Grain Fever

Recently, a friend asked me to compile a list of Whiskey cocktails. Not the standard Sour, not Manhattan, but lesser known comforters for a lazy evening. The task was fun to say the least. I leafed through books-bought-but-not-read, ran innumerable searches, finally learnt to convert ounces to millimetres and at the end of it all had a list that’s very very promising. So for anyone who loves their malt, here goes:

Godfather
45 ml whiskey- Scotch
25 ml Amaretto
Pour over ice cubes in an old-fashioned/lowball glass and stir.

Whiskey Smash
30 ml sugar syrup
45 ml whiskey
Mint leaves
Muddle sugar syrup and mint leaves in an old-fashioned glass. Add ice cubes. Pour in whiskey and stir. Garnish with a mint sprig. Serve with soda water on the side.

Ward 8
30 ml lemon juice
45 ml orange juice
60 ml whiskey- Scotch
Dash of Grenadine
Shake, strain and serve in cocktail glass. Garnish with Maraschino cherry.

Texas Rose
90 ml Champagne
60 ml orange juice
30 ml whiskey- Bourbon
Dash of Cherry Liqueur
Shake the last three ingredients and strain into a cocktail glass. Top up with the champagne.

Irish Fizz
1 tsp Curacao
60ml Whiskey- Irish Whiskey
1 squeeze of lime
Shake and strain into medium sized tumbler. Top up with soda. Garnish with a wedge of green lime.

Cherry Bomb
30 ml Cherry Brandy
60 ml whiskey- Bourbon
1 egg white
Shake well and strain. Garnish with orange twist.

Black Jack
1 cup strong black coffee
30 ml whiskey- Jack Daniels
Dash of Angostura Bitters
Add the Jack Daniels and bitters to the cup of coffee. Stir.

New York Sour
60 ml whiskey
Juice of ½ lemon
1 tsp sugar
Red wine
Shake whiskey, lemon juice and sugar with ice and strain into Whiskey Sour glass. Float wine on top and garnish with slice of lemon.

Tropical Whiskey Punch
4 1-inch mango cubes
2 lemon wedges
2 pineapple wedges
30 ml water
20 ml sugar syrup
60 ml whiskey
Muddle all ingredients except whiskey in a cocktail shaker. Add whiskey, shake with ice and strain into an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with pineapple and lemon wedges.

Cheers!

Darkly Tonight

Black. Bored into my skin. Scrubbed and steeped.
Behind my eyelids. Smoke stained. Peeled.
Crazy patchwork or rough patina. Pestled.
Cloudburst over idylls. Raw. Scathing. Spent.
Damned demons of desire. Lurid. Unleashed.
Dragging me down. Drowning. Drawn.
Everlasting evanescence. Effortless. Fatigued.
Endless night. Screaming in my face. Scared.
Faceless fears. Abstract monsters. Undefeated.
Freak show. For me? Or me mirrorred?
Grieving black. Weeds. Winter blackened.
Give up. Give in. Adrift. Asunder. Aggrieved.