Out to impress? Have a go at these trickier (but hella rewarding) recipes.
Mastering the art of professional bartending takes grunt work, great mentors, climbing the bar ranks, working in different venues – ideally all over the world – and a whole lot of practice. The pros will tell you it takes years to perfect, and even longer to amass a following. But none of this should put you off making cocktails at home, especially when some of those top pros are the ones behind our recipes here on Dan’s Daily (yep, we have a pretty special team on board).
Sometimes you want a quick and easy two-ingredient drink or something that requires no shaking at all, and other times you want a project – one that takes a bit more time and teaches you a thing or two. So, if you know your Boulevardier from your Manhattan and you're keen to level up your cocktail game, we’ve pulled together a few of the trickier recipes from our collection. Some need a bit more skill, others just need more time to prep well ahead, but all are worth the extra effort, and they come with all the tips and tricks you need to nail them at home.
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1. Clarified Paper Plane
Clarifying anything takes time, patience and attention to detail. We’ve covered the science and gobbledygook of it all here, but to sum up, we’re basically taking the OG Paper Plane, a Sam Ross creation, making it clear and smoothing out its edges. And for the Paper Plane, which is notoriously sharp and bittersweet (bourbon, Amaro Nonino, Aperol and lemon juice), there are some BIG edges to smooth. Once you’ve mastered clarification you can try it with all sorts of drinks, so this foolproof step-by-step recipe is the perfect place to start. All we can say is, give it a go – we promise the hard work pays off.
2. Bacon-Washed Old Fashioned
Oooh, another science-y bartending cocktail to sink your teeth into. Almost literally. This recipe is an easy way to learn about the practice of ‘fat washing’. We’re taking the fatty goodness from bacon (drooling already) and adding it to bourbon to make a mouthwatering Bacon-Washed Old Fashioned. Why are we adding a heap of salt and fat to a relatively sweet cocktail, you ask? Ever heard of salted caramel? It’s basically same-same but different. The sugar from the bourbon and simple syrup, combined with the fat and salt from the bacon, creates delicious balance. It’s bloody tasty, and you can even garnish your Old Fashioned with a crispy slice of bacon, which looks pretty damn luxe (and provides a welcome bar snack).
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3. Matt Stirling’s Halftime Highball
Our man Matt is a pro bartender (he’s one of the highly acclaimed brains behind Caretaker’s Cottage – 21st best bar in the world), so you know there are some technical bits and bobs in his recipes. The Halftime Highball is no different. Making the actual cocktail is a piece of cake – mixing grapefruit juice, oleo-saccharum, mezcal and sherry in a tall glass over ice. Simples. It’s the dang oleo saccharum business where Matty flexes his bartender biceps. It’s an overnighter recipe step BUT it’s not hard and it is batchable, which means you can make the Halftime Highball over and over again. Now that’s a home run.
4. Mezcalita Trifle
Look, preschoolers have been making jelly for generations – that doesn’t mean it's easy to do. There’s the whole resting overnight biz, and the whole ‘not eating it until it’s set’ thing. This next cocktail, which is a riff on everyone's fave Chrissy dessert, features a playful base of green jelly and a bunch of yummy blender-blitzed red ingredients (apricots and raspberries) with mezcal. The freeze frame is a green jelly base, with a fun frappe-style alcoholic red top that tastes fruity and sweet with some great smoky mezcal edges to it. Sure, it’ll take some thinking ahead, but it’s a seriously impressive dessert to serve up at your next dinner party.
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5. Pandan Peach Fizz
A lot of advanced bartending is about making your own syrups. While you could just buy pandan syrup to make this cocktail easier, that's not the point. We’re after bespoke, we’re after class, and (most of all) we’re after the freshest, most vibrant of flavours. If The Bear has taught us anything, it’s that the more love, care and time you put into something, the better the result (and also that short kings are in). So, while this whisky-based cocktail is a breeze to whip up, pandan syrup takes a bit more effort. But trust us, the end result is a fresh, vanilla, fizzy, fruity masterpiece.
6. Cara Devine’s Rebujito
If we’ve said it once, we’ll say it again – Spanish drinks are definitely in. Just look at how many of Spain’s excellent bars made the 50 Best Bars this year. This here is one of our favourite Spanish cocktails: bartender Cara’s shrubby twist on a Rebujito. It’s essentially a traditional Rebujito, but with an elevated homemade mandy shrub. Shrubs are fruits, veggies, or herbs muddled with sugar and vinegar, steeped overnight, and then strained to create complex, fruity flavours. Cara’s recipe makes a decent batch, so you can have your Rebujito and drink it, too. As for the taste? It’s all the good stuff: mandy shrub, fino sherry, lemon and soda. Very light, very delicious.
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7. Clarified Pina Colada
There’s that word again – clarified *shudders*. It’s not that it’s hard – just fiddly and precise. But when it comes to the classic Piña Colada, it works a treat. As you probably know, the traditional Piña Colada is a chunky mix of coconut, cream, pineapple and ice, topped with cherries and pineapple fronds (and maybe a cheeky umbrella). Clarifying it takes things to a whole new level – you lose the intense heaviness of the classic, landing instead with a lighter, smoother, clearer drink. The lime, coconut, rum and pineapple flavours are all still there, but it’s a Piña Colada for the modern age. Instead of a slushy mess, you get a silky, easy-drinking cocktail. For an extra twist, we’ve added orgeat, which adds a lovely marzipan note.
8. Toasted Marshmallow Old Fashioned
Like the Pandan Peach Fizz, this one’s all about the syrup. And in the Toasted Marshmallow Old Fashioned, the syrup is... yep, toasted marshmallow. Sounds a bit out there, but trust us, it’s seriously tasty. This recipe needs a bit of fire to get that perfect burnt marshmallow flavour into the syrup, so if you’re making it at home, please be fire-safe! Old Fashioneds are great for playing around with, and this one’s got it all, adding a smoky, salty-sweet twist to the rich rum base.
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9. Tomatini
Here’s another great example of a seemingly tricky recipe that’s actually incredibly easy – you just need a little time. To whip up the Tomatini, you need to make an infused spirit, in this case by chucking tomatoes into some vodka. This leads to a final Martini laden with sweet, tangy umami, balanced beautifully by the sharp, zesty kick of the Champagne vinegar. The dry vermouth ties everything together with its floral, citrusy, herbal notes, rounding out the flavour profile. Honestly, we’re making one right now.
