Easy Cocktail Recipes

A variation of Margarita this one has Tamarind and does not have the salt that usually accompanies one.

This sweet, striped wonder is the original from which the whole idea of shooters sprang. The trick to making one successfully is to build the drink carefully, starting with the heaviest constituent and pouring each of the subsequent ones over the back of a bar spoon, so each colour remains separate until you tilt the glass as you drink from it.

Simplicity itself to make, this colour-rich cocktail is the perfect prelude to a romantic evening.

Reputed to have been one of Ernest Hemingway’s favourite drinks from the time when, as a young writer, he took up residence in Paris, this powerful cocktail must have been responsible in its time for many “lost” afternoons. You need to be careful when you make it as otherwise you run the risk of losing the delicate champagne bubbles.

If you like your Bellinis, you’ll adore their near relation, the Rossini, though, on this occasion, we don’t know whether the name honours the great 19th-century Italian opera composer or not.

Created by Giuseppe Cipriani, the founding father of Harry’s Bar in Venice, and named in honour of the great Venetian artist, this cocktail became a favorite tipple of a host of celebrity visitors, including the writer Ernest Hemingway and the actor and playwright Noel Coward.

In the days of Civil War, the rebel yell of the Confederate troops as they charged was often enough to put the fear of God into their Union opponents.

The next time you are trapped in a meeting room, surrounded by flip charts and people desperately trying to think up new ideas, why not suggest that one or two of these might serve to lubricate the creative process nicely?

Another favourite hang-out for the New York cocktail crowd was the bar of the Waldorf Hotel. The original recipe is based on Bourbon, but there is nothing to stop you from trying other whiskies to create your own variant.

Amongst some, Scotland’s capital has the reputation of being somewhat prim and prissy. You would never guess this, judging by the alcoholic potential of this particular cocktail.