Ladies Cocktails

Top 10 ladies cocktail drinks

It has been a long week and Cape Town is experiencing one of its famously fantastic warm days. The berg wind is rolling ever so slightly off Table Mountain and you have just finished work. One of your friends call or you call them and you decide to go for a couple of drinks after work just to unwind. Chances are you would want to go for a cocktail. Not only is it smart and sophisticated but it does the job of helping you to unwind. There is an endless variety to choose from. Most bars and lounges have a fantastic array of cocktails you can choose from the staff are happy to explain and guide your choice.

Now I am not your average cocktail type of girl, I will rather go for a cider, because it’s what I am used to. But just to be different, one of my girlfriends and I went out for supper last week and we decided to conclude our meal with a cocktail. We each chose a different cocktail and swopped it once we got half way. It is exciting and so different compared to what we were used to and we vowed that we would spoil ourselves once a month with this these carefully concocted cocktails.

So go ahead, spoil yourselves with one of these top ten cocktails. Let me also just say that you really should not limit yourself, the varieties are endless. These cocktails have just been chosen because these are the most ordered ones because people know them so well. So here are the top ten ladies cocktails by popularity as well as their recipes, should you want to make them yourself.
Note that some recipes may vary, and you could even change them around for yourself, but the basics usually stay the same.

It’s summer time ladies, these are the times for nights out! So just relax, unwind, forget about your troubles for a while and enjoy. Oh yes, and cheers!

(Please not that I have tried to convert the measurements from ounces to tablespoons, which I figured was the easiest. Also know that it is for one serving)



1. Mojito
3 fresh mint sprigs
2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 1/2 oz light rum (3 tbsp)
club soda

In a tall thin glass, crush part of the mint with a fork to coat the inside. Add the sugar and lime juice and stir thoroughly. Top with ice. Add rum and mix. Top off with *chilled* club soda (or seltzer). Add a lime slice and the remaining mint, and serve.

2. Cosmopolitan
1 oz vodka (2 tbsp)
1/2 oz triple sec (1 tbsp)
1/2 oz Rose's® lime juice (1 tbsp)
1/2 oz cranberry juice (1 tbsp)

Shake vodka, triple sec, lime and cranberry juice vigorously in a shaker with ice. Strain into a martini glass, garnish with a lime wedge on the rim, and serve

3. Strawberry Daiquiri
1/2 oz strawberry schnapps (1 tbsp)
1 oz light rum (2 tbsp)
1 oz lime juice (2 tbsp)
1 tsp powdered sugar
1 oz strawberries (2 tbsp)

Add ingredients with a bit of ice in a blender. Blend and then strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish w/ strawberry.


4. Long Island Ice Tea (low calorie)
1 part vodka
1 part tequila
1 part rum
1 part gin
1 part triple sec
1 part fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 parts 7-Up® Diet soda
2 parts Coca-Cola® Diet Coke

Take a long piece of lemon rind and twist it hard to release the oils in an empty glass, rub it around the inside of the glass, and throw it in the bottom. Mix ingredients together over ice in a glass. Pour into a shaker and give one brisk shake. Pour back into the glass and make sure there is a touch of fizz at the top.

5. Margarita
1.5oz Tequila (1 tbsp)
1oz Triple Sec (2 tbsp)
1oz Lime Juice (2 tbsp)
Dash of sugar syrup

Put all ingredients into a mixing glass
Shake hard with ice
Strain either over ice in a rocks or straight up into a cocktail glass that has been frosted with salt.
Garnish
lime wheel and salt rim.

6. Pina Colada
3 oz light rum (6 tbsp)
3 tbsp coconut cream
3 tbsp crushed pineapples

Put all ingredients into an electric blender with 2 cups of crushed ice. Blend at a high speed for a short length of time. Strain into a Collins glass and serve with a straw.

7. Sex on the Beach
1 1/2 oz vodka (3 tbsp)
1/2 oz peach schnapps (1 tbsp)
2 oz cranberry juice (4 tbsp)
2 oz orange juice (4 tbsp)

Add vodka and peach schnapps to a highball glass over ice. Fill with equal measures of cranberry juice and orange juice, and stir.

8. Vodka Martini
1 1/2 oz vodka (3 tbsp)
3/4 oz dry vermouth (1 ½ tbsp)

Shake vodka and vermouth together with several ice cubes in a shaker. Strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with an olive and serve.

9. Mai Tai
1 oz light rum (2 tbsp)
1/2 oz crème de almond (1 tbsp)
1/2 oz triple sec (1 tbsp)
sweet and sour mix
pineapple juice
1/2 oz Myer's® dark rum (1 tbsp)

Pour light rum, crème de almond and triple sec, in order, into a Collins glass. Almost fill with equal parts of sweet and sour mix and pineapple juice. Add dark rum, a large straw, and serve unstirred.

10. Bloody Mary
1 1/2 oz vodka (3 tbsp)
3 oz tomato juice (6 tbsp)
1 dash lemon juice
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 - 3 drops Tabasco® sauce
1 lime wedge

Shake all ingredients (except lime wedge) with ice and strain into an old-fashioned glass over ice cubes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the wedge of lime and serve.


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Cocktail Parties

Throw the perfect cocktail party.
More relaxed than dinner parties, cocktail parties are relatively simple, inexpensive ways to entertain.

Cocktailing

If you have a fully stocked bar, great. But you don't really need one to throw a terrific cocktail party. A more practical and inexpensive approach is simply to offer one or two signature cocktails, along with beer, wine, and some non-alcoholic choices.

Standard cocktails use 1.5 fluid ounces of spirits per drink, so plan on getting 16 cocktails from each bottle. Figuring one cocktail per guest per hour, plus beer and wine, the beverage shopping list for a 4-hour party featuring martinis and Manhattans for 20 guests might look like this:

  • 4 750-ml bottles of gin (and/or vodka)
  • 3 750-ml bourbon
  • One bottle (750 ml) dry vermouth
  • Two bottles (750 ml) sweet vermouth
  • Bitters
  • Pimento-stuffed cocktail olives
  • Maraschino cherries
  • Cocktail napkins and picks
  • 6 bottles of white wine
  • 4 bottles red wine
  • 24 12-oz bottles of beer--a mixture of light and dark beers
  • Water, still and sparkling
  • A variety of soft drinks
  • Ice, at least half a pound per person


Tippler's Tip: Clear alcohol (such as vodka) tends to go faster than brown (such as whiskey), and white wine is more popular in party settings than red.

Cocktail Party Know-How

Tip #1: Never skimp on the ice. A good rule of thumb is half a pound per person in a cool climate, and two pounds per person in warm weather.

Tip#2: Print out your drink menu, including the featured cocktails, wines, and beers you'll be serving.

Tip #3: Use your space creatively. Put the drink and food stations away from each other to encourage your guests to spread out.

Tip #4: Consider hiring a bartender if your guest list exceeds 20. It will free you up to enjoy your guests, and minimizes post-party clean-up.

Tip#5: Rent glassware. Choose styles that suit the drinks you'll be serving and plan on providing wine and beer glasses for the other drinks. Rent a total of four glasses per guest, and have plastic glasses on hand as back up.

Don’t Forget the Ice!

The best tasting cocktails are made using fresh ice from pure, filtered water. "Fresh" means the cubes haven't been lounging around for weeks in the freezer soaking up the stale essences of long-lingering foods. Bring the water to a quick boil for best results. Make it the morning of the day you plan to mix your cocktails, and you’ll enjoy the freshest, most delicious cocktails.

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