Mariah Carey Has Launched An Irish Cream Liqueur

Move over Bailey’s, Mariah’s here. 

She’s the queen of Christmas, the crown jewel of pop, and now, the newest kid on the Irish cream liqueur block (if such a block exists). With her smash hit ‘Fantasy’ recently featured in new movie ‘Free Guy’, Mariah is back in town and she means business.

Mariah Carey took to Instagram to announce the launch of ‘Black Irish’, her own brand of Irish cream liqueur. Lounging on a Caribbean beach flanked by sea, sand and Irish cream liqueur, Carey looked rightfully confident in her brand. The post received much support from fans, eager to get their hands on a bottle.

The name ‘Black Irish’ is a nod to Carey’s own heritage, with an Irish mother and a Black father - a topic she has discussed previously in a 2009 interview:

“It’s, like, my mother’s white – she’s so Irish, she loves Ireland, she’s like, yay, Ireland! Waving the flag and singing When Irish Eyes Are Smiling. And that’s great. I appreciate that and respect it.”

“But there’s a whole other side of me that makes me who I am and makes people uncomfortable. My father identified as a black man. No one asked him because he was clearly black. But people always ask me. If we were together, people would look at us in a really strange way. It sucked. As a little girl, I had blond hair, and they’d look at me, look at him, and be disgusted.”

Black Irish clearly means a lot to Carey, and the way she talks about the brand echoes this.

Speaking on her brand last week, Carey stated “I wanted to create something that embodies the holidays and gives everyone a reason to celebrate year-round, and I really think we have done that with Black Irish.” To be perfectly honest, we’re quite excited we’ve been gifted with a year-round reminder of her glittering empire. With the heaves of celebrities piling into the drinks industry, it’s refreshing to see one try something a little different.

Mariah Carey is releasing three flavours of the liqueur; Original Irish Cream, Salted Caramel, and White Chocolate; all of which sound delicious.

However, UK and Ireland residents might have to wait a bit longer to sample some of Carey’s liqueur as there’s said to be a Dublin brand already holding the name ‘Black Irish’. Mariah only has access to the US rights for the name, with Darker Still Spirits in Dublin having a stout named ‘Black Irish stout’. We’ll see how that pans out… Perhaps she can offer them a free concert? Signed CDs?

Did you know that there is an abundance of Celebrity Owned Wine and Celebrity Owned Tequila too?!

The Best Hard Seltzers Right Now!

Welcome to the biggest drinks trend of the century: hard seltzers. These bubbly, lightly flavoured waters ‘spiked’ with some form of booze have taken the US by storm and are set to do the same on our shores. According to recent figures, 52% of Americans swapped beer for them in the last 12 months and it’s a trend that is likely to stay too, as more people reach out for a ‘cleaner’, more mindful drinking experience. How does that work? Well, hard seltzers tend to be super refreshing, low in alcohol (4-5% abv), low calorie, made with natural fruit flavours (and in some cases, natural sweeteners), are gluten free and vegan. With these lighter creds than the sugary, boozier alco-pops of the 90’s and their sleek, modern packaging, you can see why they’ve been winning hearts. At around £2 a pop, they’re light on the pocket too. Believe the hype and take the plunge on these super spritzy, summer sippers.

White Claw - Black Cherry

The famous one. White Claw is the wonder brand leading the charge for hard seltzers Stateside and the benchmark everyone is trying to beat. You might not believe the hype, but once tasted, they’re hard not to love. The Black Cherry itself has an almost cultish following, with ripe, cherry flavours on the nose that gives way to fresh, sparkling water with just a hint of fruit flavour. 

Score: 8/10
Size: 330ml
ABV: 4.5%
Find here: £2.25

Smirnoff Seltzer - Raspberry and Rhubarb

The one for a hot day. Light and insanely drinkable, the raspberry and rhubarb aromas are well balanced, natural and fresh, leaving a crisp, subtle flavour in the mouth. A great starter for ten and you’ll want to drink this all day. Just remember, there is some booze in it!

Score: 9/10
Size: 250ml
ABV: 4.7%
Find here: £2

Bodega Bay Hard Seltzer - Apple, Ginger & Acai

The most natural one. Quite a rich, real apple flavour here with a cracking kick of ginger and spice. The acai berry completes the mix to make a genuinely interesting drink with a unique taste. It’s the only one with fully natural ingredients too and its sleek, white, minimalist packaging feels very classy and clean.

Score: 10/10
Size: 250ml
ABV: 4%
Find here: £1

Kopparberg Hard Seltzer  - Passion fruit

The Instagrammable one. Winning the pretty packaging prize is well-loved booze brand Kopparberg. Passion fruit is the star of the range with its up front fruitiness and long lasting flavour. Sweeter than some, it’s still a good, lighter alternative to more calorific bottled booze.

Score: 7/10
Size: 330ml
ABV: 5%
Find here: £2.30

Mike's Hard Seltzer - Lime

The foodie one. The lime flavour in this is reminiscent of green wine gums from years past (remember those?) It’s also quite intense and lingers in the mouth for a while. Not as natural tasting as some, but definitely a thirst quencher and would be a great one with fish and chips.

Score: 6/10
Size: 330ml
ABV: 5%
Find here: £2

Barefoot Wine Seltzer - Strawberry & Guava

The one made with wine. Yes, water with a touch of wine and some natural flavours, though the guava flavouring is pretty pungent. Quite different from the others thanks to the tang of vino, there’s more flavour here than in many, if a bit less natural tasting.

Score: 6/10
Size: 250ml
ABV: 4%
Find here: £2.30

Nordic Wolf Hard Seltzer - Cherry & Cranberry

The one for cherry cola fans. The flavour is stronger here than with the other seltzers, but not sickly. Heavy on the cherry and a moreish tang from the cranberry, this is the one most like a normal soft drink, but without the nasties and cloying sweetness. Fantastic value.

Score: 7/10
Size: 330ml
ABV: 4%
Find here: £0.99

Sparkl Hard Seltzer - Lemon, Ginger & Chilli

The one for fans of vodka and slimline with a slice. Bucking the can trend in a glass bottle, this buzz water is subtle on flavour despite the addition of ginger and chilli. The real lemon zings and despite the alcohol, it feels strangely cleansing.

Score: 6.5/10
Size: 330ml
ABV: 4%
Find here: £30 for 12

Looking for more canned drink goodness? How about checking out these 5 Cracking Canned Drinks or if you’re looking for something slightly wackier then this Dill Pickle Hard Seltzer is always an option!

Thursday Club with talk RADIO: Pisco, Cachaça and Absinthe

It’s an international theme on The Three Drinkers this week: World drinks you’ve heard of but might not be quite sure what they are! We take a deep dive into Cachaça from Brazil, Pisco from Peru and Absinthe from France! All these drinks are very much finding their own place in the UK finally and so deserve your attention. Here’s a little more about them. Huge thanks to The Whisky Exchange who sent us all the samples. 

Cachaça 

Try: Sagatiba Cachaça Cristalina

If you’ve ever had a Caipirinha, you’ve had Cachaça; the white spirit of Brazil, who produces 800 million litres of the stuff every year! In Brazil, it’s also known as Aguardente de Cana and it’s close in style to a white rhum agricole, distilled from fermented, fresh sugar cane to produce a fruity, slightly spicy, slightly funky spirit. When exported it must be labelled as Cachaça to stop confusion with rums from other countries. 

White Cachaça may be labelled as branca (white), clássica (classic), tradicional (traditional) or prata (silver). Amarela (yellow) Cachaça aka ouro (gold) or envelhecida (aged), is stored or aged in wood, thus changing its colour. “Premium" Cachaça has been aged for at least 12 months in suitable barrels, whereas "Extra Premium" has seen at least three years.  

Find it here at The Whisky Exchange for £21.95 for 70cl.

Simple Caipirinha recipe

1 lime, cut into wedges

60ml ounces Cachaça

2 teaspoons brown sugar

Lime wheel for garnish

Ice

Muddle the lime and sugar in a rocks glass, then add the Cachaça and ice and stir briefly before adding the garnish. 

Pisco

Pisco is a grape brand produced in Peru and Chile that first appeared in the 16th century when the conquistadors started to grow grapes to make wine. They then distilled the results to make Pisco. It’s clear or slightly yellowy because they don’t age it in barrels and neat, it can be dry and earthy or floral and fruity. Sip it neat or make a deliciously refreshing Pisco Sour by adding lime juice, sugar syrup and egg white.

Find it here at The Whisky Exchange for £30.45 for 70cl

Simple recipe for a Pisco Sour

30ml Pisco

15ml lime juice

15ml simple syrup

1 egg white

Garnish: Angostura bitters

Add the Pisco, lime juice, simple syrup and egg white into a shaker and dry-shake (without ice) vigorously. Add ice and shake again until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass and garnish with 3 to 5 drops of Angostura bitters. Using a toothpick or similar, swirl the bitters into a simple design.

Absinthe

Try: La Maison Fontaine Blanche

Although originally Swiss, it's fair to say that France claimed it as its own as the spirit that conjures up images of bohemian Parisian in the late 19th- and early 20th century with artists and writers all going a little bit bonkers after drinking it, notably Baudelaire, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso, Vincent van Gogh and Marcel Proust. It’s an anise-flavoured spirit made from various plants including the famous wormwood, sweet fennel and other medicinal plants. It was always naturally slightly green in colour (hence its nickname, ‘the green fairy’) but can also be made clear. Absinthe is bottled at a high % abv, though it’s meant to be diluted with water. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug as it has been portrayed, though it does have trace elements of thujone; a chemical compound that has been known to lift mood. For many years, Absinthe was banned in the United States but in 2007, it was reintroduced after rigorous testing proved it did not present a health risk or cause louche behaviour.

This blanche Absinthe is made in a pre-ban style with notes of sweet fennel, cereal and  licorice. White absinthes tend to be a bit smoother and less herbal than green ones - often less strong too.  

Find it here at The Whisky Exchange for £20.75 for 20cl - 56%

Simple Absinthe Cocktail Recipe  ‘Death in the afternoon’

25ml of Absinthe

5ml of sugar syrup

120ml Sparkling wine

This punchy tipple was named after Ernest Hemingway’s 1932 book about Spanish bullfighting. Pour the absinthe into a flute with sugar syrup and stir, then top up with chilled Champagne or Sparkling wine. If you prefer something simpler however, try it with really cold water and ice or lemonade.

Glenfiddich to Fuel Trucks with Whisky Waste

Does driving a car powered by whisky count as drunk driving…? The jury’s still out on that one, but one thing we know for certain is that a whisky waste powered car is on the horizon!

Making whisky can be surprisingly wasteful, with nearly 85% of the leftover grains and barley from the malting stage going to waste. Wastage is a huge problem in the food and drink industry, but major whisky producer Glenfiddich seems to be on the road to combatting their waste.

Though previously sold off as high-protein cattle feed, Glenfiddich is using its spent grains to create fuel for trucks. The grains are put through ‘anaerobic digestion’, a process in which bacteria break down organic matter and produce biogas. This biogas is what can be substituted for the harmful diesel. Using biogas instead of diesel or other fossil fuels cuts CO2 emissions by over 95% and reduces other harmful particulates and greenhouse gas emissions by up to 99% - now that’s cool. Each truck will displace up to 250 TONNES of CO2 annually!

Glenfiddich currently have four trucks running off this biogas, but plan to convert the other sixteen of their trucks to be biogas fuelled in the near future. At the moment, these trucks are only the ones transporting the spirit to be bottled but William Grant & Sons, Glenfiddich’s parent company, are looking to use the same biogas to power trucks that transport the whisky nationally.

William Grant & Sons have always proclaimed to be at the forefront of reducing carbon emissions in the whisky industry, and they hope to hit carbon net zero targets by 2040. Judging by the way things are going now, that doesn’t seem to be such a huge hurdle anymore.

Glenfiddich distillery director Stuart Watts (pictured above) told Reuters, “The thought process behind this was, ‘what can we do that’s better for us all?’”. This mindset is certainly one that is catching on around the drinks industry as we see more and more brands either utilising waste or becoming carbon neutral (even sometimes carbon negative!).

In Finland, even goose poop has been used to make beer! Check out this article to see how other companies are making their processes a bit more eco-friendly.

What is a Whiskey Sour?

Let us take you back in time, back to a time where boats were the only method of international transport and shirts had far too puffy collars… In the 19th century, scurvy was RIFE in the Navy. With no ships carrying fresh fruit or vegetables, sailors were suffering from severe and deadly Vitamin C deficiencies. Luckily, consuming citrus fruits was discovered as a way of warding off scurvy, and ships began to be piled high with lemons. At that moment, the Whiskey Sour was born.

Drinking spirits was much safer than drinking sea water, and they never expired. When he wrote ‘water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink’ in 1836, Samuel Taylor Coleridge wasn’t kidding. One could mix lemon juice with one's whiskey rations and have a (somewhat) healthy and safe drink. 

This very simple version of the drink was brought back to land and, like the sailors, was cleaned up a bit. Sugar syrup was added to take the bite off the acidic lemon and punch of the whiskey and garnishes were added for a bit of fanciness. It was first written down in Jerry Thomas’ 1862 The Bartender’s Guide. Here’s the original recipe:

Ingredients

1 teaspoon powdered white sugar
Juice of half a lemon
1 wine glass of Bourbon or Rye whiskey
Seltzer
Berry for garnish

Method

Take 1 large tea-spoonful of powdered white sugar and dissolve in a little seltzer. Add the sugar solution, lemon juice and whisky to a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a claret glass. Garnish with berries.

The Whiskey Sour you might know often includes egg white and Angostura bitters - but that’s a fairly recent take on the Whiskey Sour. Here’s our favourite 2021 Whiskey Sour Recipe:

Ingredients

50ml Bourbon (we like Maker’s Mark)
35ml lemon juice
12½ml sugar syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
½ fresh egg white
Cherry for garnish
Orange or lemon slice for garnish

Method

Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into an ice filled rocks glass. Garnish with the orange or lemon slice and a cherry.

Like this? For more delicious cocktail content how about checking out the Crabbie’s Colada, The Dalmore Mackenzie Highball or the Classic Daiquiri?

Which Whiskies To Invest In - August Whisky Investment Index

The closed distilleries march on.

It seems that having been out of the running a few months ago, and now moving up the table, Karuizawa is moving up further. There have been some significant bottles at auction and quite a few of them giving the Japanese distillery a lift in recent weeks. Springbank and Bowmore have kept steady, and Brora has entered the fray.

Brora distillery could be an interesting prospect. Having been closed since 1983, the distillery has been rebuilt. Not just another distillery on the same site. The re-built distillery is almost an exact replica of the original. The original new make is no more, but Dr Jim Beverage can remember the profile and is certain he can recreate the magic of the past.

Whether this will bring old bottles out of the woodwork, or if people will hold onto them hoping the Brora brand will grow and grow, one doesn’t know. But my feeling is that if you can invest in old bottles of Brora, which already has cult status, you won’t do badly.

Macallan 1%
Bowmore 1%
Springbank 1.5%
Karuizawa 2.0%
The Dalmore 2%
Clynelish 3%
Brora 2%
Rosebank Official Bottlings 1%
Ardbeg 2%
Glen Grant

Bottles to Watch

The following bottles are from Brora. There are not many as Brora bottles are truly old and rare, and I would advise finding bottles at auction rather than at retail. As always, these are just suggestions but it will point you in the right direction to do your own research and introduce you to the possibilities of investing in whisky.

Brora 37 year old (Special releases 2015)

This bottle is from a release a few years ago and will likely improve over the coming years as well. An official bottling from Diageo, it will always be sought after.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 50.4%
Find here: US $1999.99

Brora 21 year old 1977

This 1977 is a lot less expensive than its older sibling from 1972, and therefore has a little more room to increase in value.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 56.9%
Find here: UK £1795

Brora 1982, bottled 2008 G&M Connoisseurs Choice

Independent bottles are frequently less expensive to buy, this can also be because they are also bottled at a lower ABV. However, with good ones, they can increase in value at the same rate as official bottles. This is a prime example.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 43%
Find here: UK £1200 

To see how this whisky investment index is created, have a look at March and to see how August compares to July click here.

Dill Pickle Hard Seltzer

If you’ve been anywhere (and I mean anywhere) in the past six months you’ll be aware of how trendy hard seltzer is at the moment. Ever since White Claw clawed its way across the Atlantic, supermarkets have been racing to develop their own alcoholic fizzy waters. 

However, one company has really pushed the boat out and turned what was merely an April Fool’s joke into a real product! Back in April, drinkware brand BrüMate teased a dill pickle flavoured seltzer on their Instagram page and people went WILD. The exotic flavour sparked such an outcry in BrüMate’s followers that on the 25th June 2021 they launched a limited edition ‘Hard Pickle Seltzer - Afternoon Dillight’, teaming up with seltzer company Crook + Marker to create what seems to be a pretty revolutionary drink. 

Crook’dBru, as they’ve called themselves, have not disappointed in any part of this launch - with their incredible website sprinkled with pickle puns (which we respect greatly) and even an online minigame! This isn’t the last we’ll see of Crook’dBru either, as they’ve promised multiple more collaborations, tweeting ‘wait til you see what we have in the works’... How ominous and exciting! Perhaps we’ll see a pickled onion hard seltzer this autumn?! But back to the dill pickles at hand...

Coming in at 5% ABV, Hard Pickle Seltzer has around about an average alcohol percentage for a seltzer. However, if you’re alcohol-free - popping some pickle juice in a SodaStream will probably do the trick! (Though don’t blame us if your SodaStream breaks or it tasted horrible - that’s on you buddy!)

Hold up a second, we’re hearing live from the studio that this isn’t even the first pickle seltzer on the scene! Deep Ellum Brewing Company has put out Blind Pickle Seltzer, Wild Acre Brewing Company has created Magic Brine Pickle Hard Seltzer, UpCountry Brewing has Dill Pickle Gose and (get this) Rio Fresco have a Dill Pickle Hard Seltzer with agave???!!! Is there some underground pickle club we don’t know about?

Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to try Crook’dBru’s seltzer because CLEARLY we’re not cool enough to be in the SPS (Secret Pickle Society), but Jus Dil’Witit (Crook’dBru’s cowboy mascot) describes the taste as ‘tasty, tangy and downright zany’. Yee haw! Just the kind of thing we like over at The Three Drinkers! 

You can still pick up some Hard Pickle Seltzer over on Crook’dBru’s punny site - but it’s currently only shipping to the US (rest in peace our pickle dreams). If you’ve given this alcoholic carbonated pickle juice a go, PLEASE let us know what it tastes like via our social platforms @thethreedrinkers. 

Also, if you know the password to the Secret Pickle Society DM us ASAP. Yes, right now. Don’t ask questions.

Size: 330ml
ABV: 5%
Find here: $22 for a 12 pack

The Most Popular Cocktails This Summer

Picture it: the sun is shining, your friends are round and improvised appetisers are on the table. A flash of silver - what’s that? “Would anyone like a cocktail?” a cool voice calls out from the kitchen. The crowd pricks up their ears, who’s that sexy mixologist? It’s you, you’re the sexy mixologist. Shaker in hand, you begin to feel like a God… until you realise you don’t know any cocktail recipes.

Aha! Fear no more! There’s still hope for you to become the God of cocktail parties. Once you’ve got down the crowd pleasers, you need never worry again about accidentally getting Grandma plastered on your botched version of a ‘martini’. We’re here, armed with the nation's favourite cocktails to help you out.

10. Sangria

In at Number 10 is a tasty Spanish contribution - the Sangria! Essentially a red wine punch (though it can be especially tasty with white wine), the key to a great Sangria is the personal touch. Taste test with your favourite fruits and put together a family recipe to be passed down through the generations.

Ingredients

2 oranges, chopped
2 pears, chopped
2 lemons, 1 chopped, 1 juiced
200g red berries, chopped
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Ice
750ml bottle light red wine
100ml Spanish brandy
300ml sparkling water

Method

Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon over the chopped fruit in a large bowl. Stir to mix. Cover the bowl and leave in the fridge for at least an hour, but ideally overnight.
Fill up a large jug with ice. Stir the fruit mixture to ensure the sugar is dissolved and tip into the jug. Add the wine and brandy. Stir, then top up with the sparkling water and serve.

9. Long Island Iced Tea

Fun fact: Long Island Iced Tea is claimed to have been invented by TGIFriday’s, but as all origin stories go, this is widely refuted. Oh well, let’s let them have it. Popular in the 1980s and still hugely successful now - the Long Island Iced Tea packs a PUNCH. If you’ve got a lot of leftover spirits around, why not put them to use and mix one up yourself?!

Ingredients

15ml vodka
15ml white rum
15ml silver tequila
15ml gin
15ml triple sec
15ml simple syrup
15ml lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Cola
Garnish: lemon wedge

Method

Add the vodka, rum, tequila, gin, triple sec, simple syrup and lemon juice to a tall glass filled with ice. Top with the cola and briefly stir. Garnish with a lemon wedge and straw. Simple!

8. Old Fashioned

Making it into this list is proof that the Old Fashioned isn’t as musty as the name might make it sound. We Brits still love the combination of whisk(e)y, simple syrup and angostura bitters - as we should! Why not have a Mad Men (without the dodgy workplace environment) themed party and serve these up to your guests!

Ingredients

50 ml of Whisk(e)y or Bourbon
1 tbsp sugar syrup
2-3 dashes of angostura bitters
1 twist of orange peel to garnish

Method

Place the sugar syrup and bitters in a rocks glass. Add some of the whiskey and a few ice cubes and stir for 15-20 seconds to cool the alcohol and start the ice melting. Keep adding a little more whiskey, then a little more ice, and continue to stir. Sip as you go and stop when the dilution is to your taste.
Garnish with a twist of orange peel.

7. Negroni

Bella Italia! Mamma Mia! Use your best Italian while creating this beautifully complex cocktail - it was invented by one after all (to be precise it was Count Camillio Negroni in 1919 who asked for gin to be added to his Americano cocktail in Florence - the more you know!). 

Ingredients

25ml gin
25ml sweet vermouth
25ml Campari
orange slice, to garnish

Method

Pour all ingredients into a rocks glass with ice. Stir briefly. Garnish with a slice of orange.

6. Margarita

One of the most iconic (and delicious) cocktails to exist. Okay, maybe that was a bit biased - but the margarita is still a great cocktail to have under your belt! Close your eyes and transport yourself to Mexico/heaven. Also, if you’re using nice tequila for the love of the cocktail Gods DO NOT salt the rim - how are you going to taste that £50+ you just spent?

Ingredients

50m blanco tequila (or try a reposado if you’re feeling posh)
25ml lime juice
25ml Cointreau (or triple sec)
lime wedge for garnish

Method

Add tequila, lime juice and triple sec to a shaker with ice. Shake that baby until the sides feel icy. Strain into a rocks glass and garnish with a slice of lime. 

5. Pornstar Martini

Who knew passionfruit was so naughty? The real question here is what to do with that dastardly prosecco shot. Do you drink it first? Drink it last? Add it to the cocktail? Drink it while drinking the cocktail? Chuck it at the next table? Leave it because the anxiety over how to drink it has got too much? ...yeah.

Ingredients

1 ripe passion fruit, halved
30ml vanilla vodka
30ml passion fruit liqueur
10ml lime juice
10ml sugar syrup
Prosecco, to serve

Method

Scoop the seeds from half of the passion fruit into the tin of a cocktail shaker, add the vodka, passion fruit liqueur, lime juice and sugar syrup. Add a handful of ice and shake well, strain into a martini glass and add half a passion fruit to each. Serve with a shot of prosecco and a pint glass of prosecco shot anxiety.

4. Sex on the Beach

Another naughty name! Goodness me… make sure when you’re asking someone if they’d like this cocktail that you remember to say ‘A’ Sex on the Beach rather than just ‘Sex on the Beach’. That could go very wrong ;). 

Ingredients

45ml vodka
30ml peach schnapps
60ml orange juice
60ml cranberry juice
Orange wedge, for garnish

Method

Fill a tall glass with ice and add the vodka, peach schnapps and orange juice. Stir briefly. Pour over the cranberry juice for that all important ombre effect. Garnish with a juicy orange wedge.

3. Espresso Martini

This one’s dropped in the ranks this year, it used to be the UK’s favourite cocktail! It’s still getting the bronze medal, however, and this is definitely a cocktail to master - for how easy it is, it looks really impressive!

Ingredients

50ml vodka
25ml freshly brewed espresso coffee
25ml coffee liqueur
10ml sugar syrup
3 coffee beans for garnish

Method

Pop your martini glass in the fridge to cool (or in the freezer if you want that pretty iced effect on the glass). Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker along with a handful of ice and shake until the outside of the cocktail shaker feels icy cold. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with 3 perfectly placed coffee beans.

2. Piña Colada

Dreaming of beaches and pools, are we? Legend has it that if you take a sip of a Piña Colada, close your eyes and say coconut three times, you might hear the sea. Might is the key word there. If by some random occurrence you happen to have a spare hollowed out coconut, USE IT NOW! Oh and some of those cheesy tiny umbrellas.

Ingredients

120ml pineapple juice
60ml white rum
60ml cream of coconut
Wedge of pineapple to garnish

Method

Pulse all the ingredients along with a handful of ice in a blender until smooth. Pour into a tall glass and garnish with a wedge of pineapple.

1. Mojito

And the winner is….. A mojito! A mojito is a safe choice cocktail - you’re unlikely to mess it up (and if you do, just put on your sexy mixologist voice and drawl “that’s how it’s supposed to taste”). Not only that, but it’s delicious! 

Ingredients

Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp granulated sugar
Small handful mint leaves, plus extra sprig to serve
60ml white rum
Soda water

Method

Muddle the lime juice, sugar and mint leaves in a small jug, crushing the mint as you go. Pour into a tall glass and add a handful of ice. Pour over the rum, stirring with a long-handled spoon. Top up with soda water, garnish with mint and serve.

Like what you see? Why not check out our other cocktail recipes to up your game!