DRINKS MASTERCLASS ROUND UP

How to make the most popular Drinks Masterclass cocktails

25-Jul-2023 - Last updated on 02-Oct-2023 at 10:25 GMT

Drinks Masterclass: what were the most popular serves in this series? (Credit: Getty/SolStock)

Related tags Spirits Cocktails Top 50 Cocktail Bars

With the latest Drinks Masterclass series having come to a close, we take a look at the top five most popular recipes from the segment.

Psyduck

Last month, London-based cocktail bar Callooh Callay launched its new Anime inspired menu, featuring the Psyduck cocktail.

The Shoreditch venue sells, which is number 37 Top 50 Cocktail Bars list, sells some 250 of the “easy” to make serves per month, retailing at £13.

Below, Callooh Callay operations manager Simone Crepaldi, details how to make a Psyduck cocktail.

Crepaldi said: “The clarity and sexy, clean look with the tropical flavour from the mango makes [this drink] a flavourful and refreshing cocktail.”

Equipment required:

Sous Vide pot
Highball glass
Jiggers

Ingredients:

40ml Amazzoni Gin
10ml Mango, coriander and cardamon infused cordial (method and ingredients below)
75ml Franklin and Sons Mandarin and Ginger Soda
Bay leaf to garnish
Cubed ice

Method:

Infused cordial (860g total):

Add 300g cubed mango, 190g sugar, 355g water, 5g coriander seeds, 5g cardamom seeds and 8.6gm 1% citric acid to a Sous Vide pot
Bring to the boil and lower to a simmer for 20 mins
Strain with coffee filters
Bottle and shelve for up to one month

The Cocktail:

Build straight into the glass by pouring the gin and cordial into a highball
Top with Franklin and Sons Mandarin and Ginger soda
Add ice and garnish with a bay leaf before serving

Watch the video and read the full recipe here.

Champagne Pina Colada

Based in Bethnal Green, East London, Coupette, which is number 31 on the Top 50 Cocktail Bars List, sells some 350 Champagne Pina Colada’s per month.

Described by bar manager Andrei Marcu as the bar’s most “successful” cocktail, the vegan serve costs around £3.32 to create and retails at £13.

He said: “Everyone knows Pina Colada. Everyone loves it and this is such a simple twist on the classic. It reads easily on the menu and makes guests feel comfortable.

“Champagne is still considered something premium and elegant, so the combination of simplicity and exclusivity makes it super appealing.”

Equipment required:

Blender
Hand Blender
Ice (cubed and crushed)
Shaker
Strainer
Measures.

Ingredients:

10ml Havana Club three-year-old rum
10ml Kingston 62 White rum
5ml Trois Rivieres Cuvee D’ocean rum
35ml Pineapple juice
30ml Pineapple cordial
35ml Moet & Chandon Champagne
1.5 Balls of coconut sorbet
Coconut shavings to garnish (optional)

Method:

Add all ingredients, except Champagne, and three quarters of a glass of crushed ice to the blender and blend
Fill glass with cubed ice and pour in champagne
Pour blended mix over champagne
Sprinkle with coconut shavings, if using, and serve

Watch the video and read the full recipe here.

1800 Tequila Paloma

1800’s enlisted Tequila educator Maria Grazia Modafferi described the brands Paloma recipe as the “perfect summer drink”.

Modafferi added the “quick and easy” to make serve costs around £4.50 to create and offers pubs the chance to “maximise” menus.

She said: It’s a vibrant mix of grapefruit and lime, perfectly balanced with the hearty and savoury notes of Tequila.

“The salted rim of the glass enhances the flavours of the cocktail. It is also appropriate for any time - whether that be brunch, apertivo time or after dinner.”

Equipment Required:

Highball glass
Lime Squeezer
Bar Spoon

Ingredients:

50ml 1800 Silver Tequila
50ml Fresh Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice (1/2 a Ruby Red Grapefruit)
10ml Fresh Lime Juice (1/2 Lime)
10ml Organic Agave Nectar
Sparkling Mineral Water
Garnish with thin grapefruit wedge

Method:

Rime half a glass with salt to begin
Pour in the 50ml of 1800 Silver Tequila
Squeeze half a lime into the glass
Add the agave nectar and pink grapefruit juice
Add ice
Top up with sparkling/soda water
Stir gently with pink grapefruit slice

Read the full article here.

Crimes of Passion

Featuring a lightly toasted marshmallow garnish and strawberry infused vodka, Little Door & Co’s Crimes of Passion cocktail offers fruity and exotic flavours topped with prosecco.

The London-based operator sells some 1,100 Crimes of Passion cocktails across its four sites per month, retailing at £11.25 per serve and costing just £2.15 to create, providing a profit margin in excess of 400%.

Little Door & Co’s operations manager, William Russell, described the servemas “fairly simple” to recreate as it uses “only a few ingredients”.

One tip from Russell was to “lightly toast the marshmallow for the correct aroma”.

Equipment required:

Fine strainer
Cocktail shaker
Wine glass
Skewer for garnish
Butane torch

Ingredients:

50ml Strawberry infused vodka
50ml Passionfruit puree
10ml Lime juice
5ml vanilla syrup
25ml Passoa
25ml Prosecco
1 Large marshmallow
Cubed ice

Method:

Add the vodka, possionfruit puree, lime juice, vanilla syrup and passoa to a cocktail mixer filled with ice and shake
Fine strain into a wine glass filled with cubed ice
Top up with prosecco
Lightly toast marshmallow on a skewer
Garnish with toasted marshmallow on skewer and serve

Watch the video and read the full article here.

Fortunella Sour

Opium bartender and creator of the serves base ingredient, Fortunella Liqueur, Lukas Stafin, described the serve as “easy to make with a great taste”, featuring fresh and crisp kumquat flavours with a sour style.

Located in Chinatown, in the City of Westminster, the bar, which is number 24 on the Top 50 Cocktail Bars List, sells some 300 Fortunella Sours per month.

The drink provides operators with a target gross profit of 75%, costing around £2.44 to create and retailing at £9.77.

Stafin said: “This cocktail is outstanding with the sour style. For anyone who drinks sour serves, this cocktail will be a new addition to night out.”

Equipment required: