Methods used to make cocktails can be a source of great pleasure.
There’s the Tom Cruise Cocktail shaking, the icing, the stirring, the squeezing. As fun as it might be, sometimes you don’t have time to be bothered with all the faff. If you’ve invited the neighbourhood for a weekend barbeque and they are all thirsty drinkers, taking 20 minutes to craft a Margarita just won’t cut it.
This is exactly where bottled cocktails come in handy. Recipes that can be prepared in advance, chilled and then poured straight into the glass and topped-up with soda or sparkling wine to create a finished drink.
FT.com notes that not all cocktails suit bottling. Recipes that contain citrus, which loses its brightness very quickly, should ideally be drunk within 24 hours. But more boozy cocktails such as the Old Fashioned, Negroni or Manhattan can keep almost indefinitely if you store them in the fridge. In fact, they can actually get better if you leave them to sit around a bit.
How to make a Mortal Lover bottled cocktail
Recipe by: The Bon Vivant, Edinburgh
Makes one litre/about 12 servings.
Shelf life if kept in the fridge: at least a month.
400ml sweet vermouth
200ml Dolin Chamberyzette Vermouth
395ml sherry
5ml Regan’s Orange Bitters
Champagne to serve
Combine the first four ingredients in a jug, bottle it and store in the fridge. To serve, fill a champagne flute or wine glass two-thirds full with the pre-mixed cocktail and top up with chilled champagne.
