Melissa Demian

This is a fantastic cocktail, on track to become a new favourite. I made it extra Finnish (because I am currently in Helsinki) by subbing in lingonberry juice for the cranberry, and using my naughty-but-nice Tom of Finland vodka. Also I had Kajo cloudberry liqueur rather than Lapponia, but honestly if you can get your hands on any kind of Lakkalikööri at all you are winning!

Absolutely delicious, but those quantities make a fairly big drink for something meant to be served up - it’s like a normal 5:1 martini but with an extra two parts. I might suggest this is two drinks, or otherwise use the same proportions but scaled down? Or of course you can also drink the whole thing as written, but either it has to be drunk too fast for wisdom or it will be unpleasantly warm by the time you’re done!

This is absolutely superb - worth making the honey syrup just for this cocktail. The balance of smoky, bitter, citrus and sweet makes for a cocktail that is entirely unexpected. May be a new favourite!

This is an excellent alternative to a Boulevardier, a drink I love very much, so that is saying a lot. I used Ramazzotti in place of Montenegro, which I’m out of, and it works extremely well. Something about the sherry and amaro combination gives the drink an almost saline quality, and then that hint of coffee comes through. Really impressive!