SUGAR CUBES COCKTAILS RECIPES

Steps:

• Add half the whiskey and 2 ice cubes to a rocks glass. Stir. Add the sugar syrup, Angostura bitters and 2 more ice cubes. Stir. Add the rest of the whiskey and 2 more ice cubes. Stir.
• Add 2 more ice cubes, then pinch the citrus zest so the aromatic oils spray over the drink, then drop it into the glass. 3 TWISTS Rum old fashioned The silky-sweet rums of Latin America are particularly good for this – try the amber-coloured Ron Zacapa from Venezuela. Instead of Angostura bitters, try using Angostura orange bitters, and garnish with an orange twist. Tequila old fashioned Anejo tequila has lots of vanilla and caramel notes that work very nicely in an old fashioned. For the sweetener, use agave syrup instead of sugar syrup, although agave syrup tends to be sweeter, so you may need slightly less. Garnish with a lemon twist. Smoky old fashioned To add a hint of smoke, infuse your sugar syrup. Simply make a 2:1 sugar syrup and while it’s still warm, put a Lapsang Souchong teabag in the syrup and leave to infuse for half-an-hour. Then make your old fashioned as normal.

Steps:

• Shake the gin, lemon juice and sugar syrup in a cocktail shaker with a good handful of ice cubes then strain into a rocks glass full of crushed ice. Drizzle the crème de mure over the top so it ‘bleeds’ into the drink. Garnish with the lemon slice and blackberry, if using. 3 TWISTS Fresh fruit bramble This drink is one to make when the hedgerows are groaning with ripe fruit. Start by muddling 6 blackberries in a rocks glass. Add 50ml gin, 25ml lemon juice, 25ml sugar syrup and fill the glass two thirds full with crushed ice. Mix with a long-handled spoon. Top with more crushed ice, a garnish and paper straws. Bramble royale Go glam with your bramble by adding a splash of champagne to the mix. Just make the drink as normal but reduce the amount of crushed ice by about a third to leave room for the fizz. Then top with 25-50ml of champagne, mix gently, add a bit more crushed ice, garnish and serve. Peach sour The classic ‘sour’ formula that the bramble sticks to is easy to adapt by switching out the liqueur. Try 12.5ml of crème de peche instead of crème de mure – it might not look quite as eye-catching as the bloodshot bramble but it will taste just as delicious.