Wimbledon

For the love of tennis! It's Wimbledon time again and that means strawberries and cream and of course that very English of English drinks Pimm's no1. I recently had to make a few promotional Pimm's cup cocktails for the hotel as we are celebrating Wimbledon with style. A special Wimbledon afternoon tea is being served in our grand and stunning "great room" restaurant.

I'm not going to bore you silly with the history of the Pimm's cup, I'm just going to tell you how to make two variations on the Pimm's cup.

Pimm's cup #1
Shake over ice:
40mls Pimm's no1
20mls Stone's green ginger wine
75mls fresh lemonade
(to make fresh lemonade. mix 40mls fresh lemon juice, 40mls sugar syrup, 100mls of water and one egg white)
Strain into a cup glass over freshly cracked ice, garnish with a cucumber slice, a mint sprig or two, in season berries.


Pimm's cup #2 currently being served
Shake over ice:
50mls Pimm's no1
25mls fresh squeezed lemon juice
10mls sugar syrup - we use monin gomme syrup (56brix) or you can use 2:1 sugar syrup
10mls ginger root extract -(ginger root that has been juiced and strained)
Strain into a cup glass over freshly cracked ice, garnish with a cucumber slice, a mint sprig or two,a citrus and an orange wedge, in season berries and of course a strawberry...

Both are great variations on the classic Pimm's and ginger ale, I hope you enjoy making either of these drinks at home and if you live in northern Ireland and you don't have the time to indulge in making cocktails pop in and and see me, I'll take the effort out of it for you;)

Tunes to make Pimm's cups to  "the sound of the crowd as they watch Nadal and Federer go head to head in the final"

Lost and running

I have been holding onto this blog address for the past three years with the ultimate intention of writing a killer and informative blog about the secrets of bartending and preparing mixed drinks. But I felt so overwhelmed by the countless blogs that do a great job of this already! Really there are so many great bloggers what can I add to the bartending community that hasn't already been added, talked about or discussed? Hopefully I can share some tips/ideas/secrets that I have learned over the last five years working at the fabulous Merchant Hotel.

Working in the Merchant has been such a life changing epic journey. If you don't know where the Merchant Hotel is, we are located in the heart of Belfast thriving cathedral quarter. If you are in the area drop down and have a cocktail and a chat...

Hayden "hayds" Lambert

Tunes to rock out to behind the bar,  "lost and running " by Powderfinger