The Drunken Vimto and Four Classic Cocktails

This sassy cocktail combines succulent blackberries with blackcurrant jam, lemon, vodka and soothing honey!

Yield: 1 rocks glass
Prep time: 5 min

The Drunken Vimto

This sassy little cocktail is my very own creation. It's a lovely mix of blackberries, blackcurrant, lemon and vodka with a hint of honey. But we'll get to that in a second. Last night, I was invited to an event at the Millennium Copthorne Hotel in Salford Quays. But not just any event, a cocktail making masterclass headed up by a fantastic team of bartenders. The event, #toastofthetown sought to pair our fantastic city of Manchester with cocktails of our own creating, but first we were taught the basics with four classic mixed drinks.

Anybody can drink, so the bloggers gathered at the event last night weren't limited to food bloggers. There was a mix of foodies, lifestyle and political bloggers as well as mom bloggers. After filing into the stunning conference room with its views over moored boats and one of the quays, we were left to mingle with flutes of raspberry Bellinis and await the trio of canapes. 

With tummies lined with canapes, we took to the makeshift bars: tables cloaked in black linen and kitted with a mini popup bar of fresh fruit, muddlers, swirled spoons and Hawthorn strainers, piles of napkins and an array of glasses from rocks to high balls. Under the expert hand of our lead 'tender, we whizzed our way through four classic cocktails: the Kentucky Stormy, the Bramble, the Mojito and the Cosmo.

The Kentucky Stormy

 Bourbon | Lime | Cane Sugar Syrup | Ginger Beer

Each member of the team, took turns making a cocktail.This was the cocktail I made so there's not very many shots of it being created. Personally, I found this cocktail to be a little too sour for me. I'm very particular about my bourbon and prefer it to have less of an edge, but I'd definitely try this cocktail again in the future.

The Bramble

Gin | Lemon | Creme de Mure | Blackberries

If I'm not mistaken, other than a quick sip of a friend's G&T, this was my first experience with gin. I was pleasantly surprised! I love the sweetness of this and the subtle blackberry flavor from the Creme de Mure. In fact, this is the drink that inspired my Drunken Vimto. Charlotte, one of my teammates and the blogger behind Gin & Ginger took the task of making this cocktail.

The cool thing about The Bramble is the feathered effect you get from pouring over the Creme de Mure.

A glass of Bramble modeled by the lovely, Charlotte.

The Mojito 

Rum | Lime | Cane Sugar Syrup | Mint

I'm partial to a good mojito, but this one, prepared by another teammate and blogger, Fiona from A Living Diary, was hands down the best mojito ever to pass my lips. I'm not sure if it's because we were giggling or slightly too inebriated to follow basic instructions, but we more than tripled the amount of cane sugar syrup in this and I think we re-invented the mojito! Seriously, gone are the days of mojitos so sour they make your entire face pucker.

The Cosmopolitan

Vodka | Cranberry | Orange | Triple Sec

Even if you've never tasted one, if you've seen at least half of any given episode of Sex and the City, you know this cocktail. The drink of the Girls, this Cosmo delivered on everything I generally hate about cosmopolitans: the bitter orange, the bitter cranberry juice and the bitter Triple Sec. Can you tell, I'm not a fan of bitter flavors? It's why I'd happily reach for a cocktail over a pint of beer and why I'll leave dark chocolate untouched no matter what it's thrown into.

Our fourth teammate isn't a blogger (unless he's keeping a secret!) but he's a representative from the blogger/brand company who helped to put this event together. James took one for the team and made perhaps the least manly drink of the entire night. And let me tell you, hysterical carnage ensued. At this point, I'd say 85% of the room was definitely too intoxicated to follow instructions properly. ... and this is when they decided it would be best for us to use lighters! 

Finally, the last task of the night was to take all of the knowledge we'd acquired and create our own cocktail to represent Manchester. Given that we'd been sipping spirits all night, I was surprised that all of us were able to come up with decent drinks! Here's what my team (minus James) offered up:

Fiona's Red Illusion

Charlotte's Curry Mile

and without further ado, here's the recipe for my creation, the Drunken Vimto!

Ingredients:

For the Drunken Vimto*
1/4 cup blackcurrant or blackberry jam
1/2 large lemon's juice
1 teaspoon honey
1 rocks glass worth of crushed ice
2 shots vodka
2 blackberries
15 milliliters Creme de Mure (blackberry liqueur)
 
**Notes**

• Vimto is a British soft drink made with various fruits including blackcurrants. Manchester has a strong history with Vimto and Salford, a suburb of Manchester, is the place it originated from.

Instructions:

The Drunken Vimto

1. Squeeze the lemon juice into the bottom of a rocks glass. Fill halfway with crushed ice.
2. Spoon the blackcurrant or blackberry jam into the bottom of a shaker along with a blackberry, the vodka, honey, the Creme de Mure and a bit of ice.
3. Shake well until incorporated.
4. Top off the glass with more ice.
5. Use a Hawthorn Strainer and a sieve to filter the cocktail while you pour it over the ice.
6. Serve garnished with a blackberry and a straw.