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Perfect these three simple recipes using basic ingredients from your own kitchen and you will be complete as a human being.
Impress your significant other with a properly mixed martini. Create mojitos that actually taste like mojitos. And when you wake up the next morning, start the process again with a Bloody Mary to get the day going in precisely the wrong way.
These drinks are easy to make, but equally easy to get wrong. Watch the video above with Steve Harman, the bar manager of Prohibition, St Katherine’s Dock, for expert tips on getting smashed properly.
Bloody Mary
2-3 drops of Tabasco
4-5 Worcestershire sauce
Small dash of Soy Sauce
(Optional) Dash of red wine
One turn of salt
Three turns of pepper
Squeeze of lemon juice
Shot and a half of vodka
Tomato juice
Add Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, soy, wine, salt and pepper. Add vodka, then pour in tomato juice. Stir or tip from glass to glass – do not shake. Pour over ice. Squeeze lemon into finished drink and add a touch of pepper to finish off. Stir with a stick of celery.
Martini (with a twist)
Half a teaspoon of martini dry
Two and a half shots of quality vodka
Cool martini glass (either by putting ice into it or leaving it in the freezer). Add vodka and martini dry together, put as much ice as possible into the glass and stir 22 times. Strain into martini glass. Cut a strip of lemon and squeeze its oils over the drink and then rub the lemon strip around the edge of the glass and drop it into the drink to serve.
Mojito
4-5 lime wedges
8-9 mint leaves
2 teaspoons of soft brown sugar
Shot and a half of rum
Crushed ice
Add the lime, mint and sugar and muddle (with a roller or similar) until they begin to combine and form a syrup. Twist them so that they are well combined. Add half a glass of crushed ice and then pour in the rum. Take a spoon and mix the ingredients together thoroughly. Add crushed ice to the top of the glass to form a snow cone and serve with a straw and a sprig of mint.
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1. Vermouth is supposed to coat the ice, not remain in the drink, garnish with an olive!
2. Bloody Mary can be made with anything so long as the alcohol is pured first!
3. The biggest mistake one could do in any drink, especially a Mojito is to a. Not measure and b. use sugar instead of simple syrup
Milton, New Orleans,
Furthermore, a Martini of either variety should be very vigorously shaken with the ice until the drink, when poured is cloudy with tiny rounds of ice crystals. Add garnish of lemon peel or olive (I personally prefer black) and Voila! In loving rememberance of my husband.
Lane L., Sarasota,
What is this nonsense about vodka to be used making a so called "martini"? That is most certainly NOT a martini Bub: call it something else. Gin = Martini. Get it??
D Wilson, Bethesda MD, USA
Looking forward to try these - especially Mojito! Cheers
Simon Dj, London, England
I agree with the first two posters. That was a "Vodka Martini", and ice in tomato juice ain't cool, & forces you to use a straw. I'm not keen on any wine in my Bloody Marry, but a dash of horseradish adds a nice kick. Glad he used lemons in the Mary, 'cause some bartenders use limes and that sux.
John P. Jones, Venice, CA, USA
real showmanship by the bartender.But what about the special rolypoly glass & the lemon&salt rim?
ranojit kundu, New Delhi, India
A real Martini is made with GIN!!! You would think that Englishmen would know that. That thing you describe above is a "Vodka Martini."
Dylan, Tucson, USA
For the Bloody Mary, put the ice in the jug and not in the glass...it makes it tricky to drink. Looking forward to trying out that dash of red wine though.
James, Monteria, Colombia