You can almost taste the World Cup in the air. You can feel excitement building in the nation’s bones. You can hear ill-informed idiots who suddenly think they know it all, just because they read a story in a Sunday paper. And, as we all know, football is a game of two halves and cocktail shakers are an implement of two halves – coincidence? We don’t think so, and as a result here are another 16 fine drinks* relating to this year’s World Cup nations (the first 16 can be found here).
So get shaking, get cheering and get ready to make a fortune in tips if England go all the way!
*BarLifeUK cannot be held responsible if these drinks turn out to be shit – BarLifeUK Legal Team
GROUP E
Netherlands
Ahhh the Dutch, surely most supporters’ favourite ‘second’ team. The men in orange invented Total Football, and still play with a joy and freedom that is more fun to watch than an Amsterdam shop window. They also have a history of mighty fine booze and arguably none better than Genever which is in the midst of a mighty revival. So here’s to having Holland in the House….
Holland House
60ml Genever
25ml Dry Vermouth
15ml Lemon Juice
10ml Maraschino Liqueur
Shake hard with ice and fine strain into a pre chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a Lemon Twist
Denmark
The great Danes aren’t expected to do a whole lot this year and will do well to qualify from this tough group. They do however have a crazy language, and no word illustrates this better than the word for their national love of elderflower cordial, which they call Hyldeblomstsaft. After me…. Hyldeblomstasaftaftseft. Oh bugger it – here have a drink:
Bitter Elder
60ml Gin
90ml Apple Juice
25ml Lemon Juice
15ml Elderflower Cordial
3 dashes of Old Fashioned Bitters
Add all the ingredients to your shaker, add lots of ice, shake thoroughly and strain into a Collins glass over lots of ice. Garnish with a lemon wheel.
Japan
You have to have a bit of a soft spot for the Japanese; such enthusiasm should be rewarded and they do properly love their footy. They also love good drinks and more and more excellent bars are popping up across the country. This is a classic drink using a classic Japanese spirit – don’t knock it till you’ve tried it (again)
Japanese Slipper
30ml Midori
30ml Cointreau
30ml Lemon juice
Half fill shaker with ice, add other ingredients. Shake and pour into martini glass. Garnish with a slice of honeydew melon, or a glace cherry at the bottom of the glass.
Cameroon
Remember Roger Milla? The oldest bloke to score in a World Cup Finals? Well this drink has nothing to do with him at all. I know the Mojito is Cuban, but bear with me. A lot of historians say it was invented by African slaves working the sugar cane fields of Cuba, and Cameroon makes a killer Sugar Cane Wine so this, to me, makes perfect sense. The Cameroon Mojito – if you can find proper sugar cane to use in your drink, it makes even more sense.
Mojito
30ml Rum
3 wedges fresh lime
12 fresh mint leaves
2 bar spoons sugar cane juice or sugar syrup
Soda water
Muddle together the mint and lime briefly in a Collins Glass, chuck in the rum and sugar syrup and give it another quick muddle. Half-fill glass with crushed ice. Give it a damn good stirring, top up with more crushed ice and add soda to fill. Garnish with a fresh sprig of mint.
GROUP F
Italy
The Italians care more about their hair than their football, which makes it doubly depressing that they are still better than us. Their bars are also annoyingly good, and none better than Harry’s Bar, which birthed the Bellini and Carpaccio. Ratios I’ll leave to you, but I use about 1 tbl spoon of fresh peach puree (white peaches ideally). The Bellini was apparently named after the a famous painter and inspired by the colours in his paintings rumour has it even the great man himself sometimes added 2-3drops of raspberry puree to get that hue.
Bellini
Prosecco
White Peach puree
Raspberry puree (optional)
Put the peach puree in the bottom of a champagne flute (and raspberry puree if using), top up with chilled Prosecco, check how you look in the nearest mirror and serve.
New Zealand
No, this isn’t a late April fool’s joke, New Zealand really are in the World Cup. They are a crazy bunch with their bridge jumping and white water jet boating, but probably the oddest thing they have given the world is Feijoa. Tried it? Tastes like Peter Stringfellow’s posing pouch. They did however give us 42 Below and in turn Jacob Briars, so here’s to you professor.
Mrs Enough
45ml 42BELOW Feijoa
10ml green apple liqueur
10ml part fresh lime juice
20 -30ml simple or sugar syrup (dependant on sweetness of your pear – oohhhh errr missus)
Half a pear, cored and finely chopped
3 coriander leaves
In a mixing glass, muddle together the coriander and pear, and add spirits, juice and sugar. Fill with ice, and shake sharply. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, and garnish with a coriander leaf.
Paraguay
Before I began this mission, I didn’t know much about Paraguay… I still don’t, but I do know that their national drink is a brewed beverage using the dried leaves from the yerba tea plant called, Mate (it does have more authentic sounding name, but Mate works too and I can spell it). You can’t get that here, so get your smackers round this little beauty…
Royal Tea
2 parts Beefeater Gin
2 parts brewed and chilled Earl Gray Tea
Squeeze of lemon juice
Spoonful of sugar
Lime wheels for garnish
Pour the ingredients into an old-fashioned glass filled with ice stir well and garnish with lime wheels.
Slovakia
The Slovak’s make some, apparently, rather good brandies and gins, which got me thinking about a classic drink I hadn’t tasted in far too long, so I made myself one and it’s still great. Join me in rediscovering the excellent Charlie Chaplin Cocktail from the Waldorf Astoria Bar, circa 1920. You’ll be thanking the nation of Slovakia for the reminder too.
Charlie Chaplin
30ml Apricot brandy
30ml Sloe gin
30ml Fresh lime juice
Lime peel for garnish
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime peel.
GROUP G
Brazil
As a friend once exclaimed ‘Is there anything hotter than a girl in a tight Brazil footy top?’ Well no, in the same way there is nothing sadder than a 35 yo man dribbling at a 19 yo girl in a tight Brazilian footy top! (Can you please stop making oblique references to me in articles. Thanks – Ed) They also manage to liven up all world cup finals and any beach they come in contact with. They haven’t forgotten about booze either – this is an oldie but a goodie.
Caipirinha
60ml Cachaca
Half lime (wedged)
2 bar spoons white sugar
Muddle up the lime and sugar in the bottom of a shaker glass, add ice, shake like you’re doing the samba then chuck the whole lot into a rocks glass.
Ivory Coast
Whilst scratching my head about a cocktail for these folk, I found myself humming Ebony & Ivory and then it hit me – there must be a drink named after this song. And you know what, there is and it was created by Fredrik Lindfors of the Cadier Bar in Stockholm. It is a bit of a girly-looking concoction, but really doesn’t come out as creamy as you’d think – give it a try (ohhh and reduce the amount of Chocolate Syrup and Cream….. by alot).
Ebony & Ivory
30ml DeKuyper Butterscotch
30ml Licor 43
50ml (10ml) Monin Chocolate Syrup
200ml (40ml) fresh cream
1 strawberry for garnish
1/2 tsp vanilla sugar for garnish
Stir the Butterscotch and Licor 43 with lots of ice and strain into a well chilled cocktail glass. Meanwhile shake the bojangles out of the chocolate syrup and cream for about 15 seconds and then float the cream on top of the drink. Garnish with a strawberry on the edge and sprinkle vanilla sugar on the cream.
North Korea
I’ll be honest, all my Korea knowledge was used up in my South Korea drink, so I thought I would just put in a favourite cocktail of mine, at random, picked out of a hat, any relation the name has to racial stereotypes about canine snacking is purely coincidental… The Salty Dog, like the martini, creates arguments about ratios that can go on forever. Personally, I use one part gin (gin NOT vodka) and 2 parts grapefruit juice – ohh, and a cocktail glass not a Collins glass.
Salty Dog
30ml Gin
60ml Grapefruit Juice
Lime wedge
Salt
Rim the glass edge using the lime and salt. Shake the gin and grapefruit with ice and fine strain into the chilled and rimmed cocktail glass. Perhaps offer a discount for anyone who can Cane Nine!!!
Portugal
Let’s face facts, 11 bow-legged toddlers on a bouncy castle covered in baby oil have got more chance of staying upright for 90 minutes than the Portuguese football team. Chief of the jelly legs is The Winker Christiano Ronaldo, and whilst I am sure our friend Tony Conigliaro wasn’t thinking of him when he came up with this Sazerac style drink using gin, it seems to fit perfectly.
Wink
60ml Dry gin
7.5ml Cointreau
Absinthe (for rinse)
1 bar spoon sugar syrup
1 healthy dash Peychaud’s bitters
Rinse an old fashioned glass with absinthe, and add ice to chill. Add ingredients to a mixing glass and stir with ice. Empty old fashioned glass and strain drink in to glass. Garnish with too much hair gel and a smug smile.
GROUP H
Chile
There is a long running battle between Peru and Chile about who invented the South American favourite, Pisco. Well I can end that here and now – Peru didn’t qualify for the WC so I award the rights to Chile. Don’t know what all the fuss was about. With that sorted let’s celebrate with a Pisco Sour.
Pisco Sour
60ml Pisco
30ml Lime Juice
20ml Sugar syrup
1 egg white (fresh please people you don’t want Edwina visiting your bar!)
1 dash bitters
Chuck all of the ingredients (minus bitters) in a shaker with ice and shake it like you have your toes in an electrical socket and fine strain into rocks glass with ice. Garnish with bitters.
Honduras
Honduras in the WC reminds me of Jamaica in the bobsleigh, unfortunately I can’t remember the end of Cool Runnings so I have no idea if this bodes well for them or not. I did however learn that the fantastic Rum which is Flor de Cana is made in Honduras as well as Nicaragua.
Azra Cocktail
60ml Flor de Cana 18 yo
15ml Benedictine
2 dashes of orange bitters
Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass – no garnish
Spain
Spain always remind me of England, a fantastic league with fantastic teams full of foreigners. And just like England they will probably flatter to deceive. As for booze, nothing says Spain like Sangria, and there are very few drinks in the world easier to bulk pre-prepare. So make the Sangria mix the night before ideally (minus the club soda) and store in fridge. Serve it in jugs to groups. Feel free to add what you want – this is the most basic of recipes and there is really no limit to what you can do to it – add chilli, add sherry, add gin, add sloe gin add whatever you damn well please just imagine you are the coach of Real Madrid.
Sangria (Makes 4 big glasses)
1 bottle dry red wine
1 tablespoon sugar
Juice of 1 large orange
Juice of 1 large lemon
1 large orange, sliced thin crosswise
1 large lemon, sliced thin crosswise
2 medium peaches, peeled, pitted and cut into chunks
250ml club soda
Mix everything except the club soda together in a jug and refrigerate overnight (if you can). Before serving chuck in lots of ice and top up with the soda.
Switzerland
I have never understood Switzerland – everyone hides their money there yet their army defends itself with a penknives. Anyway, ignoring this security issue, Switzerland is very bling and in the world of spirits surely the most bling thing has to be Goldschlager. Also, it turns out that despite Goldschlager being produced in Italy these days, has its roots in Switzerland.
Mint Condition
30ml Vodka
15ml Coffee Liqueur
30ml Goldschlager
30ml Bourbon
Pour ingredients into an ice filled old-fashioned glass, stir and serve.
So there we are at the end of the list, and I must say I learnt a lot about the world’s drinking habits researching this one. It seems that cocktails, like football, can bring the world together, only for bad jokes in search of a cheap laugh to ruin it for everyone.
I hope that this inspires you to make the most out of this years World Cup and I’ll have a Union Jack!
If you missed the first half of this extravaganza, check it out here.