Cocktails: five recipes to quench your thirst

The Melbourne food and wine festival will be hosting cocktail-makers from across Australia for the next three weeks, as part of the programme at the Immersery, the festival’s kitchen, bar and rain garden. From Thursdays to Sundays, top Melbourne bars will be collaborating with their interstate peers. Here five of the bars involved give us their favourite water-themed cocktails. Make the recipes at home, or get one specially made at the festival between 28 February and 16 March.

Mechanics Institute, Perth: Aqua Spolias

“This cocktail is fragrant summer deliciousness featuring fresh ingredients from your local grocers’ – or even your back garden.”

Ingredients

45 ml gin
Juice of a plum (45ml approx.)
Five basil leaves
10ml lemon juice
15ml simple syrup (1:1 sugar and water)
15ml egg white

Method

Shake without ice in any sealable container, then shake again with ice.

Strain through a tea strainer into your favourite glass, garnish with a basil leaf and consume with carefree abandon.

Water Cooler moment: Bulletin Place’s cocktail. Photograph: Melbourne Food and Drink Festival

Bulletin Place, Sydney: Water Cooler

30ml Don Julio Blanco Tequila
30ml Aperol
30ml fresh watermelon juice
15ml lime juice
One teaspoon castor sugar
One tablespoon seawater (filtered through a tea towel)

Shake all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and serve over a big piece of ice in a tumbler. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Alfred and Constance's Blue Hawaii. Photograph: Tracey Gray

Alfred and Constance, Valley Fringe: Blue Hawaii

“Made popular by Elvis Presley, Harry Yee created this drink in 1957 while he was head bartender of the Hilton Hawiian village in Waikiki, Hawaii. Vibrantly colourful, refreshing and delicate, fun and easy drinking with tropical fruit characters. A true tiki classic.”

Ingredients

30ml fresh pineapple juice
22ml vodka
22ml white rum
15ml demerara sugar syrup (see note)
15ml fresh lemon juice
7ml Blue Curaçao
To garnish: thinly sliced orange and umbrellas

Method

Combine ingredients, except sliced orange, in a cocktail shaker, half-fill with ice and shake hard.

Taste for balance, adjusting with more citrus, syrup and booze as necessary.

Strain into a glass over ice cubes and garnish with thinly sliced orange and an umbrella and serve.

Note: To make demerara sugar syrup, gently heat two parts demerara to one part water in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to combine, then set aside to cool.

Heavy ... the Black Metal. Photograph: PR

Mona’s Void Bar, Hobart: Black Metal

“This drink was designed for Mona’s MoMa (Mona Market) River Derwent Heavy Metals Project: an ongoing art-science collaboration bent on tackling the problem of pollution in the River Derwent.”

Ingredients

50ml wet Summer Saaz hop-infused Reposado Ilegal Mezcal (or any good Mezcal uninfused will do)
10ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao
10ml Agave Nectar (15ml if you like it sweeter)
15ml freshly squeezed lime juice
15ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
Two drops black walnut bitters
1/4 bar spoon of squid ink

Method

Combine all ingredients in a Boston shaker. Add ice and shake.

Double strain into a black salt-rimmed martini glass or champagne coupe.

The Melbourne food and win festival runs 28 February until 16 March. Details here.

Class in a glass ... the Black Pearl.

Black Pearl, Melboune: Empire of Dreams

“The Empire of Dreams is a fresh, tropical cocktail with an earthy kick from fresh espresso beans to reflect the cafe culture of Melbourne. The cocktail, the Black Pearl and Melbourne are all defined by cultural collusion, each finding its way to the banks of the Yarra.”

Ingredients

50ml Bacardi Superior rum
30ml fresh pineapple juice
10ml fresh lime juice
10ml apricot brandy
5ml orgeat (almond syrup)
15ml whole espresso beans (we use fair trade, organic Nicaraguan beans)

Method

Shake hard and strain finely.

Serve straight-up in vintage glassware with a big twist of lime peel.

Choose The Best Cocktail For Party

Since Tomato juice contains all of the water from the tomato, you are getting every ounce of vitamin C the tomato has to offer. What better way to enjoy it than with the spicy concoction that is the Bloody Mary drink. You will even find you will consume less sugar and sodium than you will if you were to drink a soft drink of the same volume. Even the addition of the spice is a great way to increase metabolism and awaken the senses. You can find this in horseradish or in hot sauce. Both of these are common ingredients. Use fresh lime juice in the cocktail and the health benefits will go through the roof.

This does not mean you have to miss out on all of the health benefits which are available to you through a properly prepared beverage. You can enjoy a Bloody Mary drink and your body will thank you for it. The best part is, this is a cocktail you can share with the entire family even if they like to drink alcohol.

There are muddlers made from wood, which is the common and classic type, and for those who love a more modern design, there are muddlers made from plastic with tiny teeth on the bottom or even made from stainless steel. You can do t all, from crushing the fruits or vegetables to mixing all the ingredients. This is indeed a handy tool for all those who like cocktails and mixing their own drinks including natural fruits and herbs or making delicious mojitos, mint, or even strawberry basil mojitos.

One of the best wood muddlers are those created from hard and durable like beechwood, maple or cherry. To choose a better muddler keep in mind that many are those that are lightweight when you carry them. Traditional muddlers that made from woods are still popular today. Create delicious cocktails from these high quality muddlers. Best of all they are safe to use and very easy to clean.

Choose the best cocktail muddler that suits your needs or what you like whether it's made from stainless steel, wood or plastic. You can also add any type of alcohol that you wish. The machine then freezes the mixture, and dispenses cold, perfectly blended cocktails for your guests. When you hire the machine, you will get to choose the flavors of drinks that you want to serve. Some cocktail machines can serve two or three different flavors, but you can also hire multiple machines if necessary.

About Various Types of Cocktail

If you are planning an informal party with close friends or a wedding cocktail reception, it is important to take note of the cocktail food to be served in order to ensure your success. You will be the one to decide on what cocktail food to be served with the use of these simple tips. If you are planning a formal party, a cocktail buffet is the ideal choice. For a regular cocktail party, you can make use of ordinary trays and silverware. All you have to do is to fit the cocktail food to with the event and the guests.

There is no need to be a professionally trained bartender to make great cocktails, either. Armed with a few bartending tips and secrets, you can be the "toast of the town" at your next get together and have people begging you for your cocktail recipes. It makes all the difference in the world to serve the party guests cocktails in the proper glassware. The first handy item is a small measuring glass that is incremented in ounces for measuring liquor.

The ingredients are placed in the shaker, then shaken and poured into the cocktail glass. Bourbon is another popular liquor and is often mixed with mint, lemons, or other sour additives. Margaritas are also very popular and made using triple sec and tequila. These are served either on the rocks or frozen in a salt rimmed glass with sliced lime wedges. There are various types of cocktail both glass and plastic glow-in-the-dark cocktail glasses. Classic cocktails include Mint Julep, Daiquiri, Manhattan, Rob Roy, Tom Collins, Tom & Jerry, Mojito, and Highball. Consider putting a new twist on the Manhattan, the Side Car and the Brandy Alexander for a cocktail restoration.

This Cocktail Recipe Is Quite Easy

As far as utilizing Averna in a cocktail, the Little Easy is an easily achieved variant on the Sazerac, featuring Scotch instead of rye whiskey as the base, which is then complimented by a half ounce of Averna. Though Sazerac's traditionally always have an Absinthe rinse, and this drink is no different, it does start to overpower the other spirits in this case, since the spiciness of the rye whiskey is no longer there to temper the anise. Definitely a lighter absinthe would be ideal, but as an alternative, perhaps infusing the Averna with fennel or other botanicals found in the absinthe would be a good way to achieve aromatic complexity, without resulting in too many competing flavors in the drink.

As always, it is good to experiment with proportions and swapping ingredients to attain the desired result, but regardless, this drink is an approachable and delicious expression of Averna in a cocktail, hopefully leading you to discover other amari, as well.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 ounces Famous or Black Grouse Scotch
• 1/2 ounce Averna
• 1 sugar cube
• 2 dashes Peychaud's Bitters
• 2 dashes Bitter Truth orange bitters
• absinthe rinse
• orange twist

Directions:

1. Put a rocks glass in the freezer
2. Place sugar cube in a mixing glass with both bitters and muddle until emulsified.
3. Add in Scotch and Averna, and then stir with ice for 15 seconds, achieving a 50% dilution level.
4. Take chilled rocks glass and rinse or spray with Absinthe, discarding excess liquid.
5. Strain mixing glass contents into chilled rocks glass and express oils from an Orange Twist, then garnish.

These Three Cocktails Can Heat You Up Easily

When the weather gets cold outside, sometimes all we want to do is cuddle up with a flannel blanket, thick fuzzy socks and a hot drink. Warm up with these easy to make winter cocktails that will heat you up in no time!

Goodnight Tip – nothing says relaxation like a nice cup of chamomile tea. Add a little honey and Cointreau for a twist! Cointreau is orange flavored liqueur.

• 7 oz. chamomile tea, freshly brewed
• ½ oz. Cointreau
• ½ oz. honey
• Slice of lemon – optional

Pour the tea, Cointreau and honey into a coffee mug. Stir well to combine and garnish with lemon slice.

Mulled Wine – We are lovers of wine here! So we had to add this belly-warming recipe to the list!

• 1 bottle of red wine
• 1 peeled, sliced orange – keep peel to add to pot for a zest
• ¼ cup of brandy
• 8-10 cloves
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 1/3 cup of honey or sugar – can be cut in half if you’re not huge on drinks that are too sweet
• 1 tsp. fresh ginger

Combine all ingredients in a large pot or slow cooker. Warm ingredients on medium heat – avoid boiling. Do this for 20-30 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure all sugar is dissolved. When wine is steaming, ladle into mugs.

Hot Cider Toddy – one of our faves for the chilly season! It sweet, tart and warms your insides wonderfully.

• 2 oz. whiskey or apple brandy
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Hot apple cider
• Garnishes: cinnamon stick, lemon wedge, 2-3 whole cloves – optional

Coat the bottom of a mug with honey. Add the whiskey. Fill to the top with hot cider. Stir well. Garnish with lemon, cloves and cinnamon stick.