Life & Style
The Cocktail Curator
If we had to pick the perfect party date, chances are we’d choose Alice Lascelles. An award-winning drinks writer and cocktail connoisseur, she’s our go-to expert in top-tier tipples (both boozy and alcohol-free) and she’s even mixed us a Martini. Cheers!
Alice Lascelles’ Reverse Martini
The Components
10ml gin
50ml dry vermouth
The Mixology
Method: stir with ice and strain, or serve on the rocks
Serve in: a cocktail glass
Garnish with: olive or lemon twist (or both)
“The vermouth-heavy Martini is making a comeback right now – and I, for one, am delighted as vermouth is such a complex and interesting drink in its own right. The Reverse Martini takes the classic Dry Martini ratio and flips it on its head, resulting in an aperitif-style drink that’s lighter and more aromatic. This is great made with flavoursome Noilly Pratt.”
Recipe taken from The Martini: The Ultimate Guide to a Cocktail Icon by Alice Lascelles.
Behind The Bar
Alice’s key mixological must-haves
Plymouth Gin
It’s more than 200 years old, but Plymouth Gin remains one of the best Martini gins around – its notes of piney juniper and citrus zest are elegant, pure and subtle. I love the aqueous-looking bottle, too.
Urban Bar 15cl Retro Coupette
I own way too much glassware, so choosing a favourite Martini glass is hard. But this perfectly-proportioned coupette by Urban Bar is a model I use a lot. Dainty in size, but sturdy enough to withstand a party, and only £8.50 a throw.
Dinette Table Linen
I adore the table linens made by Dinette for homeware store Love & Honor. They are decorated with cocktails, lobsters and other decadent things, and the illustrations are so sweet, I’m not sure whether to use them or frame them!
Difford’s Easy Jigger
For an exacting cocktail like the Martini you need a tool that measures really accurately – and Difford’s Easy Jigger is brilliant. It does mls and ozs in increments from 1.25ml to 60ml. And, unlike most traditional jiggers, it’s also transparent so you can see what you’ve actually poured.
Luxardo Maraschino Cherries
My cocktail cabinet is never without a jar of these sticky-sweet flavour bombs – great in Manhattans, Old Fashioneds or just spooned straight into your mouth when you think no-one is looking.
Fresh Yuzu from the Wasabi Company
The yuzu season is extremely short – just a few months in winter – so having it fresh is the ultimate luxury. The zest’s heavenly scent is a mix of mandarin, lemon grass, grapefruit and lime – great as a twist in a Martini or virtually any drink containing gin.
The Pathfinder Hemp & Root Non-Alcoholic Spirit
A great new non-alcoholic aperitif from the US, this is fermented from hemp and then distilled with botanicals including angelica, wormwood, ginger, sage, juniper, orange peel and Douglas fir. Bittersweet and complex, it’s a rare example of a non-alcoholic drink you can actually sip.
Cocktail Kingdom x Audrey Saunders Dividend Carafe & Bowl Set
This carafe-and-ice-bowl set would make an excellent present for the Martini lover who has (almost) everything. Designed by New York’s queen of cocktails, Audrey Saunders, it ensures your drink stays icy cold right down to the very last drop.
Tayēr Studios + Cream Projects Bottled Cocktails
Monica Berg and Alex Kratena – the couple behind the acclaimed Tayēr + Elementary bar in Old Street – are two of the bar world's most influential tastemakers. Their latest trio of bottled cocktails takes its inspiration from fragrance accords: Chypre (oak moss, labdanum and bergamot), Suede (oud, santal and leather), Tabac (vetiver, chinotto and Ancho chile). Very sophisticated.
