The spirits of Christmas past

We’ve all got a stash of partially consumed bottles of liqueur – and lockdown is the perfect opportunity to dispose of them. Jonathan Ray helps tidy up

WE’RE still in wretched lockdown as I write. I don’t know about you but the joke is wearing pretty thin round here. I’ve mowed the lawn, planted some seeds, cleaned the car and sorted out my odd socks. I’ve even held the ladder whilst Mrs Ray cut back the ivy and cleared the gutters. Oh don’t be like that, I ironed her blasted shirts for her and always ensure she’s well refreshed with tea and gin.

I’ve completed jigsaws, played Scrabble and Zoomed everyone I can think of. I’ve rearranged my books (last week by size, this week by colour) and ditto my bottles (last week by price, this week by vintage). I’m now officially ready to climb the walls and look for hairs in the palm of my hand.

In the meantime, however, what about all those bloody bottles of half-finished spirits and liqueurs? I know that I’m not alone in having a motley collection of dusty, sugarencrusted bottles left over from Christmases past. I also know that I’m not alone in wanting to neck them all neat and damn the consequences. Steady the Buffs, for it’s not as simple as that. Some will have to be chucked out and others mixed into something creative in order to be enjoyed properly.

My old chum Dawn Davies MW, head buyer for the sainted Whisky Exchange, confirms that anything with low sugar and low alcohol has but a moderately short shelf life. Vermouth, for example, starts to deteriorate within roughly four weeks of being opened and should be ditched by then; sherry and port even more promptly.

And no self-respecting bottle, whatever its strength, likes to be kept in sunlight for too long any more than my two teenage sons do. They rarely stray from their beds in darkened rooms these days and, I’m convinced, are candidates for bed sores and rickets.

If you’re struggling to get through leftover bottles before they oxidise, Davies recommends using them in the kitchen. Dry white vermouth enhances any risotto, she says, whilst a hearty glug of red vermouth will give fine herbal oomph to beef stew. And, having just made a spectacular linguine alla vongole for my loved ones (you see, Mrs Ray doesn’t do so badly after all), I can confirm that Davies is spot on when she says that Pernod is the perfect secret ingredient for fishy pasta dishes. Gosh it was tasty.

High-alcohol spirits and liqueurs such as Grand Marnier, say, Kummel, Cointreau, Green Chartreuse, Drambuie and any whisky, gin, brandy or vodka will last pretty much forever once opened. Even Campari, which is 25%vol, will last for yonks – probably for 20 years unopened and up to about eight months once opened, if stored in a cool, dry place out of the sun.

But you have no business allowing Campari to hang around for that long as it’s a wonderful drink. It comprises one third of the classic Negroni, of course, in which instance let me suggest that the sublime new Italian Riviera-inspired Gin O’ndina (produced by Campari itself so it knows what it’s about) and the 1757 Vermouth di

Torino Rosso from Cinzano comprise the other two thirds.

Substitute the gin with prosecco and you have a Sbagliato or ‘mistaken’ Negroni. And you can always use your Campari in a Boulevardier (with bourbon and red vermouth) or Americano (soda and red vermouth). Or add a splash to your G&T.

Grand Marnier, too, that fabled blend of cognac and bitter orange, is marvellously versatile. It’s great on its own over ice, of course, as a delectable digestif but really comes into its own in fine cocktails such as the Sidecar, the Cosmopolitan (instead of the more usual Cointreau Triple Sec) or the ridiculously moreish and daftly dangerous B52, whereby you carefully layer (by pouring over the back of a teaspoon) 15ml each of Kahlua, Baileys Irish Cream and Grand Marnier. Knock back in one and await results.

GM is equally at home in the kitchen as the crucial ingredient of crêpes Suzette, chocolate mousse or bread-and-butter pudding. Oh, and if you’ve got time on your hands, don’t forget that cocktails make excellent jellies. Simply prepare as normal and add plenty of fine leaf gelatine. I’ve had huge success making tiny Negroni jellies as a quirky adults’ pud.

And if, like me, you have a bottle of caraway/cumin-laden Mentzendorff Kümmel hanging around (it is, after all, the world’s finest digestif), why not slosh it in, half and half, with some gin to make a Silver Streak or ditto with vodka to make a Silver Bullet?

Now, if you’ll forgive me, I’ve a Porto Tónico to mix (Taylor’s Chip Dry Port and Fever-tree tonic, since you ask, half and half with ice and slice) and a ladder to hold. Mrs Ray needs to change the light bulb in the hall.

And if you’ve got time on your hands, don’t forget that cocktails make excellent jellies