How to be king of the cocktails in time for Christmas

Want to perfect your cocktail skills before the holiday season? 

Some of Australia’s top bartenders have shared their recipes in the new hardback book Cocktails for Home Bartenders, available for $50 including pre-Xmas delivery at www.top25.com.au. 

Here’s five brand new cocktails to make at home this Christmas (and summer) for those who love to tinker (and show off to their guests). 

They start simple  and gradually get more involved.

 

1.     ‘Toffee Apple Stinger’ by Nick Tesar at Melbourne’s Bar Liberty

·       35ml Tullamore Dew

·       20ml Apple Brandy

·       10ml Marionette Mure

·       10ml Crème de Menthe

·       5ml Fernet-Branca

Combine ingredients in a cocktail tin with ice. Stir until cold. Strain into a cold Coupe glass.

 

2.     ‘La Madrina’ by Shirley Yeung at Perth’s Foxtrot Unicorn

·       40ml Dissarono

·       20ml Mezcal

·       10ml Cynar

·       2 Dashes Saline Solution (22g dissolved in 100g of boiling water)

·       2 Dashes Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel-Aged Bitters

Combine all ingredients together in a mixing glass, ice up and stir. Serve in a coupette glass with cubed ice and garnish with a lemon twist.

 

3.     ‘Rhuby Tuesday’ by Alex Boon at Melbourne’s Pearl Diver

·       40ml Fords Gin

·       20ml White Jasmine-Infused Aperol

·       5ml Grappa

·       20ml Salted Rhubarb & Vanilla Syrup

·       20ml Lemon Juice

·       2 Dashes Orange Bitters

Add all ingredients to shaker with cubed ice and shake hard. Double strain into chilled Coupe glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

 

4.     ‘Feels Arousing’ by Zach Mynott at Perth’s Foxtrot Unicorn

·       50ml Feels Botanical Rouse

·       25ml Oxidised Pomegranate Wine (old white wine combined with 50g of pomegranate seeds, left for 48 hours and strained)

·       10ml Poached Peach Syrup (poach peaches in sugar syrup for 15 minutes on medium heat)

·       Soda Top

·       2 Dashes Champagne Peach Bitters (old Champagne infused with orange peel, Orange Bitters and poached peach syrup)

Build over cubed ice in a Highball glass and garnish with a Williams Pear coin.

 

5.     ‘Tall Tale’ by Natalie Ng at Sydney’s Door Knock

·       40ml Gentleman Jack

·       10ml Apricot Brandy

·       20ml Fresh Lemon Juice

·       10ml Smoked Apricot & Agave Syrup

·       20ml Dub Style Arinto Natural Wine

·       30ml Filtered water

·       3-4 drops Mister Bitters Honeyed Apricot & Smoked Hickory

Combine all ingredients and charge with CO2 using a carbonation rig (see how to build one at Gizmodo here). Pour over ice into a Collins glass and cap with crushed ice. Garnish with eucalyptus and lemon wedge.