Vesper Lynd

The best sweet vermouth on the planet. You will never use anything else in a Negroni again. ← I thought I'd seen Carpano Antica in the shops but what I had actually seen was Rosso Antico I'll have to look a little harder. I did however get a bottle anyway just to try

A couple of drinks I'll look forward to testing We have a friend who is very keen on chartreuse, so the Greenpoint could be an interesting alternative to her usual Alaskan.

It also has a bitters component built in. My under standing is that the name derives from a stock broking term, meaning a point and a half. In reference, I believe, to its composition, one part vermouth to half of bitters. I may well stand to be correct, as I'm currently working very much from memory. I've not tasted Carpano Antica, but you've peeked my curiosity, so I might grab a bottle and give it a whirl

Have you tried substituting the Italian Vermouth and bitters with a splash of Punt E Mes? I've seen this refered to as a Top Shelf Manhattan. It's one of my favorite variations on the theme. Recently I've been experimenting with Orange Bitters instead of Angostura. This is something I hit upon after being served a Manhattan that had orange zest flamed on it's surface; very spectacular

When I first read that, I read Snap-e-Tom as Snappy Tom (as in cat food)

Blue Train ¼ lemon juice (20ml freshly squeezed lemon juice) ¼ Cointreau (20ml Cointreau) ½ dry Gin (40ml Tanqueray) 1 Dash Blue Vegetable Extract (1 drops Queen Blue food colour) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Whilst this recipe is very similar to the Blue Devil (Cointreau rather that Maraschino), we found that the lemon tended to over power the other ingredients. We’re not sure if that is because the Cointreau is less able to stand up to the acidity than the Maraschino or whether it is due to our switch to Tanqueray in preference to the Bombay Sapphire we used in the Blue Devil, or was it just a difference in our mood? We will be very interested to see what others think.

Blue Monday ¼ Cointreau (20ml Cointreau) ¾ Vodka (60ml Vodka-O) 1 Dash Blue Vegetable Extract (2 drops Queen Blue food colour) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. We find that blue drinks have an alluring visual appeal that beckons one to dive headlong into their cooling embrace. This one didn’t disappoint and proved to be our pick of the evening. This cocktail showed a degree of complexity bellied by the simplicity of the ingredients, and all complemented by a rounded, viscous mouth feel.

Blue Devil ½ Dry Gin (40ml Bombay Sapphire) ¼ Lemon or Lime (20ml we made two versions one using freshly squeezed lemon and the other freshly squeezed lime) ¼ Maraschino (20ml Maraska Maraschino) 1 Dash Blue Vegetable Extract (1 drop Queen Blue food colour {lime} 2drops {lemon}) We love using food colouring to add colour to cocktails rather that the more usual precoloured cordials as it allows for the intensity of colour to be varied according to the mood. Notes on Measurements; on this occasion we chose to us an Alessi jigger which is 40ml/20ml rather that the more standard 1oz (30ml)/ 1/2oz (15ml) as we felt it would simplify mixing this drink and the result would present better in our 4oz glasses. Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Our first foray into this thread is the Blue Devil; we have left the Blue Blazer for Erik as we feel that it represents a cocktail better appreciated during the colder months. What we imaged to be our first dilemma, choosing which Maraschino to use (Luxardo, Italy or Maraska, Croatia) turned out to be a non issue once we realised that we barely had half a shot of the Luxardo left. However for the sake of the exercise we did do a quick comparison, and found that the Luxardo had a more pronounced nose in which the pip of the cherry was easily detected. On the pallet we found the Luxardo to be quite sweet with hints of cinnamon, whilst the Maraska was comparatively drier and with a slight citrus tang to it. The next issue was whether to use Bombay Sapphire or Plymouth gin, in the end we plumped for our favourite the Bombay. This cocktail immediately put us in mind of one of our favourites the Aviation, although the recipe we favour is the one in Harrington & Moorehead’s “Cocktail The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century”, 1 ½ oz Gin, ½ oz Maraschino ¾ oz lemon juice. So we returned to the bar to mix up one of these to throw into the mix (so to speak). We feel that the Blue Devil proved to be a far more balanced drink than the Aviation with no one ingredient clamouring for ones attention. When it came to the comparison of lemon Vs. lime in the Blue Devil, we feel that for our palette the lemon provided a better result. This visually appealing cocktail is well balanced, refreshing and easy to drink, and should appeal to all but the sweetest of palettes. P&J

It just so happens that I have a bottle of each in my bar, and as I sit here and type, I have shot of each in front of me The Cherry Heering has a much darker richer colour than the Creme de Griotte. The Heering also seemed to have a thicker consistency as it poured, which was subsequently backed up by it's luscious mouth feel. The Creme de Griotte had a stronger cherry nose than the Heering. Whilst there is nothing intrinsically wrong with the Creme de Griotte, the Cherry Heering was slightly drier and seemed to have a much fuller body to it, and would be my preference, however I certainly wouldn't complain if all that was on hand was Creme de Griotte