Top 5 Things We’ll miss about the UK

Well our time here in the UK has come to an end. We now begin to slowly make our way home to Australia. Our time here has been unforgettable and truly life changing.  Over the last 2 years I posted things on this blog largely to do with the cocktail culture and the hospitality trade outside of Australia. But our trip has been so much more than cocktails and food. It been about experiencing a lifestyle which is different to what we have been used to in Australia. Sure you can go and holiday to the UK and see all the popular tourist attractions, but it is only when you get stuck into the day to day life of working and living that you get a true understanding on what life is like in the UK.  It has also made Cara and I appreciate what we have in Australia. The large open spaces, the gorgeous weather, cheaper  living expenses amongst many other things. In saying this though, there are many things that we will miss about Great Britain. On our last night in London, we decided to visit a bar which we’ve been just recently been voted as one of the top 3 bars in the world, a place called “NightJar”. It is at this bar where we’ll have our last cocktail in the UK, and reflect on the last couple of years. We decided to think back and put together a list of the “Top 5 things we are going to miss about the UK”. 

(In no particular order)

The Classic British Pie:  In Australia you can pretty much guarantee that you’ll find a “Schnitzel” on every pub menu. But in the UK, it's the classic pie. Usually a steak and ale pie, or a beef and Guinness pie, Cara and I had our fair share of this popular pub dish. Always served with chips and vegetables or in some cases, mushy peas.  Some of the pies we’ve had in our travels have been amazing. We think only maybe a very select few pubs in Australia could compete with the quality of the pies. 

You’ll never run out of things to do in London:  We have spent most of our time living and working in London and even after living somewhere for so long, there is always something new to do. A new exhibition, a new west end show, a different market to check out. You never seem to be short of things to do. I’ve heard this quote many times since being in London, “If you are tired of London, you are tired of life”.   This saying seems to mostly ring true. Although the hectic busy lifestyle of London can wear thin after a while. We’ll never get sick of exploring the city and discovering new hidden gems which make London so special.  

The Picture Perfect Countryside:  When we would go out our little adventures outside of London, and even when we toured the Scottish highlands, we could not get enough of how beautiful the landscape is outside the big sprawling cities. We saw plenty of pristine green rolling hills which look like landscape paintings, something which we don’t see much of in the baron outback of Australia. The Aussie countryside has it’s own beautiful qualities, but nothing as lush and green as the UK.

The Accessibility to the rest of Europe:  What makes the UK so appealing to many Australians is the close proximity to the rest of Europe. Cara and I have certainly taken advantage of this, doing quick trips to Italy (3 times), France (Twice), Spain and also Ireland just recently. Living in Australia means you are so far away from (what feels like) the rest of the world.  

Friends and Family:  Last but certainly not least, we will miss our friends and family who we’ve spent so much time with over the last 2 years. For me, I had the chance to see my extended family, who I’ve not seen since I was 3 years old. I have no memory of that trip, so it was like I was meeting family for the first time. They have all made Cara and I feel welcome and at home, and for that we can not thank them enough.  We’ve also made many close friends who we are all urging to make the trip to Australia. Whether they make it over or not, we’ll certainly stay in touch with all of them.  

Of course there are going to be many other things we’ll miss about the UK. I’ll miss the Haggis in Scotland. Haggis, Neeps and Tatties was a dish I fell in love with living in Glasgow. It’s something I probably won't eat for a long time, if ever again. Also, being a big fan of European football, I’ll miss watching games in primetime. It’s back to either staying up, or setting the alarm to watch live soccer in the middle of the night. 

We sat at Nightjar reflecting on our time and we had the pleasure of drinking some of their delicious cocktail creations. We were joined by some friends and began working our way through the menu. Every cocktail served at Nightjar was an amazing work of art. We could understand why this bar is regarded as one of the best in the world. It was hard to pick out our favourite drink of the night, so I thought I’d share 2 cocktails from our Nightjar experience. One drink which stood out was a cocktail called a “Naked Lady”. This consisted of Santa Teresa Claro Rum, Umeshu (a sour Japanese liqueur), lemon juice, egg white and grenadine. It was a simple drink with a nice, well balanced flavour, but what made this cocktail amazing, was it’s presentation. The use of icing sugar on the outside of the glass and the egg shell floating in the drink made for an interesting look. The egg shell was filled with tiny easter eggs and the foam created by shaking the egg white, made it strong enough to hold the weight of the shell. Along with the egg shell, was an assortment of berries, which added to the overall presentation of the drink. The recipe itself was quite simple, but the presentation made this cocktail fun and was certainly a conversation point with us all. Another cocktail which blew us away with it’s unique design was a drink called “Chicha Morada”. This consisted of vodka, sherry, date syrup and Peruvian blue corn soda. Again, another simple recipe, but the fact that it came out to our table served inside a butternut pumpkin and topped off with berries almost made the taste irrelevant. The cocktail looked so impressive it was almost too good to drink.  Every drink we ordered at Nightjar was a mystery as to how it would be served. It made for a fun filled evening with friends as we celebrated our last night in the UK.

As mentioned, Our time in the UK has been unforgettable. But our trip is far from done. Next stop... Iceland!!

“Naked Lady”

In a shaker:

45ml Santa Teresa Claro Rum

15ml Umeshu Liqueur

15ml Lemon Juice

Dash of Egg White

Dash of Grenadine

Shake Hard and Strain into Cocktail glass

“Chicha Morada”

Build inside a Butternut Pumpkin:

60ml Vodka

15ml Sherry

15ml Date Syrup

Add Crushed Ice

Top with Peruvian Blue Corn Soda

Garnish with Berries

The Worlds Best Cocktail Menu

We returned to London, after our short trip to the South, we were looking forward to exploring some more of the city’s top bars.  A place which was at the top of our list was a bar called “Callooh Callay”.  This bar was recently awarded (in my opinion) one of the highest honors in the cocktail bar world, “Best Cocktail Menu” in the world.  What makes a top cocktail menu I hear you ask? It's many things. Design and layout come into play, but mainly it comes down to the drinks them self. Bars who wish to win this accolade as Best Cocktail Menu, spend many hours researching consumer trends and fads, but still keep trying to push the boundaries with new ideas. The menu is constantly evolving due to what fruits and ingredients are in season and easy to obtain during certain times of the year. But most of all, the cocktails on a menu, must appeal to customers and keep them returning again for new drinking experiences. Industry experts thought that in 2012, "Callooh Callay" did this better than anywhere else in the world. So naturally Cara and I had to find out. 

We walked into a jammed packed bar. Unfortunately for us, not a spare seat to be found. However we were able to stand at the bar and watch the bartenders pump out drinks for the punters. As the famous menu was handed to us, we were instantly impressed by the unique layout of the list. The menu had been designed as a colour swatch book. It fanned out in front of us, with each colour on the menu, representing another cocktail.  Our first thoughts... It came across a little tacky, but it was hardly designed to be classy. It was designed to be fun, which it was. After browsing through the swatch book for quite some time, we each picked a cocktail that stood out to us. As it had been a usual cold day in London, Cara had picked a drink called "Grow a Pear". It was a cocktail which was served hot and consisted of Bacardi 8 year old rum, Rhubarb liqueur, pear puree, a pinch of cinnamon, almond syrup, lime juice, apple pieces and finally a dash of the London cocktail society's own "Christmas Bitters". This cocktail was like have a jazzed up 'Hot Toddy'. It was a perfect winter cocktail to have on a cold London day. It was fruity and sweet, but the pinch of cinnamon give it a subtle spicy after taste which made the drink unique and fun to drink. I was drawn to one of the award winning cocktails on Callooh Callay's menu, the "Ale of Two Cites". I was attracted to this drink due to it's use of the 42 Below Feijoa vodka, which I know from experience, can be very tough to use in cocktails due to it's over powering nature. This cocktail consisted of the Feijoa vodka, Punt e Mes (dark brown Italian vermouth), lime juice, apple juice, wild nettle cordial, and malt syrup. This mixture was all shaken together and served in a half pint glass, making for an interesting looking beer. I was pleasantly surprised that the Feijoa vodka didn’t take over at all. It was a perfectly balanced drink. It had a slight sour and citrus taste, with the flavours of the vodka lingering longer than anything else. Overall it was quite easy to drink. The only criticism is due to it being served in a beer glass, it didn’t look very appealing, and with no garnish the presentation did let it down a little. However it was still and enjoyable and most importantly, it tasted great. 

We departed from 'Callooh Callay’, satisfied that we'd seen enough and that we could tick it off the list of bars we must visit before leaving the UK. The menu was everything we had come to expect from a world class cocktail list. The drinks we’re creative, there was something for everyone and the presentation was unique. Maybe, before we arrive back to Australia, we may come across other menu which could rival the worlds best. 

“Grow a Pear”

Served Hot

30ml Bacardi 8 year old Rum

15ml Briottet Rhubarb Liqueur

15ml Pear puree

Pinch of Cinnamon

15ml Almond Syrup

15ml Lime juice

2 - 3 Pieces of Apple

Dash of London cocktail society christmas Bitters

Fill to the top with hot water and stir

“Ale of Two Cities”

In a shaker:

30ml 42 Below Feijoa

15ml Punt e Mes (Italian Vermouth)

15ml Lime Juice

30ml Apple Juice

Dash of Wild Nettle Cordial

Dash of Malt syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a half pint glass

Our visit to the “Blue Dog"

Every city we go too, we get recommendations and ideas of places and bars we “need” to visit. So far almost every person we’ve spoken to in Glasgow has recommended one bar, the “Blue Dog” bar. It’s safe to say that Glasgow has not got a massive cocktail scene. The Scot’s are more into their pubs. So after hearing all the glowing reports on this cocktail bar, Cara and I had to check it out and see if it was worth all the hype.

The Blue Dog opened it’s doors in 2003. It instantly became Glasgow’s home to great cocktails. They complement their large cocktail menu with an array of live entertainment act’s playing piano and jazz classic’s all night long... so it certainly sets the scene and the mood for a great night out.  The Blue Dog instantly reminded us of many of the cocktail bars in London. It’s low ceilings, cosy lounges and with the sound of jazz music lightly playing in the background. This bar was right up our alley.

As we looked over the menu, we noticed that the Blue Dog were offering many concoctions. Certainly lots to choose from. But none of which jumped off the page like some of the drinks we’d seen and tried in London. This is to be expected though. Trying to sell cocktails to locals who are not big cocktail drinkers is always going to be tough. So the Blue Dog’s menu, despite being vast, is still very simple. It consists of many classics which have been slightly tweaked to make them more interesting.  However the drinks are still basic and they are not confusing punters with weird and wild creations.

As per usual, I always order the house signature cocktail. I believe that a bars signature cocktail is the drink that the staff are most proud of. It’s a drink that defines the style and standard of the bar. No surprises that the Blue Dog’s signature cocktail, was a drink called “A Blue Dog”. A fruity creation consisting of apple vodka, blue curacao, fresh passion fruit, lime juice, apple juice and pineapple juice. This was a very nice refreshing drink, but I feel for a house signature, it’s a little too safe. It’s hard to go wrong when mixing fruit juices together. I was hoping for something a more creative from the Blue dog team, but as I mentioned, things can’t get to crazy when trying to appeal to a "pub-type" crowd.

All in all, Cara and I had a great night. Listening to jazz and sipping our cocktails. Cara was drinking original daiquiris, a drink which has been her favourite for some time now. She’s managed to test out the original daiquiri all over the world.

This won’t be our one and only visit to the Blue Dog. We’ll definitely be back to see what other drinks they have to offer.

“A Blue Dog”

In a shaker:

30ml Apple Vodka

30ml Blue Curacao

Dash of Passionfruit pulp

15ml Lime Juice

30ml Apple Juice

30ml Pineapple juice

Add ice and shake

Strain over crushed ice

Serve in a tall glass

Garnish: 1/2 Passionfruit

The Championships: Wimbledon 2012

When we arrived in London over a year ago, one of the top priorities was to go to the All England Lawn Tennis Club for The Championships at Wimbledon. For some strange reason, I never wrote about our day. Cara and I had a great day a year ago, however in true Wimbledon style, we en-counted wind and rain. So when the tournament rolled around again, I decided to return to the All England Club  to capture what makes The Championships so special.

I don’t need to give many people a history lesson on the event, as it is widely considered to be the most famous and most prestigious of tennis tournaments in the world. It was first played in 1877, and it’s one of the few tournaments still to played on grass. Back in 1877, the event had a mens singles field of 22 players and the mens final was watched by around 200 spectators who only paid one shilling each to attend. Today, Wimbledon is now a massive money maker, both on and off the court. For the 256 players who play in the singles draws today, prize money is larger than ever, sponsorship is forever increasing and therefore crowd attendance is constantly growing every year. Due to ever growing popularity of Wimbledon, comes the demand for more food and drink at the Championships.

Arguably the most popular purchase by spectators is the famous Wimbledon strawberries and cream. Fans flock from around the world to experience the Tennis at Wimbledon and strawberries and cream is usually a huge part of their day. Along with this popular snack, champagne and Pimms also have a fair showing. But aside from these standard features at Wimbledon, nearby bars and pubs are now stamping their own name on the Wimbledon festivities. Thanks to the “Drinks Business” web site, I was able to find two new tennis themed cocktails which would be popular at this years event.

One of the cocktails is a Cucumber & Strawberry Mojito Royale.
This Mojito variation consists of:

Build in a tall glass:
45ml Hendricks gin
3 Cucumber slices
2 - 3 Strawberries
A Handful of Mint
15ml Sugar Syrup
15ml Lime Juice
Add Crushed Ice
Topped up with champagne.

The other cocktail featured over the 2 weeks of the Championships is the "SW19 Cocktail”.

In a shaker:
30ml Gin
30ml Mandarine Liqueur
15ml Elderflower Cordial
15ml Lemon Juice
10ml Home made Cucumber Puree
10ml Home made Celery Puree
Shaken and double strained into a short glass over a
frozen lime cordial flavoured ice



A day at Wimbledon is truly an unforgettable experience, and I’ve been lucky to doing have now done it twice. I’m sure the prestige will continue to grow, as i’m sure will the tournaments tennis themed drinks.

The Wild Hibiscus Project

I was recently asked to create a cocktail for the Wild Hibiscus company to help promote their product on twitter and facebook. I also love a new challenge, and having never worked with hibiscus before, I was keen to play around with the hibiscus flower and syrup. The Wild Hibiscus company is a small family owned Australian company, based out of Sydney. The company has been selling Hibiscus flowers in syrup since 1997. Lee Etherington is the original creator and since ’97, the company has grown to now be selling worldwide across 30 countries.

When I began the creative process on this cocktail, I had to start thinking about what the company represented and with the Wild Hibiscus company being a small family owned operation, I wanted to create a drink which was simple, that the team could enjoy on a hot summers day back in Australia. The hibiscus flower itself is very stylish and elegant. I also felt that's what the company is trying to convey in their product and so therefore style and elegance is what this cocktail needs to be. I decided to make a variation on a classic ‘Sidecar’. This drink is known for being simple to make as well as portraying the qualities I was looking for. It is also a drink that is perfect for both men and women, and is refreshing for those hot summer nights. I wrote about the classic sidecar in a post I did a while back. The classic contains, Cognac, Cointreau and lemon juice. A simple mix of 3 ingredients working together in perfect harmony. So when it came to my hibiscus sidecar, I needed to keep it simple, but work in some of the great flavours of the hibiscus.

I started by using a “rinsing” technique. This is when the inside of the glass is rinsed with different flavors. I measured out 15ml of the wild hibiscus syrup into the bottom of the a tumbler glass. Next, instead of squeezing lemon juice into my drink (making it too sour), I chose to finely grate the zest of half a lemon in with the syrup. Roll this mixture around the glass coating the sides with the zest and the hibiscus syrup. Place your glass to one side and in a separate shaker add, 30ml of Cognac, 15ml St Germain Elderflower liqueur and lastly a dash of lime juice to pull it all together and to smooth off the harshness of the spirit. It’s also to give the drink that summer refreshing tang that a sidecar should always have. Then, add ice and shake. Go back to your glass and fill it with crushed ice. The reason for this is to hold your hibiscus and lemon zest rinse to the side of the glass. If you were to simply pour the drink straight in, you would wash the rinse away, un-doing all the earlier preparation. Strain your shaker over the crushed ice, and you’ll see that the mixture will layer on top of the syrup making it look amazing.  Finally, finish your hibiscus sidecar off with the wild hibiscus flower. The flower will sit on top of your crushed ice nicely too.

I hope the Wild Hibiscus team were happy with my creation. I hope they enjoy a few hibiscus sidecars back home in Australia.






“The Hibiscus Sidecar”
In a short glass:
15ml Wild Hibiscus Syrup
Finely Grate the zest of 1/2 Lemon
Rinse the sides of your glass

In a Shaker:
30ml Cognac
15ml St Germain Elderflower Liqueur
Dash Lime juice
Add ice and shake

Add Crushed ice to your glass
Strain the shaker over the crushed ice
Garnish with a Wild Hibiscus flower

Red Wine…. More than just a wine.

I love a nice drop of red, and for a while now, I've been playing around with the use of wine in cocktails. So whilst doing some research, I came across a couple of recipes which I had too make. The first was a home made red wine sorbet which I came across in one of Jamie Oliver's cookbook's.  Red wine being a drink which is usually served at room temperature, I was curious to see how refreshing this would be served sweetened and frozen. Like most Jamie Oliver recipes, this is a simple concoction. I mixed together red wine, lemon juice, lemonade and sugar syrup. You need to make sure this is stirred together well and pour into a few containers and then freeze. Due to the alcohol content,  this takes a little bit longer to freeze. The result is a refreshing summer dish which I like to serve in a martini glass and finish with a sprig of mint. I made this for my work colleagues and the response was quite positive. Even for the "non red wine drinkers", this goes down a treat. The refreshing citrus flavours of the lemon juice and lemonade takes the edge off the spicy qualities of the red wine. 

Another recipe which caught my eye was a "Merlot Martini". I've made many martinis in the past which used rose wine, sauvignon blanc, champagne, etc, but this was a unique cocktail which I was keen to try. The merlot martini starts with muddling 5 - 6 fresh red grapes, followed by 30ml of merlot, then 15ml cognac, 15ml Chambord and 15ml Creme de Cassis (blackcurrant liqueur). Add ice to your shaker glass and shake all ingredients together. Double strain into a martini glass and garnish with a strawberry. The cocktail is rich and sweet. The sweetness of the chambord and the creme de cassis work well together, and the dryness and smokey finish of the red wine and the cognac balanced it out nicely which makes this cocktail easy to drink. Having said that it, it does suit the sweet tooth, more so than the dry spirit drinker.

"Red Wine Sorbet”

Serves 6

300ml Sugar Syrup

300ml Red wine

300ml Lemonade

The juice of 1 lemon

“The Merlot Martini"

In a shaker glass:

Muddle 5 - 6 red grapes 

30ml Merlot Wine

15ml Cognac

15ml Chambord

15ml Creme de Cassis

Add ice and shake well

Double strain into a Martini Glass

The London Cocktail Bar Crawl

Last week, myself and one of my work colleagues decided to go on a bit of a cocktail bar crawl around London’s west end. The Soho/ Covent Garden area is notorious for having some of the most stylish and trendy bars in London, so we were excited to visit some of them and see what creations they had to offer.

We visited a number of different bars throughout the day, but there were a few different cocktails which stood out from the rest. The first was at the Covent Garden Cocktail Club. We asked the bartender to make us a drink which is a bit different, but also one which he enjoys making. He served us up a “Berlin Sour”. Invented in 2009, by Thorsten Pannek at the Hilton Hotel Frankfurt, the "Berlin Sour” consisted of Kummel (cumin liqueur), Luxardo maraschino liqueur, lemon juice and sugar syrup. All ingredients were shaken together and double strained into a martini glass. The flavours worked together well. Despite it being a sour, it was still very sweet and powerful. The Kummel cut through the lemon juice and the Luxardo complemented it well without over-powering the other flavours.

We made a short walk down the road to another popular bar in Covent Garden, "Navaja Joe’s Cocktail Bar”. There we decided to try a simple variation on the Classic Mojito. The cocktail was called “Rumdog Millionaire”. This cocktail used rum, lime and mint, muddled together, strained into a tall glass over ice and topped up with mango juice and Ginger beer. It was a simple and refreshing concoction, exactly what i would expect from a varied Mojito.

We then moved on to a place called “Dirty Martini”. Here I tried another mango based cocktail, A “Mango and Chilli Martini”. Even though I had already had a mango cocktail at the bar before, I was interested in how the mango would mix with the chilli. This martini used mandarin vodka, chilli infused vodka, lime juice and mango juice. The cocktail worked in two stages. When first sipped you get a hint of the chilli instantly, but then the cooling taste of the mango takes over and balances the entire drink out nicely.

After a few more bars, we decided to finish off our crawl at the E.C.C (Experimental Cocktail Club). With a name like that, we expected some crazy drinks, and they didn’t disappoint. I decided to order a “Redneck Flip”. A totally original creation with Laird’s Applejack (apple brandy), Buffalo trace bourbon, a budweiser & marshmallow syrup, a whole egg, Memphis BBQ bitters and finished off with grated nutmeg. All shaken together and double strained into a daiquiri glass.  This would not be the sort of cocktail that just anyone would order. It’s bizarre mix of flavours made such a unique taste. It can’t say it is the nicest cocktail I’ve ever had, but is up there with the most interesting. I guess I enjoyed the drink just for the sheer appreciation for what the bartenders at E.C.C were trying to create, which is a totally unique drinking experience.

As our night came to an end, I couldn’t help but think that we hadn’t even begun to scratch the surface of the London cocktail scene. I think another cocktail bar crawl needed to happen in the not to distant future.

(Covent Garden Cocktail Club)
 “Berlin Sour”
In a Mixing Glass:
30ml Kummel Cumin Liqueur
30ml Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
30ml Lemon Juice
30ml Sugar Syrup

Shake All Ingredients
Double Strain into a Martini Glass

 (Navaja Joe’s Cocktail Bar)
“Rumdog Millionaire”
In a Mixing Glass:
Muddle Lime (with some sugar syrup)
Add a Handful of Mint
60ml White Rum
30ml Mango Juice
Shake together and Double strain into tall glass
Top up with Ginger beer
Garnish with a sprig of mint

(Dirty Martini)
“Mango and Chilli Martini”
In a mixing Glass:
30ml Chilli infused vodka
30ml Absolut Mandarin
15ml Lime Juice
30ml Mango Juice

Shake all together
Double strain into Martini glass
Garnish with a small chilli on the rim of the glass

(Experimental Cocktail Club)
“Redneck Flip"
In a Mixing Glass:
30ml Lairds Applejack (Apple Brandy)
30ml Buffalo Trace Bourbon
15ml Budweiser & Marshmallow Syrup
Dash of Memphis BBQ Bitters
1 whole egg
Shake all ingredients
Double Strain into a daiquiri glass (or martini glass)

Football, Work, Cocktails & The OXO Tower

Well.... What a busy last month It’s been for Cara and myself. It’s been a long time since my last blog post, which is mainly due to us starting our new jobs. However just before we started, we were fortunate to make a trip to Wigan and visit some of my family, and we also got the opportunity to see the opening game of the premier league season for the Mighty Wigan Athletic. It was our first time to the north of England, and despite the unpredictable weather, it was an amazing trip. We’ll defiantly be back.

So then it was time to begin our working lives in the UK, and begin to earn some coin to fund our upcoming adventures. During our intense 4 weeks of work, Cara and I did manage to make it out to a bar that I’ve been dieing to check out, The OXO Tower Cocktail Bar. The OXO Tower has an interesting history, which was part of the reason we wanted to go and have a look. The tower is located on the banks of the River Thames. It originally started off as a power station, before it was taken over by a large UK meat company (The same company who produces the OXO stock cubes). The company, "Liebig Extract”, converted the power station into a storage warehouse. The company wanted to display the three letters “O.X.O” in neon lights at the top of the tower. But when the request was refused, they decided to rebuild the top of the tower to include this advertising into the frame work of the windows.  Because the framework of the windows were conveniently shaped like a circle, a cross and another circle, nothing could be done to stop it.

In the early 1990’s, the tower was refurbished to include offices, housing, art galleries and on the top floor was the cocktail bar and restaurant. When Cara and I arrived on the top floor of the OXO Tower Bar, we instantly felt under-dressed. The bar was packed with businessmen or people who looked like they were off to the theatre later that night. We didn’t let this stop us from taking a seat and looking over their extensive cocktail menu. With a menu which consisted of house specialities, classic variations and genuine classics, it was hard for us to make a decision. Cara went for a sparkling cocktail called “Undercover Lover”. This consisted of citrus flavoured vodka, Licor 43 (a Spanish vanilla flavoured liqueur), Frais de Bois (a type of strawberry liqueur), shaken with crushed strawberries, strained into a champagne glass and topped up with prosecco. Instantly, Cara told me that it was too sweet. After I had a try, I 100% agreed with her. It was like drinking pure strawberry sugar. On paper, the drink sounded very nice, but when i thought about it after, I soon realised that there was nothing to balance the sweetness of the 2 liqueurs used. So the “Undercover Lover” I’m sure will be a great drink for the sweet-tooth, but It didn’t go down to well with us. My choice on the other hand, was a winner. I choose a cocktail called “The Port of London”. Judging by the title, I guessed it had port in the drink, and having never had a port cocktail before, I had to give it a go. The Port of London, consisted of Port, Beefeater Gin, lemon juice, lime juice and topped up with a bitter lemon mixer. This drink had all the qualities we were looking for. It was well balanced, refreshing, there was no dominate flavour, with every sip you got something different out of the drink.

So we spent an our afternoon, sipping our cocktails, looking over the Thames towards St Pauls Cathedral, and after an intense last few weeks of work, we finally had a chance to reflect and remember why we are over here and how lucky we both are.




The OXO Tower’s
“Undercover Lover”
(In a mixing glass)
15ml Ketel One Citrus Vodka
15ml Licor 43
15ml Frais De Bois
Muddled Strawberries
Shaken and strained into a champagne glass
Topped with Prosecco

“Port of London”
(Built in a tall glass)
30ml House Port
30ml Beefeater Gin
15ml fresh lemon juice
15ml fresh lime juice
Topped up with Bitter Lemon

Sun, Surf & Pebble Beaches: Welcome to Brighton Beach

We have had an amazing first two weeks in London, but it was time for us to take our first trip outside the nations capital. We had heard rave reviews about Brighton (South England, about an hour on the train from London), so we thought that this would be great place to go and visit.  As soon as we arrived at the beach side town, the heavens closed in and the rain began to pelt down. Not the best start to our trip. As we walked down the main street, we reached the "beach". Well... Us Aussie's had never seen a beach like it. Not a grain of sand in sight, just a couple of billion pebbles instead. Despite standing in the rain and looking at a deserted pebble beach, we were still determine to explore the town and get the most out of what Brighton has to offer.

Brighton is a major tourist destination in the UK, famous for the Brighton Pier amusement park which stands out at the end of the jetty. Along with Brighton Pier, are the many bars, cafe's and restaurants which are jammed into this small town. As we explored, we visited many places, but one in particular took our fancy. We went to visit the Havana Bar, a fine dining restaurant, which has a reputation for making great cocktails. After consulting the menu for quiet some time I decided to order a drink called a "Somerset Sunset". This drink consisted of St. Germain elderflower liqueur, lemon juice, Calvodos, Creme de Mure, Creme de Framboise and soda water. For those who don't know what some of those ingredients are, i'll explain. Calvados is an apple flavoured brandy made in France. Creme de Mure is a blackberry liqueur and Creme de Framboise is a raspberry flavoured liqueur. This drink is built in a tall glass and is measured with 15ml of ingredient and topped up with soda. This drink has great flavour combinations. The blackberry and the raspberry liqueurs are obviously going to work well together. The addition of the apple brandy gives the drink another dimension and then the after taste of the elderflower liqueur pulls all the flavours together and finishes it off nicely. Very nice and very refreshing.

The Havana bar certainly lived up to it's reputation. The Somerset Sunset was a great well constructed and still very simple built cocktail. When you go to a beach side town, you hope that it gives you great sunny weather. So the fact that it was raining did get us down a little, but a couple of cocktails at the Havana Bar certainly fixed that.

The Havana Bar's: "Somerset Sunset"

15ml St Germein Elderflower Liqueur
15ml Calvados (Apple Brandy)
15ml Creme de Mure (Blackberry Liqueur)
15ml Creme de Framboise (Raspberry Liqueur)
15ml Lemon Juice
Topped up with Soda water

Jazz in Japan

We are fortunte to be in Osaka during a time they call “Golden Week” in Japan. This is a string of public holidays during a week where they celebrate all different demographics. During golden week in japan, Osaka hosts one of the biggest free jazz festivals in the world. The Takatsuki Street Jazz festival is where all the local bars and clubs come together host a diverse selection of live jazz music all within walking distance of each other.  So this was a great opportunity to see some great live jazz music as well as some funky little cocktail bars in Osaka. 

After cruising the streets checking out all the local food being made on the side of the road we decided to check out some live Jazz.  The Japanese love jazz and the people really get behind these types of festivals. We went to check out some funk music at a place called “Tanto-Ya”. As we approached this little bar, we could see a small crowd gathering. However some people looked like they had been there for most of the day judging by the amount of empty Asahi’s and Heinekens on the table in front of them.  I decided to not waste anytime and buy us some beers and get into the spirit of things.  The Japanese people know how to have a great time.  Many of the jazz songs were sung in English, and everyone seems to sing along. I had to wonder if they knew what they were singing about.

Later that night we went to check out some bossa at “Alvamar Bar”. We took a seat and looked at the drinks menu. Usually most places have both Japanese and English writing on their menu. In this case, it was all in Japanese. Fortunately my mum can read a little Japanese, so after a little confusion we finally figured out how to order 3 white wines for Cara and my parents. As for me, I had to be different. Mum, helped me to find the rum section on the menu, so I decided to go to the bar and just point to something and see what I get.   The bartender smiled at me and in his best attempt to speak English he said “delicious”. Now… I’m thinking that that’s the name of the cocktail I ordered, or he is describing the drink. Either way, I’m going to call this drink, “Alvamar’s Delicious”. This cocktail is really easy. Built in a tall glass, over ice, 30ml of White rum, 30ml of Blue Curacao and topped up with orange juice, pineapple juice and grapefruit juice. A very simple built cocktail, and just like the bartender said, it was delicious.

"Alvamar’s Delicious":

In a tall glass:

30ml White Rum

30ml Blue Curacao

Add ice

Top up with equal parts orange juice, pineapple juice and grapefruit juice.

A Bull at a Gate

Like them or not.... energy drinks are here and are here to stay. With so many more energy drinks being created every month the market is being flooded with the more and more "instant pick-me-ups".  So with the creation of vodka red bulls, jager-bombs, skittle-bombs etc, i thought it was about time that i jumped on the energy drink wagon and create a cocktail with a kick.

The idea of the "bull at a gate" came about because of my parents. Without going into too much detail, saying that I was like a "bull at a gate" was something I heard from them often.  So this catch phase seemed to be the perfect name for this "kick-start cocktail".

This drink is really quite simple and easy to make. Built in a high-ball or long glass, start with 15ml Paraiso lychee liqueur. Paraiso is a popular tropical liqueur said to originate from southern China. In south China, the lychee is famed as being the "Fruit of Kings".  Follow paraiso with 15ml of strawberry liqueur. The flavour combination of strawberries and lychee's work really well together. Lastly add 15ml of Cuban rum (preferably bacardi). Just finish it off with 2 - 3 lime wedges, mainly for show, but also the lime helps bring out the lychee and strawberry flavours and of course works really well with rum. Fill with ice and top up with half a can of red bull. You left with a really summery tropical cocktail. Even people who are not big energy drinkers have been impressed with this cocktail.

When ever some one goes to order a boring vodka red bull, I always recommend one of these, and so far I've had no complaints.

Build in a tall glass:
15ml Paraiso Lychee Liqueur
15ml Strawberry Liqueur
15ml Cuban Rum
Add ice
top up with red bull.

The Snickers Bar

One of the most common cocktails found on hundreds of menus, is the modern classic, the Toblerone. This cocktail i feel has been done to death. So many different ways of making it and serving it. It was time we made a cocktail to blow the toblerone out of the water . So i came up with another chocolate bar to imitate, the snickers bar.

This cocktail is more than just a drink, it is a dessert. Full of all the naughty things such as ice cream, chocolate sauce, thick creamy liqueurs and the worst (but also the best) part, a generous tablespoon of smooth peanut butter.

Start with 2 - 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream in a blender. Coat ice cream with chocolate sauce. Add 30ml frangelico (a hazelnut liqueur produced in the piedmont region in northern Italy. It's origins date back more than 300 years to days of early christian monks who lived in the area). Then add 15ml of butterscotch schnapps, 15ml of white creme de cacao (chocolate liqueur), followed by 15ml of Baileys Irish cream. I don't know many milky cocktails that don't include baileys. It is such a versatile liqueur. Even just ice cream with baileys poured on top, you can't go wrong. Last but not least, a nice big spoon of peanut butter. Add ice to your blender, and blend until mixture is nice and smooth.

I often get asked about when blending cocktails, how much ice to add in order to get the exact amount. It's quite simple, in order fill your glass exactly, use your serving glass as a measure. Fill the glass with ice, then tip it into your blender. This should give you the exact amount you need, so you don't fall short, or have too much left over.

Once your snickers mixture is blended smooth, simply pour it into your glass. I like to sometimes get creative and decorate the glass with funky patterns, but I'll leave that up to you.

Don't have this cocktail if your just about to go out for dinner, because it is very think and it will fill you up.  It is a perfect after dinner drink. A great way to finish of a night. Enjoy!

In a blender:
2 - 3 Scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream
Chocolate sauce
30ml Frangelico
15ml Butterscotch schnapps
15ml White Creme de Cacao
15ml Baileys Irish Cream
Tablespoon of smooth peanut butter
add ice and blend until smooth.

The Queens Boulevard

South Australia is famous all over the world for it fantastic wine regions. So as my first post on this blog, i can think of no better way to start than to pay tribute to my home state of SA and share with you one of my most popular cocktail creations, The Queens Boulevard.

Rockford winery in the Barossa valley, is well known for its famous Alicante' Bouchet, A rose' which uses grenache as the main grape. It's a grape that is soft, lightly coloured yet full flavoured. It's main characteristics are strawberries and raspberries. There are not to many people around who can't drink this wine. It appeals to the masses, so it was a perfect starting point when creating this drink.

To compliment the Rockford rose', i chose to use Chambord black raspberry liqueur. Chambord is a french liqueur. It's legend began in 1685, when King Louis XIV visited Chateau Chambord. There he enjoyed a sweet liqueur made from wild black raspberries.  Today Chambord is an iconic liqueur, used in many different cocktails by bartenders all over the world.

So after 30ml of Rockford Alicante', and 30ml of Chambord, i had a nice combination of flavours, but something was lacking. I needed a 3rd dimension in this cocktail. I turned to vanilla. One of my favourite desserts is the classic vanilla slice, so maybe i was a bit bias when i decided to add vanilla to this drink, but it did finish it off nicely. just a dash (15ml) of Absolut vanilla vodka.

Combine these 3 ingredients into a shaker, add some sugar syrup and the juice of half a lime and shake together with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass and serve.

I find this drink to be perfect for the sweet tooth. It's very rich and full bodied. It is also very attractive and elegant to hold. It makes other people in a bar look at what your drinking and often entices them to order one too.

Hope you enjoy the Queens Boulevard

30ml Rockford Alicante Bouchet Rose'
30ml Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur
15ml Absolut Vanilla Vodka
Dash of lime juice
Dash of sugar syrup
Add ice, shake and strain into a chilled martini glass