Print Page

Caipirinha

Possibly the best-loved Brazilian cocktail, full of lip-smacking flavor. Litreally translated it means "peasant's drink", and it has a reputation as the cocktail that could replace the malaria shot! It gets its kick from the cachaça, a Brazilian spirit distilled from sugarcane juice. In the 1920s and 1930s car king Henry Ford outlawed the Caipirinha in Fordlandia, his company town located in Brazil .

Serious bartenders will make this drink with a long wooden pestle, larger than the usual muddler, to bring out the full flavor of the lime, just as the Brazilians did. Just the cocktail for flaunting on the beach, on the yacht out to sea . . . wherever your heart takes you.

5cl cachaça
1 small fresh lime
11/2 teaspoons caster sugar

Wash the lime and slice off the top and bottom, and cut into small segments from top to bottom. Add the lime slices and the sugar to an old-fashioned glass. Crush the lime to make juice, and muddle to make sure the sugar has dissolved Add ice cubes and the cachaça and stir. Serve with a stirrer. A straw is optional.

California Palace

Here's a deliciously dry cocktail with a hint of cherry from the maraschino liqueur.

4cl gin
2cl dry vermouth
2cl green Chartreuse
1cl maraschino liqueur

Pour all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice. Stir. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a spiral of lime.

Campari Classic

6cl Campari
dash sparkling mineral water

Pour the Campari into an old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Add a splash of sparkling mineral water. Stir.

Campari Cooler

3cl Campari
3cl peach schnapps
6cl cranberry juice
6cl fresh orange juice
2cl fresh lime juice
dash gomme syrup
7Up

Pour the first six ingredients into a shaker filled with ice. Shake. Strain into a highball. Top up with 7Up. Stir. Garnish with a slice of orange.

Campari Nobile

2cl vodka
2cl Campari
1cl limoncello
10cl combined fresh orange and raspberry juices
bitter lemon

Pour all ingredients, except the bitter lemon, into a shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a highball with ice. Top up with bitter lemon. Stir. Garnish with five raspberries and a sprig of mint on top of the drink, plus a twist of orange on the rim. Serve with a straw and a stirrer.

Camparosa

Although its ingredients have bitter flavors, they combine well, creating a delicate and refreshing cocktail

6cl Campari
4oz/12cl pink grapefruit juice

Pour the Campari into a highball filled with ice. Add the grapefruit juice. Stir. Garnish with a slice of orange.

Campari Sky

3cl Campari
3cl sweet red vermouth
3cl vodka

Pour all ingredients into an old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Stir.

Campari Testarossa

Litreally translated, it means "red-head" but really, this is a cocktail for Ferrari fans.

3cl Campari
3cl vodka
dash tonic water

Pour the Campari and vodka into an old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Stir. Top up with tonic water. Stir. Garnish with a slice of orange.

Canadian Cocoa

2cl Canadian rye whisky
2cl dark rum
1.5cl white crème de cacao
dash maple syrup
hot, frothy milk

Pour all ingredients, except milk, into a heatproof toddy glass. Stir. Add the hot, frothy milk. Stir. Grate fresh nutmeg over the drink.

Caribbean Breeze

Shooting the breeze out on the ocean with this long drink is a not-to-be-forgotten experience.

4cl dark rum
1cl crème de bananes (banana liqueur)
7cl pineapple juice
5cl cranberry juice
1cl Rose's lime cordial

Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a highball filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a slice of lime. Serve with a straw.

Caribbean Sunset

3cl gin
3cl crème de bananes (banana liqueur)
3cl blue curaçao
3cl fresh lemon juice
3cl double cream
dash grenadine

Pour all ingredients, except grenadine, into a shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a highball filled with ice. Add the grenadine, which will float to the bottom, creating a sunset effect. Garnish with a maraschino cherry and a slice of orange on a cocktail stick.

Caruso

3cl gin
3cl dry vermouth
1.5cl green crème de menthe

Pour the ingredients into a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir with a bar spoon. Strain into a cocktail glass. Drop a maraschino cherry into the drink.

Casanova

A sharp-tasting cocktail designed for men who like to seduce women.

3cl raspberry purée
3cl clear apple juice
7cl champagne

Pour the raspberry purée into a chilled flute. Add the apple juice and stir. Top up with champagne. Stir. Garnish with two fresh raspberries in the drink.

Casa Rosa

3cl strawberry purée
2cl cognac
dash Grand Marnier
champagne

Pour all ingredients, except champagne, into a shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a champagne flute. Top up with champagne. Stir. Garnish with a fresh strawberry dropped in the drink.

Champagne Pick-Me-Up

The addition of the seemingly miraculous qualities of brandy give this cocktail a kick!

3cl brandy
2clfresh orange juice
2clfresh lemon juice
champagne
Pour first three ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a champagne flute. Stir. Top up with champagne. Stir.
Champagne Wonder
6 raspberries to purée
2cl pineapple juice
2cl fresh orange juice
2 dashes amaretto
champagne

Make the raspberry purée by mashing the raspberries with a barspoon through the strainer over the bowl. Pour the pureé into the shaker. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the champagne, and shake. Strain into the chilled champagne flute and top up slowly with champagne. Make a slit in the bottom of a strawberry and sit it on the rim.

Chic Elit

5cl Elit vodka
2cl fraise de bois (wild strawberry liqueur)
dash fresh lemon juice
1.5cl cranberry juice
2 to 3 stems redcurrants

Place redcurrants in a shaker. Muddle gently to release flavour and juice. Add the cranberry juice and lemon juice. Add the fraise de bois and vodka. Shake with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a stem of redcurrants.

Choco Colada

4cl white rum
1cl dark rum
4cl milk
2cl chocolate syrup
1cl Tia Maria
3cl coconut cream

Pour all ingredients into a blender with crushed ice. Blend for 10 seconds. Pour into a goblet or colada glass. Sprinkle with a few fine chocolate shavings. Serve with a straw.

Chocolate Affair

3cl chocolate liqueur
1.5cl Tia Maria
1.5cl cognac
1.5cl amaretto
1.5cl double cream

Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a thin chocolate stick.

Christmas Cheer

This recipe makes 30 glasses.
4 bottles red wine
48cl water
18cl dark rum
1 lemon
12 cloves
half teaspoon ground cinnamon

Stick the lemon with cloves and bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 350°F/180°C. Heat the wine, water, and rum. Add the cinnamon and a little grated nutmeg to the wine mixture. Float the lemon on top. Serve in heatproof toddy glasses.

Cinnamon Warmer

Multiply the recipe by the number of people if you make this for a few friends.

3.5cl calvados
1.5cl dark rum
10cl clear apple juice
2cl fresh lemon juice
3 thin slices fresh gingerroot
1 teaspoon clear honey
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
lemon and orange peels

Pour all ingredients, except the spices, into a saucepan and heat slowly. Place the spices in a muslin cloth, tie the top in a knot and place spices in the saucepan. Float a few twists of lemon and orange rind in the mixture. When warm, not boiled, pour into a heatproof glass.

Citrus Cooler

6cl Campari
3cl fresh lime juice
sparkling orange

Pour all ingredients into a highball filled with ice. Stir. Top up with sparkling orange. Stir. Add a slice of orange.

Citrus Rum Cooler

A typically tropical weather drink designed to quench the thirst. A traditional cooler, with a lip-smacking flavor.

4cl white rum
2cl triple sec/Cointreau
5cl fresh orange juice
1.5cl fresh lime juice
few dashes gomme syrup
lemonade

Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a highball filled with ice. Top up with 7Up. Garnish with a wedge of lime wrapped in a spiral of orange peel that trails a little way down the outside of glass. Serve with a straw.

Clam Digger

5cl silver tequila
9cl tomato juice
9cl clam juice
2 teaspoons horseradish
dash Tabasco sauce
dash Worcestershire sauce
1.5cl fresh lime juice

Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a highball filled with ice. Garnish with a wedge of lime.

Classic Champagne Cocktail

2cl cognac
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 sugar cube
champagne

Place the sugar cube in a champagne flute and soak with Angostura. Add the cognac and top up with champagne. Stir. Garnish with a slice of orange and a maraschino cherry.

Cocobanana

5cl gold rum
3cl amaretto
6cl pineapple juice
3cl coconut cream
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
1 ripe banana, peeled

Place all ingredients into a blender with crushed ice. Blend. Strain into a highball. Garnish with a slice of banana set on the rim. Serve with a straw.

Cococabana

A combination of rum, coconut, and melon gives this drink a full flavor.
3cl coconut rum
3cl melon liqueur
10cl pineapple juice
3cl coconut cream

Place all ingredients into a blender with a scoop of crushed ice and blend. Pour into a goblet. Garnish with a slice of star fruit. Serve with a straw.

Coconut Tequila

5cl tequila
2cl maraschino liqueur
1.5cl coconut cream
1.5cl fresh lemon juice

Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a slice of pineapple and a slice of kiwifruit.

Cognac Apple Snap

Ginger dominates the apple and lime flavors, while the earthiness of the cognac binds the flavors together.

5cl cognac
dash fresh lime juice,
apple juice,
ginger beer

Pour the cognac and lime juice into a highball filled with ice. Fill the glass to about three-quarters with apple juice. Stir. Top up with ginger beer. Garnish with a slice of red apple.

Cognac Cosmopolitan

5cl cognac
1.5cl Cointreau
1.5cl fresh lemon juice
2cl cranberry juice

Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a wedge of lime.

Cognac Mint Frappé

3cl cognac
3cl green crème de menthe
3 to 4 fresh mint leaves
1/2 teaspoon caster sugar

Place the mint leaves in an old-fashioned glass and add the sugar. Crush the leaves and sugar together with the back of a barspoon (or a wooden muddler) to bring out the essence of the mint. Add the spirits and stir. Fill the glass with crushed ice and stir again. Garnish with a mint leaf. Serve with a straw.

You can use any liqueur and more than one ingredient to make a frappé-a "frappé" is a drink that is served with finely crushed ice.

Collins

5cl gin
2cl fresh lemon juice
2 dashes gomme syrup
soda water

Add the lemon juice, gomme syrup, and gin to a highball filled with ice. Top up with soda. Stir. Drop a slice of lemon in the drink. Serve with a stirrer.

Cool Breeze

3cl melon liqueur
3cl gold tequila
3cl cranberry juice

Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a wedge of lime.

Corpse Reviver 1

3cl brandy
3cl sweet vermouth
3cl calvados

Pour all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice. Stir. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Corpse Reviver 3

3cl brandy
3cl white crème de menthe
3cl Fernet Branca

Pour all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice. Stir. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Cranberry Punch

Serves 12
45cl vodka
1 quart/litre cranberry juice
1 quart/litre clear apple juice
1 quart/litre pineapple juice
lemonade

Pour all ingredients, except 7Up, into a punch bowl. Add the garnishes-wedges of pineapple, a stem of cranberries, and slices of apple. Place a small sprig of fresh mint in the middle of the bowl. Add ice and 7Up when the first guests arrive so the latter doesn't lose its fizz. Stir. Serve in small wine glasses or punch glasses.

Crème de Menthe Frappé

6cl green crème de menthe
crushed ice

Pour the crème de menthe into an old-fashioned glass filled with crushed ice. Serve with a straw.

Cuba Libre

5cl white rum
3cl fresh lime juice
Coca-Cola

Pour the juice, then the rum into a highball filled with ice. Top up with Coca-Cola. Garnish with a wedge of lime. Serve with a stirrer.

Cuban Heat

6cl white rum
3cl amaretto
cranberry juice

Pour the rum and the amaretto into an old-fashioned glass with ice. Top up with cranberry juice. Garnish with a stem of red currants on the rim.