How come a pianist is giving you a list of cocktail recipes?
As I said earlier on the home page; quite a few people would describe me as a cocktail pianist. My influences are pianists like: George Shearing, Oscar Peterson, Monty Alexander and Dudley Moore – all easy listening stuff really. I do play for a lot of cocktail parties, and my music does seem ideal for that sort of thing – so it’s no great surprise that I’ve acquired a taste for champagne and cocktails as a result.The transformation from a Northern beer guzzler has been quite amazing!
What is a cocktail pianist?
I don’t know exactly where the term ‘cocktail pianist’ comes from, but in my head it evokes images of that well known scene from the film ‘Casablanca’ and I would imagine that to most people a cocktail pianist sits perfectly in a 1930s black and white American movie. I think that most people imagine a cocktail pianist to be: someone at a piano, dressed in a white tuxedo, playing a gentle type of jazz that doesn’t intrude too much and yet makes a significant contribution to the general ambience.
What follows (eventually) is is a list of my favourite cocktails, but unfortunately I don’t have my favourite recipes. Good cocktail barmen have their own unique way of making drinks and they often keep the information to themselves (they don’t even tell their favourite cocktail pianist). Here are the recipes I’ve managed to scavenge from one source or another.
Long Island Iced Tea
This seems to be a favourite of many a cocktail pianist.
DIRECTIONS
Shake all the ingredients (except cola) with cracked ice. Strain and pour into a highball glass. Top up with cola.
COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS
1/2 part gin
1/2 part white rum
1/2 part tequila
1 part vodka
1/2 part triple sec
top up with cola
dash of lime juice
dash of lemon juice
5 ice cubes
1 lemon wedge
dash of sugar syrup
Serves 1
Acapulco
DIRECTIONS
Pour the rum and tequila into a tumbler over the ice. Top up with the juices.
COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS
1 part tequila
1 part white rum
2 parts pineapple juice
2 parts grapefruit juice
5 ice cubes
Serves 1
B and B
DIRECTIONS
Float brandy on top of benedictine in a cordial glass without mixing and serve.
COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS
1/2 oz. brandy
1/2 oz. benedictine
Serves 1
Bloody Mary
DIRECTIONS
Shake well with cracked ice. Strain into old-fashioned glass over ice cubes.
COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 oz. vodka
3 oz. tomato juice
dash of lemon juice (important)
dash of Worcestershire Sauce
2 drops tabasco sauce
salt
Serves 1
Rusty nail
DIRECTIONS
old fashioned glass with ice cubes, float drambuie on top
COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS
3/4 oz. whisky
1/4 oz. Drambuie®
Serves 1
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B-52
DIRECTIONS
Shake all the ingredients with the ice and serve in a lowball glass.Or alternatively, layer in 3 distinct and separate layers.
COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS
1 part grand marnier
1 part Baileys® irish cream
1 part kahlua
5 ice cubes
Serves 1
Tequila Sunrise
DIRECTIONS
Mix tequila and orange juice in a glass, then pour in Grenadine GENTLY so that it falls to the bottom.
COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 parts tequila
4 parts orange juice
1/2 part grenadine
Serves 1
Dry Martini
Every cocktail pianist has tried one of these at one time or another.
DIRECTIONS
Put the ice cubes into a mixing glass. Pour the vermouth and gin over the ice and stir (never shake) vigorously and evenly without splashing. Then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Serve with a green olive and a straw.
COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS
3 parts gin
1/2 part martini bianco (dry)
1 green olive
6 ice cubes
Serves 1
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Manhattan
DIRECTIONS
Stir with cracked ice. Strain into cocktail glass. Serve with a cherry.
COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 oz. whisky
3/4 oz. martini rosso (sweet)
dash of angostura bitters
Serves 1
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Margarita
DIRECTIONS
Shaken, not stirred!
COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS
2 parts tequila
1 part triple sec
1 part lime juice
Serves 1
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Cosmopolitan
DIRECTIONS
Shake all the ingredients with cracked ice. Pour into a cocktail glass.
COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 parts vodka
1 part Cointreau®
1 part cranberry juice
dash of lime juice
1 lime rind
Serves 1
Blue Lagoon
DIRECTIONS
Stir all the ingredients together in a bar glass. Then pour into a highball glass. Then pour a dash of blue curacao over the top.
COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS
3 parts vodka
1 part blue curacao
top up pineapple juice
Serves 1
Black Russian
DIRECTIONS
Shake the vodka and kahlua. Pour over the ice. Top up with cola. Serve in a tumbler.
COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS
2 parts vodka
1 part kahlua
top up cola
5 ice cubes
Serves 1
Strawberry Daiquiri
DIRECTIONS
Pour the rum, crème de fraises, lemon juice, strawberries and ice into a blender and process at slow speed for 5 seconds, then at high speed for 20 seconds. Pour into a chilled glass.
COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS
1 part white rum
1/2 part Crème de Fraises
1/2 part lemon juice
Ice (crushed)
4 strawberries
Serves 1
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Alabama Slammer
DIRECTIONS
shake, strain into lowball glass
COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS
1 Splash orange juice
0.5 oz. sloe gin
0.5 oz. Southern Comfort®
0.5 oz. triple sec
Serves 1
Pina Colada
DIRECTIONS
blend, serve in exotic glass cherry and/or pineapple slice straw
COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS
1 part white rum
1 part Crème de Coconut
2 parts Pineapple
Serves 1