Zingiber cocktail

I love ginger. My first drink of choice in my young and foolish days was rye and ginger ale. I don’t keep ginger ale in the house anymore but some days crave it, and today was one of those days, so I made up a batch of ginger syrup (recipe below) and made this cocktail with it. It’s not any more impressive looking than my rye and ginger ale of old, but it hits the spot.

1 oz spiced rum
1 oz passion fruit juice
1/2 oz Lillet Blanc
2 oz strong ginger ale

Gently stir ingredients together in an ice-filled old fashioned or rocks glass.

If you have some time on your hands and some fresh ginger, make your own ginger ale using soda water and this delicious ginger syrup recipe by David Lebovitz.

Crandaiquiri

1 oz white rum
1 oz Lillet Blanc
1 oz cran-blueberry juice (or substitute plain cranberry juice)
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/4 oz fresh lemon juice

Shake well with ice and strain into cocktail glass. Add crushed ice and garnish with cranberries.

Autumn Apple Warmer

4 oz good quality sweet apple cider
1 1/2 oz Irish whiskey
1/4 oz apricot brandy

Stir until well blended. Warm up, either in a pot on the stove or in a heatproof glass container in the microwave for c. 20 seconds (do not boil). Pour into a heat proof rocks glass. Garnish with an apple slice (dip the cut sides in lemon juice to prevent discolouring).