The History of Gin

Mother’s ruin or Dutch courage? What’s the story behind gin, one of our most popular spirits. Gin takes its name from Genever, which in turn, is named from the French word, genièvre, meaning juniper. Juniper is an evergreen bush with very aromatic greeny-blue berries with medicinal qualities. Gin is said …

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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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Sloe Comfortable Screw

‘I’d like a sloe comfortable screw, please.’ You think that cocktails with suggestive names are an invention of the 90s? Think again. During the Summer of Love they were having Sex on the Beach. The sixties saw a bit of a revolution in cocktails – or the naming of them …

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The Bronx Cocktail

The Bronx cocktail was invented around 1900 in Philadelphia. The bartender came up with the name after visiting the Bronx Zoo, several days previously. It has been suggested that the cocktail’s popularity was due to Joseph Sormari, he was a Bronx restaurateur who discovered the cocktail in 1905 in the …

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The Classic Martini

The origin of the Martini as with most of the cocktails has many stories to tell. Some believe the Martini cocktail is a descendant of the Martinez, a cocktail made from 1 measure Old Tom gin, 2 measures sweet vermouth, 2 dashes maraschino cherry liquid, 1 dash bitters and a …

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Pink Gin

Made in the United Kingdom in the 19th century, a Pink Gin contains gentian and a dash of ‘pink’. ‘Pink’ referring to the Angostura bitters, a dark red extract of gentian and spices. This is typically an English way of drinking and enjoying gin. Also called Gin and Bitters, the …

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Ramos Gin Fizz

A Ramos Gin Fizz also known as a New Orleans Fizz dates back to 1888 when it was created by Henry C. Ramos in his bar New Orleans. Before prohibition this drink proved to be very popular, so much so that the Ramos brothers hired “shaker boys” to produce these …

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Great Cocktails