|
Gimlets
Combine sweetened limejuice (30 ml) and Sikkim's
Golden Swan Gin (75 ml). Stir and serve with ice cubes.
Garnish with a thin slice of lemon. For Vodka Gimlet,
Rum Gimlet and Brandy Gimlet prepare with Vodka, Teesta
White Rum or Black Cat Rum or Fireball Brandy
respectively.
Manhattans
 Combine
Sikkim's Corn Whisky(75 ml), sweet Vermouth (30ml) and
if you like a dash of aromatic bitters. Stir with
ice, pour into glass 4 prepared with cherry. For Dry
Manhattan use dry Vermouth and t garnish with twist of
lemon peel. instead. Similarly make Rum Manhattan
and Brandy Manhattan using Sikkim's Striking Lion Rum
and Musk Brandy instead of Whisky.
White Lady
 Put
some ice cubes in a cocktail shaker and pour in: 1˝
measure Sikkim's Juniper Gin, ˝ measure Cointreau, ˝
measure lime juice. Shake & strain into a
cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry on a cocktail
stick.
Note# A dash of egg white is sometimes added
to this cocktail.
 Clap
Of Thunder
Combine 25 ml Sikkim' Old Gold Whisky, 25 ml Sikkim's
Golden Swan Gin & 25 ml Sikkim's Musk Brandy. Serve
with ice or iced water.
Zingara
Dissolve 1 teaspoon honey in 60 ml hot milk. Add 75
ml Sikkim's Black Cat Rum. Stir & serve
 Daiquiri
Dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar in juice of half a lime.
Add crushed ice and 75 ml Sikkim's Teesta White Rum.
Shake well and strain into glass.
 Gin
Fizz
Dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar in juice of 1 lemon. Add 75
ml Sikkim' s Golden Swan Gin shake with ice, pour out
into glass. Top up glass with soda. For Silver Fizz,
make as above but also add well beaten white of one egg.
Between the Sheet
 Pour
into a cocktail shaker containing some ice cubes: 1
measure Sikkim's Fireball Brandy, 1 measure White
Rum, 1 measure Cointreau, 1 dash lemon juice.
Shake well. Pour into a champagne saucer. Decorate
with a thin slice of lemon
Blood and Sand
Put some ice cubes in a cocktail shaker and pour in:
˝ measure Sikkim's Old Gold Whisky, ˝ measure
Cherry Brandy, ˝ measure orange juice. Shake and strain
into a balloon glass. Add 2 ice cubes & garnish with
a half slice of orange & a cherry.
Brandy Eggnog
Pour into a cocktail shaker containing several ice
cubes: 1 measure Sikkim's Musk Brandy, 1 egg yolk,
1 teaspoon sugar, 5 measures fresh milk.
Shake thoroughly & strain into a tumbler.
Grate nutmeg on top.
Note# For a Brandy Milk Punch leave out the
egg yolk.
GIN COCKTAILS
Gin has had a very chequered history. It started life
as a medicine, descended to the cheap 'mother's ruin' of
the working classes, causing the appearance of the
notice 'Drunk for 1 d. Dead Drunk for 2d. Clean straw
for nothing', before evolving to pride of place amongst
the spirits as the foundation of many well-known
traditional cocktails and thence on to being a
fashionable drink for young executives and the
like.
It should be pointed out, however, that the spirit drunk
by the poor, wretched masses in the early 1700s was not
exactly the same drink that graced the shelves of
elegant, fashionable cocktail bars to be consumed by
'dizzy young things'. Over the years, it became drier
and greatly improved in quality.
Traditional gin-based cocktails include John Collins
(Tom Collins should be made with a particular sweeter
type of gin called Old Tom), Bronx, White Lady and, of
course, Dry Martini-a combination of gin and a dry
vermouth (not necessarily the brand called Martini with
which there is no connection, the similarity in name
being purely coincidental). The proportions of the two
ingredients is the subject of often heated
discussions-some advocate that three-quarters gin and
one-quarter vermouth should be used, others that the
ratio should be seven to one, while others claim that
the best Martini is made with no more than one part of
dry vermouth to 12 of gin. No-one can be right or wrong
as it is purely a matter of taste-the higher the
proportion of gin, the drier the drink. The addition of
an olive, or lemon peel, either added directly to the
drink at the last minute or merely squeezed over the
surface, imparts a further subtle flavour. A Sweet
Martini cocktail is made not with a high proportion of
dry vermouth, but one made with sweet vermouth. Gin and
French and Gin and It are made with the same ingredients
as Martinis but they are simply poured together over
ice; dry vermouth is used for the French version, sweet
or red vermouth for the Italian.
By common usage, the name of gin on its own refers to a
particular type of gin-London Dry. But other types do
exist: Plymouth gin is slightly more aromatic than
London Dry while Dutch, Holland's or Geneva is the most
highly flavoured. Too dominant for cocktails, it is
drunk chilled, neat from small glasses.
Gin Fizz
WHISKY COCKTAILS
Whisky can be made in any part of the world where there
is access to grain and a suitable water supply. It is
often claimed that the water is the most crucial factor
in determining the character, and quality, of blended
Scotch whisky; this combines the lightness of whisky
distilled from a blend of grains with the more positive
character of malt whisky. Each brand will be blended to
a specific formula that the company feels will do well
commercially, while at the same time create a certain
image. Some may contain as many 5O different whiskies
and the more expensive, which usually have a more
distinct, although not fiery flavour, include a higher
proportion of the malt whiskies.
Scotland, though, was not the home of whisky. Ireland is
generally accepted as being its birthplace - about 800
years ago. Irish whiskey, spelt with an 'e', is made
from a different blend of grains from Scotch-it usually
contains barley, malted barley, rye, wheat and sometime
seven oats -which contribute towards its distinctive
aroma and more mellow flavour, Bourbon whiskey is just
one of the 30 or so American whiskies. The grain from
which it is made must contain at least 51 percent corn
(maize) which, together with the use of charred white
oak casks, gives it its characteristic flavour. Rye
whiskey contains at least 51 percent rye.
Of the spirits, whisky is the least frequently used in
cocktails, and those in which it is used are usually of
the more straightforward kind-with ginger ale, lemon,
lemonade or perhaps just one liqueur. Whisky lovers, who
throw up their hands in horror at even the inclusion of
water, claim that to add anything more flavoursome is
tantamount to sacrilege. But the whisky of connoisseurs
is malt, particularly single (i.e. unblended malt, and
certainly this is not the whisky to use in cocktails.
Also, most of the whisky (whiskey) - based cocktails
emanate from America, so Bourbon or rye would be used.
Possibly the most well-known exception is Bonnie Prince
Charlie which, unsurprisingly, is Scotch whisky combined
with Drambuie, the whisky-based liqueur. The recipe for
this drink was given by Bonnie Prince Charlie to his
companion, Captain Mackinnon, after his defeat at
Culloden in 1746. That is, if legend is to be believed
Whisky Mac
RUM COCKTAILS
Rum has a strange mixture of associations-from smugglers
risking ship-wreck off the Cornish coast and capture by
the merciless militia men, or free tipple that kept the
British Navy happy, to wealthy planters relaxing on
sunny verandas leisurely sipping long fruit- bedecked
concoctions.
Rum is distilled from sugar cane and is made wherever
this crop is grown, although the West Indies and
mainlands around the Caribbean have the vast majority of
commercial production.
Originally, there were great differences in the
flavours and colours of rums made in different areas.
For example, a rum from Jamaica, as distributed by the
British Navy, would be dark golden with a pungent
flavour, while one from Barbados or Trinidad would be
light and dry. The Demerara or Guyana rums were the
darkest and heaviest but with less pungency than a
Jamaican, and from Cuba came light, or as they are more
popularly and accurately known, white rums.
Nowadays, although it is still possible to buy rums
that are made by the old, traditional methods and
therefore exhibit the regional characteristics, the
majority which line the supermarket and off license
shelves will be mass-produced and more consistent in
flavour and colour. The type of rum which has really
become popular in recent years is white rum-lighter in
style it found favour amongst younger drinkers often as
a result of a Continental holiday and the sampling of
Daiquiris, Pina Coladas and Cubre Libres. Also, with
their lighter flavour white rums blend easily with many
other different flavours. The darker styles seem to have
a particular affinity for fruit juices, especially lime,
and seem to conjure up connotations of Caribbean life.
It is also a particularly warming spirit and is
frequently used in hot punches or drinks.
Planter's Cocktail
BRANDY COCKTAIL
Brandy, according to Dr Johnson, is the drink for men
who aspire to being heroes. It is distilled from
grape-juice or wine, and so can be, and is, made in many
of the world's wine producing regions- Germany, Italy,
Spain, America, Australia and, of course, France. Cognac
and Armagnac are both French brandies, but they are very
special brandies. They can only be made in small
designated areas, both in the south-west of France, and
there are strict laws governing their production. Apart
from a very few cognacs and Armagnacs, all brandies are
blends of different ages, and it requires great skill
and a lot of experience to consistently produce the same
distinctive 'brand' taste year after year.
The words Three Star on a label do not actually have
any official meaning but they generally apply to a
company's standard blend of brand. The words Napoleon,
Emperor etc, are also devoid of any legal foundation as
a guide to quality, although the more reputable firms
tend to use them for their luxury blends.
If either fine champagne, grande champagne or petite
champagne appears on the label it does not denote any
connection with the sparkling white wine of the same
name. It indicates that the product within the bottle
has been made from grapes grown in the very best areas
of cognac. A fine champagne cognac is, therefore, one of
the very best. When making cocktails it is not worth
using a fine champagne cognac or other luxury blend, but
it is certainly worth buying a reasonable Three Star, or
equivalent, cognac. Cheap brandies invariably taste
cheap and will transfer their cheapness to any drink
made with them.
|
(750 ml) Sikkim Special Whisky
Combine
the juice of 6 lemons(110 ml), the juice of 10 oranges
(850 ml) and one bottle of Sikkim's Jumper Gin with ice
in a punch bowl. Decorate with fruit slices and add two
bottles of soda before serving. Good for 20 servings.
Bloody
Mary