We Should Bring Back Cocktail Hour

by Charl Pearce

She drinks a whisky drink, she drinks a vodka drink, she drinks a lager drink, she drinks a cider drink.

On an evening on the tiles, my usual tipple of choice is either a pint of Guinness or a Jack Daniels and Coke, not very ladylike I know, but a woman wants what a woman wants, and what a woman wants she shall have (remember that one boys and you’ll go far).

There’s another type of drink that I’ll make a bee line for, and thats a cocktail.  Cosmopolitan, Sex on the Beach, Woo Woo, Blue Lagoon, Purple Rain, White Russian… Fruity, creamy, colourful, long, short – pass me a cocktail menu and I can pass a good hour admiring a rainbow of drinks before eventually making my decision.  Apparently women are suckers for cocktails, we love them infact.

With such an array of cocktails, I never really pick the same one twice (I’m an equal opportunities cocktail drinker).

At a male friends birthday party over the weekend, I popped my Mojito making cherry.  I’d been reading about cocktails on the Homewetbar blog.  You’d think Mark would covet all of the manly drinks, but being my fabulous GBF, he loves a good old girly Mojito.  & so do I.  There’s something so cool and refreshing about lime and mint in a glass with ice and rum but I only ever drink them when I’m in a cocktail making establishment (in Stoke this usually equates to Revolution.  Period)  So to have a step by step demonstration and lesson from the Mojito making king (also known as “my gay friend Mark”) opens the door for lots of Mojito fuelled evenings.  Even evenings in the house watching TV will be infinitely improved when accompanied by a tall icy glass of Mojito to keep me refreshed.

mojitos

 WHAT YOU NEED….

Cocktail shaker
Pitcher
2 limes – cut into wedges
Fresh mint leaves
2½ tsp granulated sugar
Handful ice
LOTS OF WHITE RUM (we used about 6x50ml shots for a pitcher)
Soda water
Fresh mint sprig to garnish

WHAT YOU DO…
– Add the sugar to a cocktail shaker, squeeze in the juice of the limes to form a paste.
– Add the mint leaves and stir “mash” with a spoon to bruise the mint to release the flavour.
– Add the rum – you can add more or less dependent on how strong a Mojito you want (we went for quite a lot of rum…)
– Add a handful of ice
– Pop the lid on the cocktail shaker and make like you’re shaking a polaroid picture
– Strain the mixture into the pitcher and then add soda water to flavour.
– Add a couple of wedges of lime and a sprig of mint, stir and VOILA…

…….Let the good times roll.

Drink responsibly yo.  By this, I mean… if you drink that much that you think its okay to start calling that hot man who you work with who has a girlfriend and sing Carly Rae Jepson “Call Me Maybe” down the phone to him, you should probably put down the Mojito.  Probably.

*in Collaboration with Homewetbar

(only limes and liver were harmed in the writing of this post)

4 Comments

  1. Lianne

    LOVE a cocktail me!!
    Been drinking Drumstick cocktails all afternoon, too much like ‘pop’

    Reply
  2. Jessica

    Oh, I agree! Cocktail hour is so elegant. :)

    Reply
    • Charlotte

      Who doesn’t love a little elegance?

      Reply
  3. Daniel

    I’m a guy and I have to admit, a well made cocktail trumps any other drink!

    Reply

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