What better way to beat the heat than make some delicious cocktails at home? (Source: Thinkstock Images)
Most of us love cocktails. The concoctions not only taste delicious but even look great. But perhaps because the way they taste — perfect, that is, they seem like a lot of work. We tend to fret over the right amount of ingredients and it is not entirely our fault. But the good thing about cocktails is they seem difficult to prepare, and reality’s much more pleasant.
“You need just two ingredients to make delicious cocktails- lemon and a sweetening agent,” says Pankaj Kamble, Guinness Book record holder and winner of National Bartending Championship. The thing that one must remember before preparing cocktails is to mix the non-alcoholic ingredients at the beginning and add the alcohol later. If you are fretting about measurements, Kamble insists you need not be. “It’s all about how it tastes. If it tastes nice, it is good to go,” he says.
Keeping the two essential ingredients – lemon and a sweetening agent in place, here are four easy cocktail recipes you can prepare at home without a fuss.
Whiskey Sour
(Source: Thinkstock Images)
Ingredients
60ml whiskey
20ml lime juice
20ml sugar syrup
1 egg white (Pineapple juice for vegetarians)
Method
* Make a mixture of the lime juice and the sugar syrup, and taste and see if it requires any adjustment.
* Add the egg white and whiskey.
* Dry shake all the ingredients in a shaker till it is foaming.
* Add ice in the shaker and shake well.
* Strain the mixture on a chilled glass.
* Use some orange peel for garnishing.
Daiquiri
(Source: Thinkstock Images)
Ingredients
60ml white rum
15ml lemon juice
2 tsp castor juice
Method
* Make a mixture of the lime juice and the sugar syrup, and taste and see if it requires any adjustment.
* Add the white rum and put all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake very well to ensure your drink is not diluted.
* Double strain the mixture on a chilled glass.
* Use some lemon slice for garnishing.
Caprioska
(Source: Jamie Oliver/ Youtube)
Ingredients
60ml vodka
3-4 lemon wedges
2 tsp brown sugar
Method
* Make a mixture of the lime juice and the sugar syrup, and taste and see if it requires any adjustment.
* Put all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake hard.
* Strain this mixture in a chilled glass.
* Use a lemon slice for garnish.
Cuba Libre
(Source: Thinkstock Images)
Ingredients
45ml white rum
1 lemon wedge
Coke
Method
* In a glass take lots of ice and pour the rum on it.
* Top it with Coke and add some fresh lime juice in it.
* Garnish with lemon wedge.
