Fruity Cocktail Recipes

There are so many different kinds of cocktails available today in bars, clubs, restaurants and I'd love to know which creative individual comes up with the names for all these wonderful fruity cocktail recipes. It seems too, that those watering spots you've seen in films over the years can boast a bartender who, generations ago, became a household name by creating his own unique cocktail and giving it its name.

The world-famous Singapore Sling was created by an Asian bartender named Mr. Ngiam Tong Boon during the Colonial years between 1910 and 1915. He was the bartender at the historic Raffles Long Bar in Singapore and he prepared his delectable concoction of equal parts of gin, cherry brandy and Benedictine, added a splash each of bitters, Cointreau, grenadine and lime juice and served it in a tall frosty glass, garnished with fresh pineapple. Thus was born the most famous of fruity cocktail recipes. Rudyard Kipling regularly enjoyed his Singapore Sling at Raffles, along with Ernest Hemingway and many other iconic figures, including royalty.
When we think of cocktails, we envision a tall, elegant frosted glass, beautifully garnished with colorful fruits – and the ubiquitous paper umbrella. And it seems that today, any cocktail worth its name consists of various combinations of liqueurs – and fruits. So how difficult can it be to create your own fruity cocktail recipes? Let's see how it's done!
First, we need to become familiar with the various ingredients which, when blended together in varying measure, will result in a cocktail – and then we add the fruit. This is the star of the show; this is what makes your cocktail stand out from the crowd with its unique taste, perfume, consistency and appearance. You might consider adding fruit to the basic element of your cocktail – alcohol. Choose the best quality vodka or white rum you can find in the store and add strawberries, oranges, apples, limes – you choose – to the bottle. Place the closed bottle in a cool dark place and forget about it for a month or more. During that time, the fruit will marinate deliciously in the alcohol and impart its flavor, resulting in a uniquely tasting spirit to use as a fruity cocktail recipe base for your own cocktails.
And what is more tempting than a freshly mixed cocktail in a frosted glass? To complete your presentation, it just needs a little garnish – and here again, you use fresh fruits. They will enhance the perfume, tempt the palate and is a joy to behold. Choose fruits which will marry well with the flavor of your fruity cocktails, slice it into small chunks, skewer them and place the skewer across the top of your well-chilled glass. Or, if you're using a citrus fruit such as an orange or lemon, slice it and cut a slit in each round and place it on the rim of the glass after you have poured your cocktail.
How beautiful is that – an arrangement of your own fruity cocktail recipes, perfectly mixed and garnished and presented to your guests on an attractive tray. Place some scented candles around your bar and your sumptuous drink creations will glow in their light.

You Can Also Make Your Own Cocktail Easily

There's a ridiculous secret underlying the current revolution in cocktail culture: it's actually almost impossible to make a bad drink (especially if bourbon is involved). All that's really required is balance: a strong, tactile, clean note of alcohol, finished with interesting side currents of bitterness, sugar, or salt. A successful drink should land loudly but end quietly on the palate.

While it's good sport to go out specifically for cocktails, it can be even more fun to experiment with their creation and host cocktail parties at home. There are three basic approaches to take when looking to improve one's drink repertoire. You can keep your liquor shelf stocked with expensive liqueurs and other enhancers. You can also dig up obscure recipes that are no longer in general use, such as those that date back to before Prohibition. Or you can use basic cocktail recipes as a starting point, then freestyle off of them with simple syrups made in your own kitchen.

The basic approach for making syrups is to dissolve sugar into water and then flavor the solution with herbs or other aromatics. Since the herbs can come from your garden, enhanced syrups are a great way to make drinks with exceedingly local ingredients. Keeping your fridge stocked with a few different flavors invites endless experimentation and spontaneity.

The basic formula for each of these simple syrups is a one to two ratio of sugar to water, and then the addition of an ounce of fresh or dried aromatics. Included below are recipes using shiso leaves, lemongrass, mint, dried rosebuds, and dried hibiscus to create five different cocktails: a Dark and Stormy, a Rose Sidecar, a Hibiscus Vodka Tonic, a Lemongrass Cider Manhattan, and a Sake Martini with Shiso.

All of these ingredients can be found in a garden, your co-op, or your grocery store. Check the bulk section for dried ingredients, they are also available online.

Creating cocktails can be a communal event: keep your bar stocked with at least one of each of the basic liquors and a few syrups, and invite a bunch of friends over. The only limit to the number of potential drinks is your and your friends' livers' imaginations.