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Make-do Mixology

Images by Kenny Brownlee, Words by Amy Newson

Kenny Brownlee, our in-house cocktail expert, knows a thing or two about top-notch tipples. Here, he gives us his top five create-at-home cocktails – perfect for the amateur with limited back-of-the-cupboard and bar trolley ingredients at their disposal. Cin cin.

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One of my favourite things to do at home is to cook with my wife. It’s such a great opportunity to talk and work on something together that you can sit down and enjoy together, too. Making cocktails in the evening is exactly the same thing for me. We can come up with ideas and flavour combos and figure out how to make them a reality. Cocktails should always be about sharing ideas and stories!

-  Kenny Brownlee

The Old Fashioned

One of the easiest cocktails to assemble, this recipe takes no longer than 10 minutes. Instead of using the traditional bitters-soaked sugar cube, a homemade batch of sugar syrup will do just as well – and you can keep it in the fridge for next time.

  • Sugar Syrup
    2 parts brown sugar
    1 part boiled water
  • Old Fashioned
    60ml of your favourite bourbon
    5ml of sugar syrup
    2 dashes of bitters

For sugar syrup

Pour the boiled water into a pan and heat to no more than 80°C while making sure the water doesn’t boil. Gradually stir in the sugar until fully dissolved. Allow to cool.

For Old Fashioned

Stir with ice until suitably diluted, then garnish with orange peel.

At Harry Gordon’s Bar & Kitchen at Selfridges London we serve our Old Fashioneds from hip flasks over large blocks of ice using the renowned Blanton’s Gold Single Barrel Bourbon.    

For your inner mixologist

The Recycled Espresso Martini

Now that there are no more trips to the coffee shop, why not give all those coffee grounds a second life instead of putting them in the food waste bin? Whip up a batch of coffee liqueur, which is heavenly when added to an Espresso Martini. 

  • Coffee Liqueur
    360ml rum
    90g spent coffee
    120ml brown sugar syrup
    1 cinnamon stick (or half a teaspoon ground cinnamon)
    1 pinch of grated nutmeg (or ground ginger)
    10 black peppercorns (or a teaspoon of ground black pepper)
  • Recycled Espresso Martini
    40ml vodka
    20ml recycled coffee liqueur
    25ml fresh espresso
    5ml brown sugar syrup

For Coffee Liqueur

Combine rum, sugar syrup and coffee in a container. Cover and leave to infuse for 12 hours. Taste after 12 hours and if you’re happy, filter it using coffee filter paper (or a clean dish towel if you don’t have any). Add your spices and leave to infuse, checking the taste every couple of hours. Once you’re happy with the flavour, filter and bottle. 

For Espresso Martini

Combine all ingredients in a shaker and shake hard. Serve and enjoy.

In Harry Gordon’s Bar & Kitchen at Selfridges London, we call our take on the Espresso Martini the ‘Cheeky Monkey’. The vodka is infused with coco pops to add a chocolate-y maltiness and we top the drink with a white chocolate and coconut oat foam.

Stock up the drinks cupboard

 

I have been making sure that the ingredients I do have get used to their fullest potential – from turning tinned fruits into puree once opened, infusing smaller amounts for longer, to making punch instead of single drinks, and also considering whether something could be used a second time such as coffee grounds and citrus peel.

-  Kenny Brownlee

The Marvellous Mojito

The Mojito is the undisputed champion of sunny-day cocktails. This recipe uses a handful of extra kitchen ingredients and the old-school milk punch technique. 

  • Mojito Punch
    700ml white rum
    250g caster sugar
    250ml lime juice
    100ml brewed green tea
    300ml fresh mint tea
    3 large apples halved and scored
    10 cracked green cardamom pods
    15 toasted coriander seeds
    350ml whole milk
    Prosecco, sparkling or soda water to serve

Make the green tea and the fresh mint tea. Stir the sugar into the rum until dissolved, then add the lime juice. Pour in the tea, then add the apples and spices. Cover this and store for at least 24 hours to let all the flavours come together. Once happy with the flavour, strain into a fresh container. Now measure out 350ml of whole milk into a container and slowly pour your punch into it. It will begin to curdle, but once you leave it in a fridge for 24 hours and strain it slowly through filter paper (or a clean dish towel if you don’t have any), you’ll have an incredibly tasty and much more sustainable Mojito as it makes about 15 to 18 servings.

To serve
Depending on your taste, measure out 80ml to 100ml of your chilled punch and dilute slightly with either chilled soda, sparkling water or prosecco. No need to serve with ice.

Complete your bar cart

Fruity Bellini

The key to making a great Bellini at home is to take the fruit you want to use and turn it into a puree. All you need is your kitchen blender and some sugar. This works equally well with fresh, tinned or frozen fruit.

  • Fruit Puree
    6 parts fruit
    1 part caster sugar
  • Bellini
    25ml fruit puree
    Prosecco
  • Add the puree to a flute, then slowly pour in prosecco. Mix very gently to combine. 

Spectacular Sours

My personal favourite is the New York Sour, using bourbon and red wine, but this Sours recipe works equally well with any spirit. With just three basic ingredients, you can get super-creative by adding different flavours once you’ve nailed the basic recipe.

  • Sours' basic recipe
  • 50ml spirit of your choice
    20ml lemon juice
    10ml sugar syrup
  •  
  • Combine ingredients and shake hard with ice. Serve over ice in a rocks glass or without ice in a coupe glass according to preference, making sure to fine-strain your cocktail.
  • To create a New York Sour, pour a splash of red wine over the finished cocktail. 
  • At Harry Gordon’s Bar & Kitchen at Selfridges London, we serve the New York Sour using the milk punch technique mentioned above and garnish it with a smoke bubble. 

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