This week's featured big hitters and the continuously evolving Top 100 list of the world's most popular cocktails. Thanks to all readers who have sent me their thoughts on omissions and the drinks they'd like to see here.
Please keep sending your thoughts about the list to simon@diffordsguide.com
Black Russian
Glass: Old-fashioned
Garnish: Lemon slice & cherry on stick (sail)
Method: STIR all ingredients with ice and strain into ice-filled glass.
2 shots Ketel One Vodka
¾ shot Kahlua Liqueur (Kahlúa)
Comment: Most popularly served topped with cola. With or without, this drink is not that interesting.
Origin: Thought to have been created circa 1949 by Gustav Tops, a hotel bartender in Brussels. Set against the start of the Cold War, the drink is said to have been inspired by Perle Skirvin Mesta, the US ambassador to Luxembourg (1949-1953) and rich American socialite who the term 'hostess with the mostess' was coined for due to her lavish parties.
As well as this cocktail, Perle was the inspiration for Irving Berlin's musical 'Call Me Madam' and several books, including her own autobiography, Perle: My Story, published in 1960.
Blue Blazer
Glass: Snifter
Garnish: Lemon zest twist
Method: The drink involves setting whisky alight and pouring it between to silver tankards, creating an arc of flame.
WARNING - please practice with water first to perfect your method. Stand on a non-flammable floor and have suitable fire-fighting equipment nearby.
The following recipe makes two drinks. You will need two large silver-plated tankards with handles. Preheat these with boiling water and warm the whisky. POUR the whisky into one tankard and fresh boiling water into the other. Ignite the whiskey using a long match and while still blazing pour the whisky into the other tankard. Then mix ingredients by pouring them from one tankard to the other. The foolhardy increase the distance between the tankards as they pour, thus creating a spectacular long blue flame between the two. Jerry Thomas is said to have held the tankards at a meter's distance from each other. Extinguish flame by covering flaming tankard with base of the other tankard, pour into glass and sweeten to taste by stirring in powdered sugar.
4 shot Dewar's 12 Year Old Scotch whisky
4 shot Boiling water
1 spoon Powdered sugar
Comment: The showy way to make a s simple hot whisky punch.
Origin: This spectacular serve was created by 'Professor' Jerry Thomas, author of the first bartending book and travelling performance bartender. Thomas was a master of showmanship; he used solid silver bar tools and cups embellished with precious stones and metals. He understood the importance of putting on a show when making drinks and people travelled to see his 'act' as much as they did to try his legendary cocktails.
Nicknamed the 'Professor' due to his ability to deal "with the fanciest orders imaginable", Thomas developed his signature 'Blue Blazer' drink whilst working at the El Dorado, a gambling saloon in San Francisco. President Ulysses S. Grant was apparently so impressed by this spectacular display that he gave Thomas a cigar.
Legend has it that Thomas would only make the drink if the outside temperature was 50F (10C) or below, making an exception to this rule if the person ordering was suffering with a cold or the flu, whose symptoms the drink was to alleviate.
Blood & Sand (Difford's formula)
Glass: Martini
Garnish: Orange zest twist
Method: SHAKE all ingredients with ice and fine strain into chilled glass.
1½ shot Dewar's 12 Year Old Scotch whisky
¾ shot DeKuyper Cherry brandy liqueur
¾ shot Martini Rosso sweet vermouth
¾ shot Freshly squeezed orange juice
Comment: The equal parts (scotch, cherry brandy, sweet vermouth and orange juice) formula from the 1930 edition of 'The Savoy Cocktail Book' is the excepted 'classic' Blood & Sand recipe but results in a cocktail that's a tad sweet for hardened whisky drinkers. This is a dryer, more spirited Blood & Sand for those who like their Scotch.
Origin: The original Blood and Sand cocktail was created for the premiere of the 1922 Rudolph Valentino movie, Blood and Sand. This formula by Simon Difford in 2006.
1. Amaretto Sour
2. Americano
3. Aperol Spritz
4. Aviation
5. Bellini
6. Benton's Old Fashioned
7. Black Russian
8. Blazer (Blue Blazer)
9. Blood & Sand
10. Bloody Mary
11. Bobby Burns
12. Bramble
13. Brandy Alexander
14. Breakfast Martini
15. Brandy Crusta
16. Brooklyn
17. Bucks Fizz/Mimosa
18. Caipirinia
19. Champagne Cocktail (AKA Business Brace)
20. Champs-Élysées
21. Clover Club
22. Corn & Oil
23. Corpse Reviver
24. Cosmopolitan
25. Cuba Libre
26. Daiquiri Natural
27. Dark & Stormy
28. Dirty Martini
29. Dry Martini
30. Earl Grey Martini
31. El Diablo
32. Espresso Martini
33. Fish House Punch
34. Flip (Lazy Man Flip)
35. French 75
36. French Martini
37. Fuego Manzana
38. Gimlet
39. Gin Gin Mule
40. Godfather
41. Hemingway Special (AKA Papa Doble)
42. Honeysuckle Daiquiri
43. Hot Buttered Rum
44. Hot Toddy
45. Hurricane
46. Irish Coffee
47. Jack Rose
48. Kir Royal
49. Last Word
50. Long Island Iced Tea
51. Mai Tai
52. Manhattan (Sweet)
53. Maple Old Fashioned
54. Margarita On-the-Rocks
55. Martinez
56. Mary Pickford
57. Mint Julep
58. Mojito
59. Moscow Mule
60. Negroni
61. Old Fashioned
62. Paloma
63. Pegu Club
64. Penicillin
65. Pimm's Cup
66. Piña Colada
67. Pisco Punch
68. Pisco Sour
69. Planter's Punch
70. Porn Star Martini
71. Ramos Gin Fizz
72. Raspberry Collins
73. Ricky
74. Rob Roy
75. Rum Punch
76. Russian Spring Punch
77. Rusty Nail
78. Sangaree (Sangria)
79. Sangrita
80. Sazerac
81. Sidecar
82. Silk Stockings
83. Singapore Sling
84. Sour Apple Martini
85. Spritz al Bitter (made with Campari)
86. Ti' Punch
87. Tom Collins
88. Tommy's Margarita
89. Treacle
90. Vesper
91. Vieux Carré
92. Vodka Collins
93. Vodkatini (AKA Kangaroo)
94. Wibble
95. Whiskey Daisy
96. Whiskey Sour
97. Whiskey Smash
98. White Lady
99. White Russian
100. Zombie
