oz Noilly Prat Extra Dry vermouth
Two dashes orange bitters

Add the ingredients to a cocktail glass with ice. Stir well. Strain into a chilled martini (or Nick and Nora) glass. Garnish with olives. Drink while cold.

Christmas Margarita

 

Tequila + coconut = Good Christmas. We couldn't find any white cranberry juice so went with Ocean Spray's "White Cran-Strawberry", which works great and gives the drink an ever-so-slightly pink tinge, which makes the whole thing even more Christmassy. Thanks to my friend Jen for the recipe, which apparently came from TikTok.

Christmas Margarita

1.5 oz blanco tequila
1 oz triple sec

1.5 oz white cranberry juice

0.5 oz lime juice

1 tablespoon cream of coconut

Place all the ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a tumbler with fresh ice. Garnish with an actual cranberry and a sprig of something green and aromatic.

Frozen Mangonada Margarita

Another twist on a frozen margarita, this time incorporating mango, Tajin seasoning and fruity Chamoy hot sauce for an amazing taste bomb of sweet, spice, salt, and citrus. And booze.

Frozen Mangonada Margarita (Serves Two)

3 oz tequila

1.5 oz triple sec

2 oz lime juice

2 cups frozen mango

1 oz agave nectar

1 cup ice

1/4 cup water

Chamoy 

Tajin

Pour a small amount of Chamoy sauce onto a small plate and dip the rims of your margarita glasses into it. Sprinkle some Tajin seasoning onto a separate plate and dip the Chamoy-ed rims into it. Set the glasses aside, you'll need them later.

Add all the ingredients - except the Tajin and Chamoy - to a blender and blend until smooth. Be sure to use frozen mango - it helps keep the drink cold.

To serve, dash a little Chamoy into the bottom of your glasses, followed by some of the contents of the blender. Continue to layer in small amounts of Chamoy and the frozen drink to create a swirl effect. Try not to overdo the Chamoy: it has a kick, albeit a delicious one.

Frozen Paloma

This drink is named the Paradise Paloma by the people behind the Margaritaville frozen drinks machine. The recipe, which I've tweaked ever-so-slightly, is designed for the automatic batch setting. It makes 3-4 drinks depending on the size of your cups.

Frozen Paloma

5 oz tequila
7 oz grapefruit juice
1.5 oz lime juice
1 oz agave nectar

Frozen Pina Colada

Another batch recipe for the Margaritaville frozen drinks machine, this tropical nectar is a firm favorite for the final drink of the night.

Frozen Pina Colada (makes 3-4 drinks)

6 oz white rum
3 oz pineapple juice
2.5 oz cream of coconut
0.75 oz lime juice

Frozen Margarita

Frozen "margs" are part of the staple diet for the average Austinite. While it's never going to be possible to perfectly recreate the smooth, slushy texture of a commercial frozen drinks machine at home, the Margaritaville machine - with its two-part shave and blend capabilities - comes pretty close. This recipe makes 3-4 drinks using the machine's automatic batch setting.

Frozen Margarita

4.5 oz blanco tequila
3 oz triple sec
3 oz lime juice
3 oz simple syrup (1:1 sugar and water mix)

Frozen Stealth Margarita

 

This frozen margarita recipe is the genius creation of cocktail bar Ghost Donkey, whose Las Vegas outpost I visited earlier this year. The Stealth Margarita drops the orange liqueur and adds St Germain, cucumber and chili, who play extremely well together. Be warned this drink requires planning.

The following recipe, adapted from an Imbibe article, is designed for the Margaritaville Bahamas machine on automatic setting, making about 3-4 drinks.

Frozen Stealth Margarita

6 oz blanco tequila

2.5 oz St Germain elderflower liqueur

2.25 oz lime juice

1.5 oz agave syrup (1:1 mixture of agave nectar and water)

1.5 oz cucumber puree*

3 tsp chili tincture**

Cucumber puree
Peel and chop 1 cucumber then blend with 2 oz of water

Chili tincture

Combine 5g of dried red arbol chilis with 0.5 cup of vodka. Let sit for 5 days then strain and bottle for use

The Imbibe recipe also provides notes on how to make citrus salt to decorate a cucumber garnish but since I serve my frozens in plastic cups I skipped that bit.

Chili tincture in progress

Ramos Gin Fizz (Again)

Given how few Ramos Gin Fizzes I've actually had the opportunity to imbibe in my drinking life, this silky, fluffy gin beverage has certainly made an impact. It's been 13 years (!) since I posted my first recipe, but recent efforts demand an update. Here follows an improved version.

Ramos Gin Fizz

2 oz Old Tom gin*
1 oz heavy cream
0.75 oz egg white

0.75 oz simple syrup 

0.5 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz lime juice
3 dashes orange flower water
3 oz soda water

Shake all the ingredients (except the soda water!) hard in a cocktail shaker with ice for a very long time, at least a couple of minutes. Pour the soda water into a chilled high ball glass and begin slowly straining the contents of the shaker on top. When the liquid reaches the surface of the glass, imagine you're pulling a pint of Guinness and wait until things settle, before carefully adding the remainder of the drink on top until the fluffy foam begins to rise above the level of the glass. It's a marvel.

*Old Tom gin is sweeter and more full bodied than London Dry. Try Hayman's.

Lemon Drop

At some point during the earlier stages of the pandemic I stumbled across a recipe for the Lemon Drop, a 1970s-era sweet vodka concoction. Lacking vodka, but stocked full of gin, I swapped the main ingredient and made a few other alterations to produce what I insist is a more grownup and fragrant interpretation, whose name I liked and kept.

Lemon Drop

(Serves 2)

3 oz gin
1.5 oz triple sec
1.5 oz lemon juice
0.75 oz simple syrup
1 oz egg white

Dry shake all the ingredients (without ice) until the egg white is pillowy. Add ice and shake again until the ingredients are chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe.

Although not pictured above, I have been known to dash a couple of drops of Angostura bitters on the surface of the drink before serving, Pisco Sour-style.

Mexican Martini

 

When you want an intenser Margarita, try a Mexican Martini. To the base ingredients of a trad Marg (tequila, triple sec, lime, sugar), we add some fresh orange and a little olive juice, and serve it up like a Martini, garnished with olives. They're big in Austin, where they're often served alongside a baby cocktail shaker containing a bonus second pour. But of course.

Mexican Martini

(Serves 2)

2 oz tequila
1 oz triple sec
1 oz lime juice
1 oz orange juice
0.5 oz simple syrup
0.5 oz olive juice
Olives and salt to garnish

Shake ingredients with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or coupe, rimmed with salt if you like. Throw in a couple of olives. Baby shaker optional.

Oaxacan Wipeout

 

Our top cocktail at neighborhood Austin mezcal bar La Holly, the Oaxacan Wipeout marries mezcal, pineapple and habanero for a smoky, fruity kick in the agaves. It took me a few attempts to recreate this deliciousness, but I did it for the people.

Oaxacan Wipeout

(Serves 2)

2 oz mezcal
1.5 oz pineapple juice
0.75 oz lime juice
0.5 oz habanero syrup*
0.5 oz egg white
Ground cinnamon to garnish

Shake all ingredients except the egg white with ice. Strain to remove ice. Add egg white and shake again (dry shake). Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Dust the top of the drink with a coupe of dashes of ground cinnamon.

*Habanero Syrup

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 habanero pepper, halved and seeded
0.5 tsp ground cinnamon

Bring the water and sugar to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce heat and add habanero and cinnamon. Gently simmer for 15 minutes and let cool for another 15 minutes before removing habanero. Should keep in the fridge for a few weeks. 

While I generally find assembling special syrups a chore, this one is worth the trouble.