Calvados and Tonic

Another little miracle of a long drink that follows the Minimalist precept "less is more". Two ingredients and ice cubes, that's all it takes to make a wonderful drink. Give yourself a treat and notice how the earthy apple brandy delicately opens up its full complexity when mixed with tonic water.

3 cl Calvados

8 cl tonic water

Pour ingredients into a highball glass filled with ice, and stir gently. No garnish.

The Queen's Gin & Dubonnet

The 21st of April is Queen Elizabeth's actual birthday. So let's raise a toast to the longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom! And I can't imagine a more appropriate way to do it than by mixing her own favourite lunchtime tipple, a gin and Dubonnet. It's sweet but packs a punch.

4 cl gin

8 cl Dubonnet

Stir the ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into a glass of your choice, and add a lemon twist or slice of lemon. You can also build the drink in a rocks glass with ice; if so, place the slice of lemon under the ice cubes.

Dubonnet is a fortified wine spiced with, among other things, orange rind, untoasted coffee beans and quinquina. It was created by Joseph Dubonnet in 1846 as a drink that made the bitter taste of quinquina potable. Quinquina has the ability to ward off malaria mosquitoes, and potions with the ingredient were in vogue.

By the way, Queen Elizabeth II was most likely introduced to the drink by her mother,  the Duchess of York, known as the Queen Mother, who daily indulged in the drink. A truly royal drink!

Rum and Tonic

Here is another easy take on the traditional G&T, this time with rum. You can use any type of rum: light, golden or dark. A dark rum gives you a more complex drink tastewise.

4 cl rum

8 cl tonic water

Lime wedge

Fill a highball glass with ice. Squeeze the line wedge over the ice, and drop it in. Add the tonic water, and stir gently.

Tequila and Tonic

April is the time when a Gin and Tonic begins to be chosen more or less by default. Be a bit more adventurous with your favourite tonic water and try out other easy combinations when you need a long drink. Start off with tequila and notice how the bitterness of quinine blends smoothly with the spicy, peppery, earthy taste of the agave spirit. A little lime adds extra freshness to the drink.

4 cl tequila

8 cl tonic water

Lime wedge

Fill a highball glass with ice. Squeeze the line wedge over the ice, and drop it in. Add the tonic water, and stir gently.

Cuzco Fizz

Druer, lime og hyldeblomst kombineres i denne elegante, aromatiske fizz, som holder en perfekt balance mellem det søde, syrlige og skarpe. Den peruvianske druebrændevin, pisco, har en udsøgt smag, der minder om andre frugtbrændevine som calvados og kirsch. Pisco sat sammen med hyldeblomstlikøren og drue- og limesaften er en nydelse, ikke mindre.

3 cl pisco

1,5 cl St-Germain

1 cl limesaft

6 grønne vindruer

Danskvand

Kvas druerne med limesaften i en cocktail shaker. Tilsæt is, pisco og hyldeblomstlikør og ryst godt. Si over i et highball glas, top op med danskvand, og garner med en skive lime.

Greyhound Cocktail

Let me serve you another drink with grapefruit juice: the Greyhound. Not as a long drink, but as a cocktail. The mildly bitter Italian amaro, Aperol, glves the drink its spring feel and does not drown the tender bitterness and taste of fresh grapefruit juice. The botanicals in gin are allowed to peep through and linger on your taste buds. 

4 cl gin

1 cl Aperol

4 cl freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

1 dash of Angostura

The Greyhound is mostly known as a pleasingly refreshing long drink that is quite easy to make: 4 cl vodka and 10 cl grapefruit juice in a highball glass filled with ice. But, for God's sake, try the cocktail first.

Muddy Waters

"April is the cruelest month" says T. S. Eliot in The Wasteland. Chaucer on the other hand welcomes April with its sweet showers. Whatever you feel about the month of April, try this long drink with grapefruit, lime and dark rum. The visual result is certainly muddied but the taste is a promise of sunny times ahead. A refreshingly dry highball that supports the slight sweetness and strong taste of a dark rum.

2 or 3 wedges of lime

6 cl dark rum

9 cl freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

Squeeze the lime wedges into a highball glass and leave them in the bottom of the glass, fill with ice, and add the other ingredients in the order mentioned.