The Green Fairy

With spring round the corner it's time to dust off the bottles that were put away last autumn. What better way to evoke memories of spring than a pastis, the absinthe-like spirit from France taken with plain water as an afternoon apéritif.

The late Dick Bradsell, renowned London bartender, turned the casual long drink into a classy cocktail by using real absinthe and adding lemon juice and Angostura. The additions subdue the strong flavour of anise and create a perfect blend of aromatic notes.


3 cl absinthe


3 cl water


4.5 cl fresh lemon juice


2 teaspoon sugar


Dash Angostura Bitters

Shake the ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

The name of the cocktail is a translation of la Fée Verte, a nickname for absinthe.

Pastis, like Pernod or Ricard, was created in 1932 as a substitute for absinthe which had acquired a reputation for causing madness because of its wormwood component. So pastis doesn't contain wormwood and sugar is added, making it a liqueur. Absinthe has no sugar added in the processing and the bottled strength is usually 60%+.

The Hunt

A great drink with the taste of bourbon one side and the taste of cider on the other, held together by a hint of the intriguing, herbaceous bitterness of Chartreuse. 

6 cl bourbon whiskey

0.5 cl green Chartreuse

0,5 cl simple syrup

7 cl sparkling apple cider

Stir the three first ingredients over ice in a mixing glass. Strain into a rocks glass with ice. Top up with cider. Add a lemon twist, and you're set to go.

Source: Molly Cohen, SixtyFive cocktail lounge at Rockefeller Center, New York City

Elderflower Rosé

Rosé wines are becoming more and more popular in our part of the world. And no wonder. The bone-dry French ones made with red wine grapes give off a pleasing aroma of flowers and fruit, and the taste is fresh and crisp in a fruity way. Add to this a whiff and smack of elderflower and you have a slightly sweet and engaging counterpoint to the dryness of the wine.

The Elderflower Rosé is a refreshing alternative to the traditional apéritif Kir.

12 cl dry French rosé wine

1 or 1.5 cl St-Germain elderflower liqueur

Simply pour the cold liqueur into a small wine glass, add the cold rosé and stir lightly.

Pompier Highball

Spring is not here yet, but this long drink will give you a feel of Paris in springtime. The drink is also an ideal and refreshing apéritif for you or your guests in any season. It doesn't get more French.

6 cl dry French vermouth

1.5 cl crème de cassis

Sparkling mineral water

Mix vermouth and cassis with ice in a mixing glass. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Top up with mineral water. Garnish with a slice of lemon or lime.

The aromatic plant extracts in a dry vermouth are set free in this long drink, and the suggested amount of cassis gives a pleasing sweetness without overdoing it. Older recipes augment the amount of cassis going for a sweeter drink.

Big Ben

Tonic water works wonders as a mixer: It's clean, bitter, slightly sweet, and you don't want to drink it by itself. Let Bénédictine, the most elegant of liqueurs, be its base spirit, and you have a superbly refreshing and delightful afternoon long drink with subtle herbal and spicy aromas and flavours. Notes of honey and vanilla linger after each sip. Classy in every way.

4 cl Bénédictine liqueur

Tonic Water

Lemon zest

Pour the liqueur into a tall glass filled with ice, top with tonic, and add a lemon twist.

D.O.M, by the way, is an acronym for Deo Optimo Maximo which means God infinitely good, infinitely great. Bénédictine refers to the monks of the Benedictine Order in the abbey of Fécamp in Normandy who made the elixir that eventually became the liqueur we know today.

Source: madame Figaro, 2017

Tampico

This long drink is named after a popular non-alcoholic, citrus-juice beverage boasting flavours of orange, tangerine and lemon. Here, citrus flavours  are present in the Italian amaro, the French orange liqueur and the fresh, tart lemon juice. The combination of light sweetness, refreshing tartness and pleasing bitterness results in a delightful and colourful drink with a long aftertaste. A real treat on a summer's day.

3 cl Campari

3 cl Cointreau

1 cl lemon juice

3 cl tonic water 

Add the first three ingredients to a glass filled with ice and stir until the glass feels cold. Top with tonic water and stir once more, but briefly.

If you're not keen on Campari, try an amaro that is more to your liking.

Cachaça and Tonic

Long drinks are just so refreshing on hot summer days. And tonic water is the ideal mixer with almost any spirit: gin, brandy, whisky, calvados, or, as here, cachaça -  fermented, fresh sugarcane juice that has been distilled. It's Brazil's national spirit and is mostly known from the drink called Caipirinha. The various brands have their own characteristics, but they all share an initial sweetness that comes from fresh sugarcane juice.

4 cl cachaça

Tonic water

2 lime slices

Pour ingredients into a highball glass filled with ice. Add two lime slices.