Whether you are planning a party or simply wondering what to order during your next night out, you should review a list of popular cocktails. Here’s our favourite five cocktails and their recipes.
Old Fashioned
This classic cocktail originated at the Pendennis Club in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, in the mid-1880s around the time William Grant, of Grant’s Whisky, was laying the foundations of his first distillery.
Ingredients
• 50ml Grant’s Family Reserve
• Dash of orange bitters
• Dash of Angostura bitters
• Sugar (or sugar syrup)
Method
Muddle an orange slice in a tumbler and remove. Add one dash of Angostura bitters. Add three dashes of orange bitters. Add 3 ice cubes. Add 15ml Grant’s Family Reserve. Stir well. Add 2 more ice cubes. Add 15ml Grant’s Family Reserve. Stir well. Add 2 more ice cubes. Add sugar or sugar syrup. Stir well. Pour. Garnish with a twist of orange zest.
Grants’ Godfather
Inspired by the Martin Scorsese films, Grant’s Godfather combines Grant’s family reserve with Italian Amaretto alongside orange bitters.
Ingredients
• 50ml Grant’s Family Reserve
• 20ml Amaretto
• Splash of orange bitters (or juice)
• Garnish with orange zest
Method
Fill a glass with ice cubes. Add the Grant’s Family Reserve. Add the Amaretto. Splash over the orange bitters. Zest an orange over the glass and garnish with a long slice of peel.
Ginger Storm
Recommended by Waitrose, this fiery ginger-based cocktail is sure to kickstart any Burns Night celebration.
Ingredients
• 2 tbsp Johnnie Walker Red Label Whisky
• Dash Angostura Bitters 200ml
• Waitrose Fiery Ginger Beer
Method
Pour the whisky into a champagne flute and add a dash of Angostura Bitters. Top up with ginger beer and serve swiftly.
Whisky Twist
Impress your guests with this whisky and orange twist.
Ingredients
• 3 ice cubes
• 2 tbsp Johnnie Walker Red Label Whisky
• 2 tbsp orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier or Cointreau
• Twist of orange peel, to serve
Method
Place the ice in a small tumbler and pour over the whisky and orange liqueur. Muddle together, add a twist of orange peel and serve.
Aberdeen Flip
This unusual cocktail from Chivas features a whole egg and black cherry jam.
Ingredients
• 2 parts Chivas 18
• 1 part 12 year-old Oloroso sherry
• 1 whole egg
• 0.25 parts honeyed spice syrup parts Fee Brothers’ Aztec Chocolate Bitters
• 2tsp black cherry jam
Method
To make your own honeyed spice syrup bring 200ml white sugar, 200ml water, 3 tsp honey, 0.5tsp ground cinnamon, three whole star anise and half a vanilla pod to the boil. Simmer for five minutes. Strain and leave to chill in the fridge. Add all the ingredients into a dry cocktail shaker (no ice) and shake for 30 seconds. Fill the shaker with ice and shake for a further minute. Finally strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
