HI HONEY, I’M HOME
Growing up in the 1970s, I remember watching a lot of American TV shows. They seemed to be all 1950s and 60s sitcoms or paperback-novel-themed movies. Many of the shows and movies included scenes where the husband would arrive home from work and the wife would take his coat and hat then hand him a cocktail. Certainly not considered normal these days, but it does remind me that homemade cocktails are as popular today as they were last century.
Here are four really interesting, ‘Hi honey, I’m home!’ cocktails from the team at Xuxu Dumpling Bar in Auckland. All you need is a cocktail shaker, a few fun ingredients and a passion for mixing it up a little.
Ping Shi – 30ml white tequila, 15ml Cointreau, 15ml grappa, 30ml lime juice, 22.5ml sugar syrup. Muddle 4 cranberries, 1 kaffir lime leaf, 1 apple circle in the shaker, add in all the liquids and shake with ice for 10 seconds. Strain into an old-fashioned or whisky glass and garnish with kaffir lime, apple slice and 3 cranberries.
Cinnabar Bead – 30ml spiced rum, 30ml dark rum, 30ml lime juice, 15ml grenadine (pomegranate syrup), 60ml orange juice, 30ml grapefruit juice, 22.5ml passionfruit purée, bitters (The Bitter Truth Old Time Aromatic Bitters is recommended). Combine all ingredients in a shaker and shake with ice for 10 seconds. Strain into a tall glass or tiki mug over ice. Garnish with mint sprig and orange wedge.
Rosemary Margarita – 30ml white tequila, 15ml Cointreau, 15ml plum wine (red wine is okay, too), 30ml lime juice, 10ml rosemary syrup (1 stick of rosemary finely chopped and cooked in 500ml boiling water for 5 minutes; add equal parts sugar to water and cool down). Shake and strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a sprig of rosemary.
S’pear Me – 45ml London Dry style gin, 15ml Domaine du Canton (ginger liqueur or similar), 30ml lemon juice, 30ml pear syrup (1kg of brown nashi pears cut and pan-fried without oil until caramelised, then simmered for 10 minutes in 300ml water, with 7 cloves and 500g of sugar. Strain the liquid and press pears). Add all ingredients and 3 Vietnamese mint leaves into a shaker with ice and shake for 10 seconds. Strain into an old-fashioned glass over ice.