Recreating the Cocktail Bar Experience at Home
Hosting a party can be a fun and rewarding experience. From coordinating the food to impressing your guests with cocktails, it can sometimes feel daunting. A really easy way to relieve some pressure is to pre-prepare your cocktails. Some drinks that are booze-forward lean toward this, and it has been done for as long as cocktails have been around. A freezer-door Martini, Negroni or Old Fashioned is a great way to start or end your night, and it removes the stress of making drinks to order.
Preparing your garnishes is a must, and a simple citrus twist is a classic complement to many cocktails. Below we’re sharing a Martini and an Old Fashioned, the former calling out for either a lemon twist or olive and the latter for an orange twist. You can precut twists, simply wrap in a damp chux or kitchen towel and pop in the fridge until desired, or put your olives on skewers, ready to go. Chilling your glassware (if you have fridge or freezer space) is the drinks equivalent of heating plates in restaurants. It gives a better finished product with a longer enjoyment time.
Here are two of our favourite, booze-forward cocktails, perfect to keep in the freezer for a jolly day.
Freezer Door Old Fashioned
- 500ml Archie Rose Rye Malt Whisky
- 80ml Demerara Sugar Syrup (1:1 - see below for recipe)
- 5 Dashes Angostura Bitters
- 110ml Water (filtered, if possible)
Add everything to a bottle, mix and leave in the freezer for at least 5 hours; it can be left indefinitely.
Sugar syrup:
- 100g demerara sugar
- 100g hot water
Mix until sugar is dissolved. Bottle and store in the fridge. It will last about a month.
To serve:
- Pour 60-70 ml of Freezer Door Old Fashioned over ice in your glass of choice
- Add ice (a big block looks great here)
- Garnish with an orange twist
The Archie Rose Bar and Cellar Door House Martini
- 500ml Bone Dry
- 100ml Regal Rogue Daring Dry Vermouth
- 50ml Pennyweight Fino
- 150ml Filtered Water
- Orange Bitters (4 Dashes)
A simplified recipe for home which is just as delicious:
- 500ml Bone Dry Gin
- 100ml Dry Vermouth (noilly Prat)
- 100ml Filtered Water
Mix the ingredients, fill into a 700ml bottle and chill in the freezer for a few hours. This will keep for much longer than it will take you to drink it. There is quite simply nothing as glamous as having a Martini, ready to pour when you get home from a stiff day at work, ready for a stiffer drink.