White Rum and Lemonade

Denmark is under a - short probably - tropical spell at the moment with rare temperatures around 30C. Lemonade is such a wonderful way to cope with heat and a little booze added does not ruin the effect:

• 6 cl white rum, I used Plantation 3 star
• 12 cl homemade lemonade *
• Rhubarb bitters (Angostura would be good too)

Everything is stirred with ice until very cold.

Lemonade: I use a non cook recipe that I have found at Smitten Kitchen once. Basically freshly squeezed lemon juice is mixed with Maple Syrup at the ratio of 2.5:1 - maybe a little less than one actually. And then water or slightly carbonated water is added to taste. I like my lemonade strong - and my boozy lemonade boozy, but it is so easy to work out your own golden ratio.

Hello Kitty

A coworker asked me if I knew about a Hello Kitty cocktail or if such a drink even existed.

While having never come across one I had no doubt, given the Japanese affinity for both cocktails and the cartoon that somewhere someone had thought up such a concoction.

Google was not a lot of help - several mentions - but no consensus on anything. So I figured I would make one.

I've always loved the Clover Club Cocktail - the sheer pinkness of that drink is overwhelming. I love that it looks girly but packs a punch - and the fact it is named after a gentlemens club. I can just see those captains of industry getting slushed on foamy pink cocktails.

This summer the Southside has also been a lovely libation. The other day as I had a bit of homemade raspberry cordial left over from another project an idea started to develop:

• 6 cl gin
• 1,5 cl raspberry cordial *
• 1,5 cl lemon juice
• 6 leaves of fresh mint
• Ginger Beer

Muddle the mint gently at the bottom of a shaker, add raspberry, lemon juice, gin and ice and shake until very cold. Strain into chilled high ball glass over fresh ice, top off with ginger beer and garnish with a few cherries.

And yes it's a variation on Audrey Saunders wonderful Gin Gin Mule  - so you could just call it a Raspberry Gin Gin Mule if Hello Kitty cramps your style.

* Raspberry Cordial: Cook a good handful of very ripe raspberries with 0,5 dl sugar and the juice from one half lemon for about 5 minutes until berries are falling apart. Work through fine mesh sieve to get all juice out of it. Cool.