What’re your favourite quick fix remedies for the times when friends decide to hang out at your place but your bar is low on stocks? With only the odd bottle or two of vodka, rum, gin or whisky at home, keeping guests happy can be a tough task — unless, of course, they can get by with their regular (and boring) fix of rum-and-cola or whisky-soda. What you actually need at such times are beautiful, elegant cocktails that you can whip up in a jiffy using readily-available ingredients. It’s not a bad idea to know some such drinks by heart.
My favourite quick fix is the classic mojito. You need just five ingredients — white rum, sugar, lemon, club soda and fresh mint leaves. Lightly muddle (mash) a tablespoon of sugar and five-six mint leaves in a tall glass, then add 2-4 wedges of lemon and muddle again. Add lots of ice cubes, pour rum over the mixture and top with soda. Garnish with a few mint sprigs and a wedge of lemon and voila! you have a beautifully-crafted drink. You can substitute soda with a lime-flavoured carbonated drink; simply halve the sugar in that case.
If you’ve dark rum in your bar, here’s a quickie — 60 ml rum, 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice and 5 ml sugar syrup, all shaken well with ice cubes. Strain into a glass, top with soda and ice, and stir nicely.
Mojito was one of author Ernest Hemingway’s favourite drinks, as was daiquiri. The latter requires even fewer ingredients than a mojito — 45 ml white rum,
Mojito was one of author Ernest Hemingway’s favourite drinks, as was daiquiri. The latter requires even fewer ingredients than a mojito — 45 ml white rum,
15 ml lemon juice and an equal portion of sugar syrup. Pour everything into a jug, add a generous helping of ice cubes, shake well and strain into a glass. If you’ve a little extra time on hand, I’d recommend a frozen fruit daiquiri — it is guaranteed to bring a delighted smile to your guests’ faces. Pick any one fruit at your disposal — it could be an apple, orange, strawberry, cherries, banana, mango, etc. Put the regular ingredients and the fruit (5-6 slices mango, 6-7 strawberries, etc) in a blender along with ice cubes and blend well to get a very refreshing drink. A tip — you can substitute white rum in the daiquiri and mojito with gin and vodka.
Lastly, a recipe that goes down well even with those who dislike whisky — the Whisky Sour. Take 45 ml whisky, 20 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice and 15 ml sugar syrup, shake well with ice and strain. So the next time you have company, dispense with the rum-and-cola and give these five-minute cocktails a shot.