Before the bar was ‘the bar’, I used spend a lot of time in duty free contemplating the ideal home bar set up. Once you have some basic cocktail making kit (or a suitable array of kitchen utensils to act as sturdy substitutes) the main question revolved around which bottles you would need to be able to offer guests (and yours truly) a tantalising range of cocktails…

There is possibly no single spirit more synonymous with a cult classic cocktail than Drambuie to the Rusty Nail. Drambuie is a honeyed, herbal Scotch Whiskey Liqueur, dating back to Bonnie Prince Charlie. It shot to prominence with the Rat Pack in the 1960s and their thirst for the cocktail.

Blended Irish Whiskey for the base, crème de banane (use a nice one, please!) for the maraschino, lemon in for lime and Green Chartreuse to tie it all together on the nose.

Useful notes on something that applies to putting together any cocktail or drink to dazzle (could equally apply to making wine or beer-making for instance, although that isn’t done in a ‘live’ environment as of a bartender mixing a drink on the spot at the bar). Think of any such drink to draw delight from as needing three parts: the base, the body and the perfume…

Entering party season presents a plethora of choices for eager hosts. Once you’ve pegged your canapé menu (or opted for this writers safe bet: a big bowl of chilli, guac and steamed rice) and scored your mates to DJ, your attention should turn to the drinks offering. Beyond bottled beers in a bucket and everything you have left over on the dusty spirits shelf, why not think about a modern spin on a punch?

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Alex was interviewed by the lovely folk at The Extract for their vlog on lifestyle cafes (and bars) doing CBD in London.

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Teaming up with our friends at Reyka tonight to launch a special menu that will run for the next month or so working on the tricky theme of tiki &… vodka.

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