Confections
Over the last two nights I've had the spare time and the inclination to make cocktails. I received a cocktail recipe book for my birthday back in October, and thanks to my annual cocktail parties I have innumerable half-bottles of odd liqueurs cluttering up my pantry, so I've decided it's about time to use the one to deplete the other.
I'd like to say that I mixed manly, sophisticated cocktails like martinis or manhattans, but let's face it, they're no fun. They have like two ingredients, the colours are boring, and in any case I was out of olives.
1) The Black Opal
Equal parts Black Sambuca, Bailey's, Cointreau and cream, layered.
Ah, the classic combination of licorice, orange and coffee. Er, right. Actually, the flavours work surprisingly well together. It also looks very smart, with the layers of clear Cointreau, blue-black Sambuca, beige Bailey's and pale cream.
There's a stage in which you're supposed to set it on fire, which apparently creates an opal effect as the flames shimmer through the Sambuca, but mine refused to ignite. Instead I just got a microlayer that tasted like burnt matches. Back to cocktail school for me.
2) The Boston Cream
2 parts coconut cream, 1 part cream, 2 parts Cointreau, 1 part grenadine, shaken with ice then strained.
The Boston Cream is served in a martini glass, but that's about as butch as it gets. It's bright pink, creamy, sweet, low in alcohol and served with chocolate sprinkles on top. No, I'm not kidding; chocolate bloody sprinkles! It's like drinking distilled oestrogen.
3) The GBR
3 parts rum, 3 parts Galliano and 1 part grenadine, built over ice.
This drink is served with a mint leaf floating in it, which according to my cocktail book is supposed to infuse the drink with subtle mint essense or something. But here's my question; in a battle between cheap rum and a single mint leaf, which flavour is going to completely beat the living crap out of the other?
Out of the three, I'd probably only bother making the Black Opal again. Although now that I think about it, if I poured a batch of Boston Cream into my icecream maker...
I'd like to say that I mixed manly, sophisticated cocktails like martinis or manhattans, but let's face it, they're no fun. They have like two ingredients, the colours are boring, and in any case I was out of olives.
1) The Black Opal
Equal parts Black Sambuca, Bailey's, Cointreau and cream, layered.
Ah, the classic combination of licorice, orange and coffee. Er, right. Actually, the flavours work surprisingly well together. It also looks very smart, with the layers of clear Cointreau, blue-black Sambuca, beige Bailey's and pale cream.
There's a stage in which you're supposed to set it on fire, which apparently creates an opal effect as the flames shimmer through the Sambuca, but mine refused to ignite. Instead I just got a microlayer that tasted like burnt matches. Back to cocktail school for me.
2) The Boston Cream
2 parts coconut cream, 1 part cream, 2 parts Cointreau, 1 part grenadine, shaken with ice then strained.
The Boston Cream is served in a martini glass, but that's about as butch as it gets. It's bright pink, creamy, sweet, low in alcohol and served with chocolate sprinkles on top. No, I'm not kidding; chocolate bloody sprinkles! It's like drinking distilled oestrogen.
3) The GBR
3 parts rum, 3 parts Galliano and 1 part grenadine, built over ice.
This drink is served with a mint leaf floating in it, which according to my cocktail book is supposed to infuse the drink with subtle mint essense or something. But here's my question; in a battle between cheap rum and a single mint leaf, which flavour is going to completely beat the living crap out of the other?
Out of the three, I'd probably only bother making the Black Opal again. Although now that I think about it, if I poured a batch of Boston Cream into my icecream maker...
posted by Blandwagon at 6:11 PM
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