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SIMON DIFFORDS HAND PICKED TOP 40 COCKTAILS

MY TOP 40
Ive discovered, created and tasted a lot of
cocktails, many thousands in fact. Te 11th
edition of my book, Difords Guide to
Cocktails, has over 3,000 recipes, all made
personally by me in my private London bar.
Hard work and a lot of enjoyable evenings.
So, when my team invited me to select my Top
40 I thought it would be a piece of cake. Not so.
With so many delicious drinks to choose from it
was certainly a challenge.
I hope you enjoy my selection. Tey are the
drinks I look forward to because I know Ill
enjoy them. Whatever your favourite spirit and
favour profle youll fnd a drink to suit you,
hopefully more than one.
Cheers,
Simon Diford
CEO and Editor-in-Chief
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
MY TOP 10
1. NEGRONI
Biter and dry, but very tasty. Tis no namby-pamby drink is
traditionally assembled and mixed directly in the glass. Tere is
something about a Negroni that does not suit fussing about with
mixing glasses and strainers. To garnish with a lemon slice is a
heinous crime, but I am quite partial to a fat orange wedge.
Te Negroni takes its name from Count Camillo Negroni and
sometime between 1919 and 1921, while drinking at the Casoni
Bar (later named Giacosa) on Tornabuoni Street in Florence, the
Count is said to have asked for an Americano 'with a bit more kick'.
He was a regular customer at the bar and bartender, Fosco Scarselli,
answered the request by adding gin to the Counts favourite aperitif,
the Americano. Te combination became the Counts new regular
drink and other patrons of the bar soon started to ask for one of
Count Negronis drinks. Afer a while the drink simply became
known as a Negroni.
1 shots London dry gin, 1 shots Campari Biter, 1 shots
sweet vermouth. Pour all the ingredients into an ice-flled glass,
stir and garnish with an orange zest twist.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
2. MANHATTAN SWEET
2 shots bourbon whiskey, shot maraschino syrup (fom cherry jar), 1 shot
sweet vermouth, 3 dashes Angostura Biters. Stir all ingredients with ice and
strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with an orange zest twist (discarded) &
maraschino cherry.
I must confess to preferring my Manhatans served sweet, or perfect at a
push. Te Manhatan is complex, challenging and moreish. Best of all, it's
available in a style to suit every palate.
Various origins for this drink abound. Tey include: in November 1874 at
New York City's Manhatan Club for Lady Randolph Churchill, sometime in
the 1880s by a man named Black who kept a place ten doors below Houston
Street on Broadway, and by a Col. Joe Walker on a yachting trip in New York.
Tat last story is the most recent I have come across and comes courtesy of
Barry Popiks website barrypopik.com where Barry notes an entry in the
Daily Journal, Racine, Wisconsin, 8 March 1899. Te article purports that
Col. Joe Walker ran the then-famous Crescent Hall Saloon in New Orleans, at
the corner of Canal and St. Charles Streets and that some years before he went
on a litle yachting trip with a party of friends while in New York.
By some oversight the liquid refreshments in the icebox were confned to
Italian vermouth and plain whisky, and it occurred to the colonel that a
palatable drink might be made by mixing the two. Te results were so good
that he experimented a litle on his return to New Orleans, and soon perfected
the Manhatan cocktail, as it is known today. It was christened in honor of his
friends on Manhatan island, and the fame of the decoction soon spread all
over the country. Te true Manhatan cocktail is always made with Italian
vermouth, but at half the places where they undertake to serve them, French
[dry] vermouth is substituted, and the fne favor is altogether destroyed.
French vermouth is a sort of wine, while Italian vermouth is a cordial, pure and
simple. Tey are as diferent as milk and molasses. A cocktail made from the
French brand is no more a Manhatan cocktail than it is a Spanish omelete.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
3. NATURAL DAIQUIRI
2 shots light white rum, shot lime juice, shot sugar syrup, shot
water. Shake all ingredients with ice and fne strain into a chilled glass. Garnish
with a lime wedge.
Invention of the Daiquiri is credited to Jennings Stockton Cox, an
American engineer at the turn of the 20th century who was working at a
Cuban iron-ore mine near the small town of Daiquir.
Te Daiquiri is an easy drink to make, just three ingredients shaken with
ice, but achieving the perfect balance to produce a truly sublime cocktail
requires methodical measuring of each ingredient according to a tried and
tested formula.
Convention calls for a 8:2:1 formula (2 shots white label Cuban rum,
shot lime juice and shot sugar syrup). I use this formula when using
aged rum, but a refreshing classic Natural Daiquiri should be made with a
light white rum such as Bacardi Superior. Afer much experimentation I
have discovered the 10:3:2 formula I specify here works best.
Making your own double strength sugar syrup (one cup water to two cups
of caster sugar) strangely works beter than the best packaged syrups, and
is easier to measure accurately than spoons of granulated sugar. Dilution
is also a crucial factor, hence my adding water when shaking with double
frozen, just out the freezer, ice.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
4. MARTINEZ
2 shots old tom gin, shot dry vermouth, shot sweet vermouth, shot
Maraschino liqueur, 1 dash Angostura Aromatic Biters.
Stir ingredients with ice and fne strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with a
maraschino cherry and/or orange zest twist.
Probably the forerunner of the Martini, the frst known recipe for this
drink appears in O.H. Byron's 1884 Te Modern Bartender where it is
listed as a variation to the Manhatan. Its frst standalone recipe book
listing appears in Harry Johnson's 1888 Bartender's Manual.
Although the drink appears in his 1887 Bartenders Guide (as a
variation), there is no evidence that Jerry Tomas invented the Martinez
and signifcantly he omits the drink from the earlier 1862 edition of his
Bartender's Guide. Many claim that one Julio Richelieu created the drink
in 1874 for a goldminer and that the drink is named afer the Californian
town of Martinez, where that unnamed goldminer enjoyed this libation.
Drinks historian David Wondrich and others believe the Martinez was
frst made using Dutch oude genever as this was the style exported to
America long before English Old Tom gin or London Dry gins. I do like a
genever based Martinez but being an Englishman Im biased towards the
use of Old Tom, a vintage style of gin with London origins. I also favour
the use of dry and sweet vermouth, one balancing the other and
adding complexity.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
5. MIZU WARI
2 shots of blended Scotch whisky, topped up with water.
Fill a glass with ice and stir until water forms in the
base of the glass. Add more ice and continue stirring to
cool the glass. Strain the water fom the glass, pour the
whisky into the glass and top with ice to the brim. Stir
whisky and ice, adding more ice to keep level at the
brim. Lastly, add water and briefy stir some more.
Garnish with a lemon zest twist (discarded) and
mint sprig.
Tis is simply whisky and water, but as with the
Japanese tea ceremony, observing the time and
care taken over making it and the prolonged
anticipation contributes greatly to the fnished
drink. And you thought an Old Fashioned took a
long time.
Pronounced "Mi-Zoo-Ware-E", this literally
translates as "mizu" = water and "wari" = divide,
thus the whisky is simply cut with water and served
over ice. Te ratio is personal to both the drinker
and bartender and varies between 1:2.5 and 1:4
whisky to water. It is common in Japan for diners to
drink mizu wari in place of wine with their meals
and the light whisky favours combine excellently
with Japanese food. Extremely thin, delicate glasses
are used and the thickness and quality of the glass
is considered key to Mizu Wari in Japan.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
6. PISCO PUNCH
2 slices orange, 3 fesh marinated pineapple wedges, 2 shots pisco, shot
pineapple marinade, top up with soda (club soda).
Muddle orange and pineapple in the base of a shaker. Add pisco and pineapple
marinade. Shake with ice and fne strain into an ice-flled glass. Top with no more
than two shots of soda water. Garnish with a pineapple wedge.
Rudyard Kipling in 1889 described the Pisco Punch as being
Compounded of the shavings of cherubs wings. Tis exquisite drinks
creation is usually credited to Professor Jerry Burns of San Franciscos Bank
Exchange. However, its origin could lie in the late 1800s, when the drink was
served aboard steamships stopping in Chile en route to San Francisco.
Te Bank Exchange was a ballroom that opened in 1854 and survived the
earthquake and fre of 1906. Its popularity never waned and only
Prohibition brought about its demise. Much of the Bank Exchanges
notoriety was due to the Pisco Punch.
Te recipe was handed down from owner to owner in absolute secrecy.
Duncan Nichol, the Scotish immigrant who owned the bar from the late
1870s until it closed, inherited it from the previous owners, Orrin
Dorman and John Torrence, and is thought to have carried it to his grave.
However, Alfredo Micheli (who went by the nickname Mike) was
employed at the Bank Exchange and spied on Duncan Nichol to learn
how to make this legendary drink. Afer he believed hed learnt the secret
he lef to start serving at a newly opened competitor to the Bank
Exchange, Paolis on Montgomery Street.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
7. SAZERAC
shot absinthe, top up with water (cold), 1 shot cognac V.S.O.P., 1 shot
bourbon whiskey, shot sugar syrup, 3 dashes Angostura Aromatic Biters, 3
dashes Peychaud's Biters.
Pour absinthe into an ice-flled glass, top with water and leave to stand.
Separately stir other ingredients with ice. Discard contents of the glass (absinthe,
water and ice) and strain contents of stirring glass into absinthe-coated glass.
Garnish with a lemon zest twist (discarded).
Te rounded, distinctive favour of this classic New Orleans cocktail is reliant
on one essential ingredient: Peychauds aromatic biters created by one
Antoine Amedee Peychaud, who opened a drug and apothecary store at 437
Rue Royale (then No. 123 Royal Street), New Orleans in 1834. Here he created
an American Aromatic Biter Cordial and marketed it as a medicinal tonic.
Antoine Peychaud advertised his biters in local newspapers and many New
Orleans bars served drinks prepared with them. One such bar was the
Sazerac Cofee House at 13 Exchange Alley, owned by John B. Schiller, also
the local agent for a French cognac company Sazerac-du-Forge et Fils of
Limoges. It was here, sometime between 1850 and 1859, that a bartender
called Leon Lamothe is thought to have created the Sazerac, probably using
Peychauds aromatic biters, Sazerac cognac and sugar.
A combination of the phylloxera aphid (which devastated French vineyards)
and the American Civil War made cognac hard to obtain so forcing the recipe
to change to a base of more locally made Maryland Club rye whiskey,
retaining a dash of cognac and adding a splash of the newly fashionable absinthe.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
8. MARGARITA
2 shots blanco tequila, 1 shot triple sec, 1 shot lime juice, 1 spoon agave nectar /
syrup, 3 drops Margarita biters (optional).
Shake all ingredients with ice and fne strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with
salt rim and lime wedge.
Te Margarita can be considered a Tequila Sour, or a Tequila Sidecar, and
two variations of this classic cocktail date back to the 1930s: the Tequila
Daisy and the Picador. Both, however, lack the distinctive salt rim.
Tere are many people who claim to have invented the Margarita, which,
as Spanish for "daisy" and a popular woman's name, would have been a
very common name for a drink. Of the many claimants it is socialite
Margaret Sames who is most widely identifed with the drinks creation,
apparently during a Christmas party in Acapulco, Mexico, in 1948. Te
story goes that she thought nothing of it until, when fying home to San
Antonio from Acapulco airport, she saw a bar advertising 'Margarita's
Drink', a cocktail with exactly the same ingredients as her own.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
9. SPRITZ AL BITTER
3 shots Prosecco sparkling wine, 1 shots Campari Biter, top up with soda
(club soda).
Pour ingredients into an ice-flled glass and lightly stir. Garnish with an orange
zest twist.
Popular in northern Italy, especially in Venice and the Veneto region
where it is pronounced Spriss (from the German verb Spritzen, meaning
spray or splash), this aperitif cocktail's origins date back to the end of the
19th century when Venice was still part of the Austrian Empire. During
this period, German soldiers drank the local wines of Veneto in taverns
where they were billeted but they ofen diluted these with water to achieve
a similar alcohol content to the beer they were more accustomed to
drinking. Hence, the Spritzer, a combination of equal parts white wine
and soda water.
In Veneto, the Spritz al Biter is made with the traditional white wines of
the Veneto region, Pinot Grigio, Soave or Prosecco. Te biter liqueur
used varies according to personal taste with Campari perhaps the driest.
Other popular biter liqueurs used include Aperol, Gran Classico, Select
or Cynar. It is usually garnished with a slice of orange but sometimes an
olive depending on the liqueur used. According to Gruppo Campari, in
Veneto, around 300,000 Spritzes are consumed every day. Tats more
than 200 a minute.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
10. BLOODY MARY
2 rings yellow bell pepper, 2 shots vodka, 3 shots tomato juice, shot sherry
cream (med/swt), 8 drops Tabasco hot pepper sauce, 4 dashes Worcestershire
sauce, 2 pinches celery salt, 2 grinds black pepper.
Muddle pepper in base of a shaker. Add other ingredients, rock rather than shake
with ice and fne strain into an ice-flled glass. Garnish with salt & pepper rim
plus celery stick.
Te creation of the Bloody Mary is generally credited to Fernand Petiot.
Whether this was in 1920, when he was a young bartender at Harry's New
York Bar in Paris, or in America, during the 1940s is not clear.
If Petiot frst created the Bloody Mary around 1920, then it is said the
name was borrowed not from the English Queen Mary I, whose
persecution of Protestants gave her that name, or from the silent movie
actress Mary Pickford, but from one of Petiot's customers, apparently the
entertainer Roy Barton. He had worked at a nightclub (or knew a bar)
called the Bucket of Blood in Chicago, where there was a waitress known
as 'Bloody Mary', and he said the drink reminded him of her.
If Petiot invented the Bloody Mary in New York, where he worked at the
St. Regis Hotel certainly from the end of Prohibition, then he may have
had assistance in its creation from Serge Obolansky, the manager of the
hotel, who is said to have asked him to spice up his 50-50 blend of vodka
and tomato juice.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
THE REST OF
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MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
ADONIS
2 shots Tio Pepe fno sherry,
1 shot sweet vermouth, 2 dashes
orange biters.
Stir all ingredients with ice and strain
into a chilled glass. Garnish with an
orange zest twist.
Tought to have been created in 1886 to
celebrate the success of a Broadway
musical. A surprisingly delicate, dry,
aromatic oldie.
AIR MAIL
2 shots golden rum, shot honey
sugar syrup, shot feshly squeezed
lime juice, shot feshly squeezed
orange juice, top up with brut
champagne.
Shake frst four ingredients with ice
and fne strain into an ice-flled glass.
Top with champagne. Garnish with a
mint sprig.
Adapted from a classic recipe, which frst
appears in the 1949 Esquire's Handbook
for Hosts. Tis is a potent drink and the
name could be a reference to airmail
being the quickest way of geting a leter
from A to B. Tis old classic is basically a
Honeysuckle served long and topped
with champagne, making this one of the
beter champagne cocktails.
ALASKA #1
SAVOY RECIPE
2 shots London dry gin, shot yellow
Chartreuse liqueur, 1 shot Tio Pepe fno
sherry, 3 dashes orange biters.
Shake all ingredients with ice and fne
strain into a chilled glass. Garnish
with an orange zest twist.
In his 1930 'Te Savoy Cocktail Book',
Harry Craddock writes, "so far as can be
ascertained this delectable potion is
NOT the staple diet of the Esquimaux.
It was probably frst thought of in South
Carolina hence its name." Te addition
of dry sherry is recommended in David
Embury's 1948 'Fine Art of Mixing
Drinks'.
ALBERTO MARTINI
1 shots London dry gin, 1 shots
dry vermouth, 1 shot Tio Pepe fno
sherry, shot triple sec liqueur.
Stir all ingredients with ice and strain
into a chilled glass. Garnish with an
orange zest twist.
In W.J. Tarling's 1937 Caf Royal
Cocktail Book the invention of this
cocktail is credited to A.J. Smith. Dry,
complex and aromatic; an equal parts gin
and vermouth Martini with a good dose
of fno sherry and a splash of triple sec.
ALGONQUIN
fesh pineapple ring, 1 shots straight rye
whiskey, shot dry vermouth, 1 dash Peychaud's
Aromatic Biters.
Muddle pineapple in base of a shaker. Add other
ingredients, shake with ice and fne strain into an
ice-flled glass. Garnish with a pineapple wedge
and maraschino cherry.
One of several classic cocktails accredited to New York
City's Algonquin Hotel in the 1930s. Its true origins are
lost in time. A dry aromatic aperitif-style of cocktail; if you
don't want this drink frothy then stir instead of shake.
BAMBOO #1
2 shots Tio Pepe fno sherry, 2 shots dry vermouth,
shot triple sec liqueur, 3 dashes orange biters.
Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled
glass. Garnish with an orange zest twist.
A classic and all but forgoten cocktail from the 1940s. For
sophisticated palates only.
BENTLEY
1 shots calvados brandy, 1 shots Dubonnet Red
(French made), 2 dashes Peychaud's Aromatic Biters.
Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into an empty
glass. Garnish with an orange zest twist.
Adapted from Harry Craddock's 1930 'Te Savoy Cocktail
Book'. Dry, spiced wine impregnated with apple - prety
damn good.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
BLOODY BLOOD & SAND
DIFFORD'S RECIPE
shot blended Scotch whisky, shot Lagavulin 16yo malt
whisky, shot cherry brandy liqueur, shot sweet vermouth,
shot blood orange juice.
Shake all ingredients with ice and fne strain into a chilled glass.
Garnish with an orange zest twist.
Te original Blood & Sand cocktail was created for the premiere of
the 1922 Rudolph Valentino movie, Blood & Sand. My 2014
adaptation amplifes Scotch notes with the addition of Islay whisky
and uses blood orange juice to add colour and favour.
An equal parts Blood & Sand works due to the smoky infuence of
Islay single malt whisky and the rounding citrus notes of blood
orange juice.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
COCKTAIL DU VIN
1 shots V.S.O.P. cognac, 1 shots
sauvignon blanc white wine, 1
shots fesh pressed pineapple juice,
shot sugar syrup (1 water :
2 sugar).
Shake all ingredients with ice and
fne strain into a chilled glass.
Garnish with a vanilla pod.
I created this drink in 2003 and named
the drink U.S. Cocktail but sense
prevailed. A relatively dry cocktail
where the vanilla combines beautifully
with the cognac and the acidity of the
wine balances the sweetness of the
pineapple juice.
ESPRESSO MARTINI
2 shots vodka, 1 shots espresso cofee
(hot), shot sugar syrup (1 water : 2
sugar), shot cofee liqueur.
Shake all ingredients with ice and fne
strain into a chilled glass. Garnish
with 3 cofee beans.
Created by Dick Bradsell and adapted
from his 1983 ' Vodka Espresso' invented
at the Soho Brasserie, London. Forget
the ' Vodka Red Bull', this is the cocktail
connoisseur's way of combining cafeine
and vodka.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
HABERDASHER
1 shots bourbon whiskey, 1 shot
dark crme de cacao liqueur, shot
Fernet Branca, shot Green
Chartreuse liqueur, shot double
(heavy) cream, shot milk.
Stir the frst 3 ingredients with ice and
strain into a chilled glass. Dry shake
Chartreuse and cream (without ice)
and layer by carefully pouring over the
surface of drink. (Whip cream to
ensure it foats.) Garnish with cocoa
and a mint leaf.
Discovered in January 2013 at Pouring
Ribbons, New York City. Chocolaty
bourbon with a freshening herbal blast of
Fernet Branca, smoothed by sipping
through a Chartreuse cream head. Te
ultimate afer-dinner drink.
HONEYSUCKLE
DAIQUIRI
2 shots light white rum, 4 spoons runny
honey, 1 shot feshly squeezed lemon
juice, 1 shot feshly squeezed
orange juice.
Stir honey with rum in base of the
shaker until honey dissolves. Add lemon
and orange juice, shake with ice and
fne strain into a chilled glass. Garnish
with a mint leaf.
Adapted from a recipe in David A.
Emburys 1948 Fine Art of Mixing
Drinks.
INSEINE
1 shot cognac V.S.O.P., 1 shot bourbon
whiskey, 1 shot elderfower liqueur,
shot absinthe, fesh egg white.
Shake all ingredients with ice and fne
strain into a chilled glass (without ice).
Garnish with white grapes on a stick.
I created this in 2006 at Te Cabinet
Room, London. Te name is a reference
to the Parisian district of St-Germain
lying on the lef bank of the River Seine
and also a nod to the use of absinthe and
its pre-war ban in France, partly due to
the belief that it induced insanity.
Elderfower liqueur mellows and boosts
foral notes in the cognac while the
merest dash of absinthe dries and adds a
robust hint of aniseed.
KING'S JUBILEE
2 shots light white rum, shot
maraschino liqueur, shot feshly
squeezed lemon juice.
Shake all ingredients with ice and fne
strain into chilled glass. Garnish with
a lemon zest twist.
Recipe adapted from W.J. Tarling's 1937
'Cafe Royal Cocktail Book - Coronation
Edition' in which Tarling credits this
drink's creation to Harry Craddock, the
then head bartender of the American Bar
at London's Savoy Hotel. If there is such a
thing as a 'Rum Aviation', then this is
surely it.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
LAVENDER MARGARITA
2 shots tequila (100% agave), 1 shot feshly squeezed
lime juice, shot lavender sugar syrup.
Shake all ingredients with ice and fne strain into a
chilled glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.
I created this cocktail in 2006 at the Cabinet Room,
London; lavender lime and tequila combine harmoniously.
THE LAST WORD COCKTAIL
1 shots London dry gin, shot Green Chartreuse
liqueur, shot maraschino liqueur, shot feshly
squeezed lime juice, shot chilled water.
Shake all ingredients with ice and fne strain into a
chilled glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Tis vintage classic was frst documented in Ted Saucier's
'Botoms Up' in 1951 where its creation was atributed to the
Detroit Athletic Club. It was practically forgoten until
championed by the team at Pegu Club, New York City in
2005. Te Detroit Athletic Club was established in 1887 by a
group of privileged young men who enjoyed amateur
athletics. In 1913 a group of the city's prominent automotive
and industrial leaders re-established the club and
commissioned architect Albert Kahn to design the
magnifcent six-story Clubhouse. Completed in April 1915,
and standing at 241 Madison Avenue in Detroit's theatre
district, this still houses the exclusive club to this day.
LEFT BANK MARTINI
2 shots London dry gin, shot elderfower liqueur,
shot chardonnay (Chablis) white wine, shot
dry vermouth.
Shake all ingredients with ice and fne strain into
chilled glass. Garnish with a lime zest twist.
I updated this recipe in 2013. Older? Yes. Wiser?
Perhaps. Drier palate? Defnitely. Hence, seven years
afer creating this drink I reduced the elderfower
liqueur from 3/4 shot to 1/2 shot and I also reduced the
vermouth from 1/2 to a 1 /4.
An aromatic, dry blend. Modern bartending convention
would suggest that this drink should be stirred.
However, its much beter shaken. Go easy with the spray
of lime zest oils - this delicate drink is easily over
powered with any more than a fne mist.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
DE LA LOUISIANE #4
1 shot straight rye whiskey, shot Bndictine
D.O.M. liqueur, 1 shot sweet vermouth, shot
absinthe, 2 dashes Peychaud's Aromatic Biters,
shot chilled water.
Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled
glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.
Recipe adapted from Stanley Clisby Arthur's 1937 book
'Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix 'Em' in
which he wrote, Tis is the special cocktail served at
Restaurant de la Louisiane, one of the famous French
restaurants of New Orleans, long the rendezvous of those
who appreciate the best in Creole cuisine. La Louisiane
cocktail is as out-of-the-ordinary as the many distinctive
dishes that grace its menu.
Its a rye-based Sweet Manhatan made even sweeter with
herbal Bndictine liqueur. Originally made with equal
parts rye whiskey, Bndictine DOM and sweet
vermouth, unless you have a sweet tooth reducing the
liqueur as per this recipe makes for a more balanced
drink. Tis is our favoured version of this famous New
Orleans cocktail.
MALTY DRY MARTINI
2 shots genever , shot dry vermouth.
Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into chilled
a glass. Garnish with a chilled orange or lemon
zest twist.
A drink promoted by Bols since the launch of Bols
Genever in 2008. Using a genuinely malty jenever
produces a deliciously retro take on the modern
Dry Martini.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
12 fesh mint leaves, 2 shots
bourbon whiskey, shot sugar syrup
(1 water : 2 sugar), 3 dashes
Angostura Aromatic Biters.
Shake all ingredients with ice and fne
strain into a julep cup half flled with
crushed ice. Churn (stir) the drink with
the crushed ice using a bar spoon. Top up
the cup with more crushed ice and churn
again. Repeat this process until the drink
flls the cup and serve. Garnish with a
mint sprig dusted with icing sugar.
Like so many cocktails, the humble Mint
Juleps origins are the subject of heated
debate. Today it is closely identifed with
Americas Deep South, famously served
at the Kentucky Derby. However, the
name derives from the Arabic word
'julab', meaning rosewater, and the frst
known writen reference to a
cocktail-style Julep was by a Virginia
gentleman in 1787. At that time it could
be made with rum, brandy or whiskey,
but by 1900 whiskey had become the
preferred base spirit. Indeed in his 1862
Te Bartenders Guide: How to Mix
Drinks, Jerry Tomas calls for cognac, a
dash of Jamaican rum and a garnish of
berries and orange slices. He also lists a
Julep variation made with gin and one
calling for ripe pineapple as well as the
now ubiquitous whiskey version.
Common perceived wisdom has
it that the Julep originated in Persia, or
thereabouts, and it travelled to Europe
(some say Southern France) where the
rose petals were substituted for
indigenous mint. Te drink is then
believed to have crossed the Atlantic
where cognac was replaced with peach
brandy and then whiskey - the Mint Julep
we recognise today.
Te remodelled US style mint julep
reached Britain in 1837, thanks to the
novelist Captain Frederick Marryat, who
complained of being woken at 7am by a
slave brandishing a Julep. He popularised
the drink through his descriptions of
American Fourth of July celebrations and
praise such as the following: I must
descant a litle upon the mint julep, as it
is, with the thermometer at 100, one of
the most delightful and insinuating
potations that was ever invented, and
may be drunk with equal satisfaction
when the thermometer is as low as 70...
As the ice melts, you drink. I once
overheard two ladies in the room next to
me, and one of them said, Well, if I have
a weakness for any one thing, it is for a
Mint Julep! - a very amiable weakness,
and proving her good sense and taste.
Tey are, in fact, American ladies,
irresistable.
When making a Mint Julep it is
important to only bruise the mint as
crushing the leaves releases the biter,
inner juices. Also be sure to discard the
stems, which are also biter.
It is imperative that the drink is
served ice cold. Cocktail etiquete
dictates that the shaker containing the
mint and other ingredients should be
placed in a refrigerator with the serving
vessel for at least two hours prior to
adding ice, shaking and serving.
Variations on the Mint Julep
include substituting the bourbon for rye
whiskey, rum, gin, brandy, calvados or
applejack brandy. Another variation calls
for half a shot of aged rum to be foated
on top of the bourbon-based Julep.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
MINT JULEP COCKTAIL
OLD FASHIONED
COCKTAIL
CLASSIC RECIPE
2 shots bourbon whiskey, shot
sugar syrup (1 water : 2 sugar), 3
dashes Angostura Aromatic Biters.
Stir one shot of bourbon with two ice
cubes in a glass. Add sugar syrup and
Angostura and two more ice cubes. Stir
some more and add another two ice
cubes and the rest of the bourbon. Stir
lots more and add more ice. Garnish
with an orange zest twist.
As with the Martini, the glass this
cocktail is served in has taken the name
of the drink. Its origin stems from the
adaptation and renaming of a similar
drink known as the Whisky Cocktail
which was shaken and served up. Who
did the adapting and renaming
is unknown.
Te muddling of fruit in the American
version of an Old Fashioned is said to
have originated with a bartender called
Martin Cuneo at the Pendennis Club in
Louisville, Kentucky, USA who made the
drink for a Kentucky Colonel (and
bourbon distiller) named James E.
Pepper sometime between 1889 and
1895. Te connection between the to the
Pendennis and the Old Fashioned is
supported by the 1931 book, 'Old
Waldorf Bar Days', by Albert Stevens
Crocket but the books recipe doesnt
mention muddling fruit in its recipe and
other references to the Old Fashioned
without fruit predate this 1931
publication.
Te US practice of muddling fruit in this
drink probably originated during
Prohibition as a means of disguising
rough spirits. It is almost unknown in
England and as Crosby Gaige wrote in
1944, "Serious-minded persons omit
fruit salad from Old Fashioneds."
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
PENICILLIN
COCKTAIL
2 spoons runny honey, 1 shot
Lagavulin 16yo malt whisky, 1 shot
blended Scotch whisky, shot ginger
liqueur, shot feshly squeezed
lemon juice.
Stir honey and whisky in the base of a
shaker to dissolve honey. Leave honey
spoon in shaker, add other ingredients
and stir again. Shake with ice and
strain into an ice-flled chilled glass.
Garnish with candied ginger.
Adapted from a recipe by Sam Ross at
Milk & Honey, New York City. Smoke
and honey with subtle spice and plenty of
Scotish atitude.
LA PERLA
1 shots tequila (100% agave), 1
shots Manzanilla sherry, shot pear
& cognac liqueur.
Stir ingredients with ice and strain
into a chilled glass. Garnish with a
lemon zest twist.
Adapted from a drink created in 2010 by
Jacques Bezuidenhout, San Francisco,
USA. Dry salty sherry with dry salty
tequila, sweetened with pear and
cognac liqueur.
THE PURITAN
1 shots London dry gin, shot dry
vermouth, shot Yellow Chartreuse,
1 dash orange biters, shot
chilled water.
Stir all ingredients with ice and strain
into chilled glass. Garnish with an
orange zest twist.
An ofen overlooked classic which is
thought to have originated at the end of
the nineteenth century. Vermouth
enhances the aromatics; Chartreuse and
orange biters add a hint of sweetness
and complexity; gin underpins the
whole drink.
THE STIG
shot calvados brandy, shot
Macchu pisco, 1 shot elderfower
liqueur, 1 shot sauvignon blanc
white wine.
Stir all ingredients with ice and strain
into an ice-flled glass. Garnish with a
lime zest twist.
I created this drink in 2006 at Te
Cabinet Room, London. Named partly
for the 'St-G' on the screw cap of St-
Germain and partly afer 'Te Stig', the
mysterious racing driver on the 'Top
Gear' TV series. Whiter than white but
yet mysterious.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
SUCCULENT BLOOD
2 shots mezcal, 1 shot blood orange
juice, shot cinnamon syrup (2:1),
shot Taylor's Velvet Falernum
liqueur.
Shake all ingredients with ice and fne
strain into a chilled glass. Garnish
with a dehydrated blood orange slice.
I created this cocktail in February 2014
afer misreading the recipe for a Sangre
Dulce by Regina Butler at Blackbird Bar in
San Francisco. I used Valet Falernum in
place of Fernet Valet but liked the result.
Te name came about as mezcal is distilled
from agave plants which are categorised as
succulents, meaning they are thickened
and feshy, allowing them to retain water in
arid climates.
VANILLA DAIQUIRI
2 shots light white rum, shot feshly
squeezed lime juice, shot sugar
syrup (1 water : 2 sugar), shot
chilled water.
Shake all ingredients with ice and fne
strain into a chilled glass. Garnish
with a lime wedge.
Te classic 'Natural Daiquiri' with a hint
of vanilla.
VESPER DRY MARTINI
2 shots London dry gin, shot vodka,
shot Lillet Blanc.
Shake all ingredients with ice and fne
strain into a chilled glass. Garnish
with a lime zest twist.
Tis variation on the Dry Martini is said
to have been created by Gilberto Preti at
Dukes Hotel, London, for the author Ian
Fleming. He liked it so much that in 1953
he included it in his frst James Bond
novel, Casino Royale. In chapter seven
Bond explains to a Casino bartender
exactly how to make and serve the drink:
In a deep champagne goblet. Tree
measures of Gordons, one of vodka, half
a measure of Kina Lillet (now called
Lillet Blanc). Shake it very well until its
ice-cold, then add a large slice of lemon
peel. When made, 007 compliments
the bartender, but tells him it would be
beter made with a grain-based vodka.
He also explains his Martini to Felix
Leiter, the CIA man, saying, Tis
drinks my own invention. Im going to
patent it when I can think of a good
name. In chapter eight, Bond meets
the beautiful agent Vesper Lynd. She
explains why her parents named her
Vesper and Bond asks if shed mind if
he called his favourite Martini afer her.
Like so many of Bonds love interests
Vesper turns out to be a double agent
and the book closes with his words,
Te bitch is dead now.
Many bartenders advocate that a
Martini should be stirred and not
shaken, some citing the ridiculous
argument that shaking will bruise the
gin. If you like your Martinis shaken
(as I do) then avoid the possible look of
distaste from your server and order a
Vesper. Tis Martini is always shaken,
an action that aerates the drink, and
makes it colder and more dilute than
simply stirring. It also gives the drink a
slightly clouded appearance and can
leave small shards of ice on the surface
of the drink. Tis is easily prevented by
the use of a fne strainer when pouring.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD
WHISKEY SOUR
DIFFORD'S RECIPE
2 shots bourbon whiskey, 1 shot feshly
squeezed lemon juice, shot sugar
syrup (1 water : 2 sugar), 3 dashes
Angostura Aromatic Biters, fesh
egg white.
Shake all ingredients with ice and
strain into an ice-flled glass. Garnish
with a lemon slice and cherry on stick.
A 4:2:8 sour formula. Smooth with a hint
of citrus sourness and an invigorating
blast of whiskey.
WIDOW'S KISS
1 shots calvados brandy, shot
Bndictine D.O.M. liqueur, shot
Yellow Chartreuse liqueur, 2 dashes
Angostura Aromatic Biters.
Stir all ingredients with ice and fne
strain into a chilled glass. Garnish
with a mint leaf.
Created before 1895 by George
Kappeler at New York City's Holland
House. Fantastically herbal with hints of
apple, mint and eucalyptus. Tis classic is
ofen made with green Chartreuse - I
prefer mine with half yellow and half
green and dare I say shaken.
MY TOP 40 COCKTAILS, BY SIMON DIFFORD