8.Ice, ice, baby… Make sure there’s PLENTY of it. Have some tubs (or baby baths) at the ready to receive it!
9.Décor – or un-décor: If you’ve invited more than a handful of guests, then think about clearing some space for food, for drinks, for shimmying and mingling. Pop away anything that’s fragile or precious… or precarious. And beware of lit candles when the drinks are flowing.
10.Make it VERY clear whether there are smoking areas or not.
11.Fresh flowers, space and a smile are the best decoration. If you are doing Margaritas and tacos, some bright colours and patterns may add a touch of tropical heat. But I tend to advise against ‘themes’. It’s a party, not a party game.
12.Don’t forget to HOST! If everyone there already knows everyone else – then fine, things can take care of themselves. If not, well, I know you’ll be busy, but make sure you introduce people. It’s the one thing everyone forgets, and it’s the one thing that makes sure everyone has a good time. If you see someone alone in the corner while you’re busy frying Arancini, send a gregarious friend over to help them mingle.
After the event: don’t wash the glasses until the morning (BR-EAK-AGE!!) That tip’s from my wonderful mama!
The Drinks
So here we are, at the main course – if a drink can be a main course. Here’s everything from the Americano to the Zombie. Take your pick. And mix.
GIN
The Martini
The food writer MFK Fisher once said that the Martini is to America what vodka is to Russia. Hemingway said they made him feel civilized. I say they are the perfect antidote to rainy days (literally or figuratively) – to quote Mae West, I like to get out of my wet clothes and into a dry Martini. No other cocktail inspires more comment or opinion. Should it be shaken? Should it be stirred? Should it be gin or should it be vodka? And how much vermouth is too much vermouth?
Throwing myself into the Martini melee, I should point out that the opinions below are merely my own. They’re also right. So don’t argue.
Shaken or stirred is a matter of preference. I prefer mine stirred to the point where it’s as cold as the bottom of a penguin’s foot. If you shake it, you will break the ice cubes and make a cloudy and more diluted drink. I think that a Martini’s ice-cold clarity is a big part of its charm.
A Martini is made with gin. A Vodka Martini is made with vodka. Apple Martinis are an abomination. That is all.
An olive or a twist is also a matter of preference, but the twist should always be lemon – if you want lime, order a Gimlet and be done with it. The lemon should be unwaxed. The olive should be vividly green and unstuffed. If you like it ‘dirty’ – with a splash of the olive brine – be as dirty as you please.
‘I like to get out of my wet clothes and into a dry Martini’
—Mae West
I don’t care that Noel Coward thought it sufficient to wave the shaker in the general direction of Italy – there must be vermouth. So you can add a drop of vermouth to your gin with a pipette, you can swirl the vermouth through the glass and discard it (the Bartender’s Martini, as seen at The Frolic Room), or you can be like Clark Gable’s Jim Gannon in Teacher’s Pet, and simply wet the vermouth cork and wipe it around the rim of your Martini glass. This is a mixed drink: without the vermouth, it’s not a Martini. It’s just a glass of cold gin.
The ice must be fresh. The longer it’s in your freezer, the more it picks up residual flavours. With the Martini, we’re shooting for drinking perfection. We’ll never make it, but we were born to try.
This is how I make mine…
Fill a cocktail shaker with fresh ice. Pour in one-eighth to one-quarter capful of dry vermouth. I favour Noilly Prat. Stir vigorously to coat the ice cubes thoroughly. Add a cocktail-glassful of gin, about 60–90 ml (2–3 fl oz). Or two, or three, if you’re making more with commensurate vermouth, though I never make more than three in one batch as the drink becomes too diluted before it reaches the requisite temperature. Stir until it’s as cold as a corrupted politician’s soul. Leave to rest for a minute, or as long as it takes to spear your olives on to a cocktail stick or cut your lemon twist. Strain into the glass, garnish and serve at once, ideally with Salted Almonds (see below).
Note: Apart from those made at 91a, the best Martinis I believe are made by the ever-young Manny Aguirre at The Musso and Frank Grill in Hollywood. He is, indeed, The Merlin of Martinis.
Salted Almonds
If you don’t do anything else at all, just make these. There is nothing like a salted almond with a dry Martini. Heaven.
200 g (7 oz) blanched almonds
½ tsp softened unsalted butter
fine sea salt
Preheat the oven to 140°C/275°F/Gas Mark 1. Place the almonds on a baking sheet and, with your hands, generously coat them all over with the butter.
Bake for 25–30 minutes, checking every now and then and giving them a shake, until they are honey blonde.
Remove from the oven and place straight on to a sheet of greaseproof paper. Salt them generously straight away. Then crumple up the paper a little and leave to cool. Transfer to a bowl, sprinkle with the salt left on the paper and serve.
I Flip For Felicity
When my dear friend and agent Felicity got married, we asked what she’d like for a present. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘I could use a drink.’ This is it.
The flip is arguably the oldest of cocktails, and certainly among the first of the American classics, combining spirit and egg with sugar and spice. We’ve lightened this one, removing the egg yolk, and sharpened it up with a little lemon. And, with its hint of English rose, need I say more?
50 ml (1¾ fl oz) gin
25 ml (¾ fl oz) fresh lemon juice
1 egg white
15 ml (½ fl oz)
5 ml (1 tsp) rose water
a good dash of Angostura bitters
Pour the gin, lemon juice, egg white, syrup, rose water and bitters into a cocktail shaker. Shake hard to emulsify. Fill with ice and shake until very cold, then strain into a cocktail glass. It should be frothy, with a slight blush, and delightfully cold.
KAY’S TIP: The qualities of rose water vary enormously. You need a pure rose water for this — if you only have one made with concentrate, use just a drop, otherwise the drink will taste too much like Turkish Delight.
The Vesper
This is the classic cocktail of Bond, named for Vesper Lynd, the chic femme fatale of Casino Royale (oh, to make one’s entrance in a dress of black velvet, ‘simple and yet with a touch of splendour that only half a dozen couturiers in the world can achieve’!). In the book it’s made with gin, vodka and Kina Lillet, a fortified wine bittered with quinine. Lillet modernized it in the 1980s to make Lillet Blanc, which is less bitter, and some bartenders now use Cocchi Aperitivo Americano to attain the original flavour. I think that touch of bitterness is appropriately Bond-esque. He may have named a drink after her, but it can’t ease the hurt of her betrayal. I like to think that in ‘the violet hour’, an older Bond might order one and remember Vesper a little more kindly.
60 ml (2 fl oz) gin