Cocktails

Margarita

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Margarita was the first tequila based cocktail I made. I really liked it. The earthy notes from the tequila, the sweetness from the orange liqueur and the citrus acidity from the lime works really well together to make a balanced and sophisticated cocktail.
For the tequila I used El Tesoro Bianco which is considered to be one of the best tequilas. My previous experiences with tequila was mostly with shots and the occasional glass of añejo. El Tesoro was indeed fantastic, although I think I still prefer sipping single malt to tequila bianco.
Either way, try to use an 100 % agave bottling to give your Margarita that extra smoothness.
When it comes to the salted rim, personally I don’t like it since I think the salt is too aggressive in taste and distracts from the cocktail. I will make my next Margarita without it.

This recipe is enough for one martini glass.

Ingredients for the Margarita:
45 ml tequila
30 ml orange liqueur (I used Cointreau)
15 ml freshly squeezed lime juice

Lime wheel for garnish

How to prepare the Margarita:
Put the Martini glass in the freezer for a bit to make it cold. Salt the rim of the glass if desired.
Shake ingredients with ice, fine strain into the chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the lime wheel.

Cocktails

Between The Sheets

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Since I really like the Sidecar cocktail it’s not surprising that I also really liked Between The Sheets cocktail. This is a bit like Sidecars little brother and also a member of the sours family.
The addition of rum makes it a bit more suitable for summer drinking and gives it a little hint of Daiquiri.

This recipe is enough for one martini glass.

Ingredients for Between The Sheets cocktail:
30 ml cognac (I used Courvoisier VSOP)
30 ml light rum (I used Havana Club 3 year old light rum)
30 ml triple sec (I used Cointreau)
20 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

How to make a Between The Sheets cocktail:
Put the Martini glass in the freezer for a bit to make it cold.
Shake ingredients with ice, fine strain into the chilled Martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Cocktails

Sidecar

sidecar
Wow.
This cocktail was amazing. One of the best of the ones I made so far.
I read that the choice of cognac was important so I opted for a semi expensive Courvoisier VSOP. It was a good choice.
The Sidecar reminded me a little bit of sour candy. It starts of with the sweetness of the sugar on the rim of the glass, then the sourness of the lemon and some sweetness from the triple sec and kind of finishes with the warmth of the cognac to make it a grown up elegant cocktail.
Since cognacs of course vary in style it’s hard to give exact measurements. I read that if you use a drier bottling like Hennessy you have to use more triple sec and a bit more lemon juice to make a balanced cocktail. I think the measurements below worked really well with the Courvoisier, which is a rather fruity cognac.

This recipe is enough for one martini glass.

Ingredients for the Sidecar:
45 ml cognac (I used Courvoisier VSOP)
30 ml triple sec (I used Cointreau)
15 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

Superfine caster sugar

Lemon twist for garnish

How to make the Sidecar:
Put the Martini glass in the freezer for a bit to make it cold. Meanwhile put some caster sugar in a pester and mortar and grind it finely. Put the sugar on a flat saucer for dipping the glass in later. Fill your cocktail shaker with ice and add the cognac, then the Cointreau, then the lemon juice. Shake well.
Dip the chilled Martini glass in the fine sugar to coat the rim with sugar.
Fine strain the Sidecar into the glass.
Garnish with the lemon twist.