While your mother may not approve, sometimes it’s fun to play with your cocktails. Or more to the point, make a game out of what you make.
This week we decided that we were going to take only 10 ingredients and we would try to make 7 cocktails using only those items.
The idea behind the game was to show that often you can get a completely different drink if you tweak the ingredients just slightly.
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So, yes, most of these were riffs on riffs, on riffs but the point is to show that even with only a few things in your arsenal, you can still make some fairly decent drinks.
The point is to remember that as long as you have the elements of sour (usually citrus), sweet (a syrup or some liqueurs) and strong (your base spirit) you can create something fairly decent.
So for our experiment, we used Reposado Tequila as the base (yes, this probably would have been a far easier game if you had used Gin as the base but where would the fun have been in that?).
We looked to both Lemon Juice and Lime Juice as our sour notes and then we played around with the sweetness we added. The obvious source of sweetness was the Agave but Maraschino Liqueur and St Germain did their parts as well.
We threw Suze and Yellow Chartreuse in to add a bit of variety and included two cocktails bitters, Orange and Grapefruit to really add to the mix.
The result is the 7 cocktails we have listed and I think they make a nice colle4ction of drinks, all with slightly differing flavours.
Aside from the fun of actually working all of this out, games like these can teach you a lot about balance, as well as the versatility of the products on your liquor cabinet. So why not challenge yourself to pull together a game like this for you and your friends. You might be surprised by the results.
