Lorraine asked me what I keep on my bar. It isn’t a huge variety, but it’s enough to make every cocktail on my list.
- The kitchen bar (what I use most): cocktail shaker, reusable metal cocktail sticks, vodka, Passoa, white rum, vermouth for dirty martinis, a coffee liqueur for espresso martinis, elderflower liqueur and Angostura bitters.
- The sitting room bar (used less often): a sipping tequila and a margarita tequila, gin, an everyday blended whisky (lovely in a Whisky Mac), a couple of single malts, Metaxa, Irish cream, Frangelico (like Nutella in a glass), vermouth rosso for Negronis, cassis, port, fine champagne cognac and Chambord.
- Espresso martini tip: use decaf espresso so you don’t stay awake all night.
- Elderflower liqueur tip: the Marks & Spencer one is very good and about £10 cheaper than St-Germain.
- Rim salts: I keep a jar of salt and sugar with a little chilli for margaritas, and a garlic and onion salt for Bloody Marys.
- Vermouth tip: keep vermouth in an atomiser – perfect for spraying onto a martini.
Cheers! – Jules x