For the first time, I put the bartender’s corner and the barista’s corner together!!

Espresso coffee, coffee liqueur (I used Tia Maria), simple syrup and vodka.

Not a classic drink really. It was made up for the Bond movie Casino Royale.

Gin, vermouth and Lillet Franc. (I believe in the movie, it uses Kina Lillet – but nobody makes that anymore)

This was made to suit the hot summer afternoon. Watermelon vodka with crushed water melon and jalapeno and some lime juice.

Perfect drink to sip sitting in the patio on this hot day. This is Aperol, Prosecco and Soda Water. I was missing an orange peel though.

Like the initials go, it tasted mmm… !!

The Tajin salt tasted better than the normal salt on the rim.

This is a derivative of the original sidecar in that you use Grand Marnier as the oranger liqueur. Now the other ingredient is of course Cognac and Grand Marnier has some Cognac in it. So, a bit of sugar syrup takes the edge off too much cognac-y taste.

Cognac, lemon juice, Grand Marnier and a splash of simple syrup.

I believe the “Cadillac” name comes from Grand Marnier being referred to as “GM” which also stands for General Motors who are the manufacturers of Cadillac cars. A bit corny, if you ask me.

Brought out the bottle of Bajtra liqueur that I had gotten from Malta. If you recollect, this is alcohol that is made from cactus. Had it as a spritz with some prosecco and a splash of soda water.

Summer cocktail season has begun

Fairly common in the ’70s and ’80s, this is a cocktail that has fallen out of favor. This is made from two simple ingredients – single malt whiskey (some use bourbon) and amaretto. While the original version called for equal parts, I went with 2:1 ratio to kill the sweet taste of the amaretto.

This is Goldschläger and Champagne.

Goldschläger is a Swiss cinnamon schnapps with 43.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) and visible flakes of gold. The gold flakes are made from 24 carat gold that has been beaten into wafer-thin sheets by gold-leaf makers. A one-liter bottle contains around 13 milligrams (0.20 grains) of gold.

The gold flakes from Goldschläger and the bubbles from Champagne make quite a display!