I’m getting bored with gin. There. I’ve said it.
I’ll live out the rest of my days looking over my shoulder for fear of being pounced on by a mob ready to stone me to death with juniper berries.
I spend too much time staring at the gin section in the supermarket waiting for special offer stickers to appear at the Jawbox or Shortcross bottles.
I’m the same with tins of that pink tonic with the extra smidgen of angostura bark extracted from the depths of South America and carted out on the back of some pack horse.
I'm craving fine Burgundy but I'm skint so let's have a think
It’s wonderful stuff, it really is, but there must be nearly as many gin distilleries in Ireland now as GAA clubs.
Perhaps I’ll reinvigorate my love of this national treasure with a Pegu Club cocktail.
Since it’s a sort of gin version of a margarita, it’ll keep me happy.
Over the years, there’s been all sorts of fads and fashions.
Fajitas for birthday tea obviously has beer implications
I keep hearing rum is the next one coming, which I’ll be well prepared for if it happens.
I’ll not be looking into any crystal balls, mind you. But I will say again that tequila is a much underrated spirit.
As I write, I’ve a shot glass full of ice and neat 1800 Silver 100% agave.
There’s not many spirits you can drink straight that cost £30 a bottle these days.
At the weekend I’ll bring it to life as a margarita with lime, Cointreau and a squirt of agave syrup colliding with it in the shaker to make a drink that’ll give even the most demure party guest a jolt.
The pure, clean hit of your blanco tequila is all you need for GCSE Margarita. Though, I might well be ordering up a bottle of Ocho Reposado to try a few experiments.
Reposado means “rested” for between two months and one year in oak casks.
No matter who makes your mozzarella, you'll be needing a nice glass of wine
There’s no hiding with a blanco, as, if it’s a badly made spirit, there isn’t any oak sweetness that’s going to mask it. But I’ll give this Ocho Reposado a rattle as it comes highly recommended by people in the know.
I’m intrigued by the Tommy’s Margarita variation where you leave out the Cointreau/Curacao, add more agave and serve on the rocks.
Use 20ml lime juice, 40ml good tequila and 10ml agave.
Wine and running are not meant to be combined, they just aren't
Shake and get it in a glass packed with ice and a wedge of lime, if you fancy.
Try the La Paloma for yourself
Ingredients
- 50ml Reposado Tequila
- 10ml lime
Around 150ml Fizzy grapefruit juice to top up
Mai Tai comes from the Tahitian for ‘out of this world - the best’... and it's a gorgeous drink
This is a popular drink in Mexico, but a half and half mix of grapefruit juice and soda is grand, plus a splash or sugar/agave syrup.
Technique
Simply build in a tall glass full of ice and garnish with a wedge of lime. Easy!
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