Cocktail Party Games

Party games: you either love them or hate them! And as you’re reading this page you probably love them! As we’re talking cocktail parties, we’re assuming you want games with a little bit of style and decorum, so we’ll concentrate on those with just the raising of a glass to …

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Hangovers and Cures

You’ve woken up and you wish you hadn’t. Your head feels like it’s been kicked by a bucking jackass; your mouth resembles the floor of the circus ring; and as for your stomach you’re rather not think about the storm that’s raging in there. You’ve got a hangover and you’re …

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Christmas and New Year’s Drinks

With whisky being the traditional drink of Scotland you’d expect there to be a few drinking traditions involving the Gaelic spirit. And you wouldn’t be disappointed! A bowl of this Christmas Cheer is guaranteed to make your party go … anywhere! It can be prepared well in advance as long …

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How to Make a B52

You just know that a drink named after a bomber will have a bit of kapow to it! The original B52 was a plane used by the Americans during the Vietnam war to drop incendiary bombs. The origins of the shooter named after it are a little unclear but most …

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Brain Haemorrhage

Would you drink one?! The appeal of most shooters lies in their appearance. With their carefully constructed clearly-defined coloured layers, they look good as well as packing a punch. The appeal of a Bloody Brain, on the other hand, is more to do with the cringe factor: it looks as …

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Flatliner, A Layered Cocktail

Flatliners definitely aren’t for beginners! This layered cocktail can be lethal and is definitely an acquired taste with its characteristic after-burn. But as advocates will say, without the burn there is no Flatliner. To make it you need: 1 part Tequila 1 part Sambuca Tabasco sauce First pour the tequila …

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The History of Cocktails

America might get the blame for a lot of things these days but next time you’re tempted to join in remember there’s something for which we should thank our colonial cousins: the modern cocktail! One of the earliest written references describing a cocktail appears in an American magazine from 1806, …

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Tom Collins

You don’t have to be an expert cocktail shaker to make a good Tom Collins. Most people will agree: it’s very hard to make a bad one. A Tom Collins is a drink for pleasure and leisure, to be enjoyed with friends in a relaxed atmosphere. The exact quantities of …

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White Lady

When the bartender in Ernest Hemingway’s book, Islands in the Stream, was asked for a White Lady ‘… he served her a bottle of that American mineral water with a lady in a white kinda mosquito netting dress sitting by a spring.’ To avoid that mistake, read on! The White …

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Making a Negroni Cocktail

It’s said that there are two drinks by which a bartender’s skill can be judged. They are a Martini and a Negroni. The Negroni was created at the start of the 20th century for a Florentine aristocrat, Count Camillo Negroni. Bored with his usual cocktail, an Americano, the Count asked …

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Great Cocktails