At 3 AM on one of the busiest nights of the year, when someone starts asking you to mix up cocktails that you have never made before and aren't on the menu, and the recipe is written on the back of the waitress' hand, you will often ask if maybe they don't want a mojito instead. But when that person is holding hostage your copy of season two of The West Wing DVD, well, it takes a better person than me to say no.
So I dashed off a couple of the stupidly named Sex on the Beach cocktails.
What a good drink; easy to make, the ingredients are available in any bar and in most liquor stores at affordable prices. It tastes good enough to sell to almost anyone.
As with any recipe (and especially with the simple ones), choose your ingredients with care. The vodka has to be decent, but the peach schnapps can be any brand or variety. The OJ can be natural or a decent brand with relatively few additives. It's all about the balance.
After a few rounds of experimenting on my customers, it was this simple version of the recipe that won me over:
Serve in a large, long glass (known in the trade as a highball) with three smallish ice cubes.
Combine the ingredients in a Boston shaker (a two part shaker with a clear mixing glass incorporated - a really sexy tool to have in your home bar) or have another equally sized glass to use as mixer.
Ingredients*:
- 1 shot of vodka
- Smirnoff is okay if you're shopping in the local off license or liquor store, but if you can do better, please do; you'll notice the difference when drinking and the next day. I'd recommend Moskovaya or Absolut as good, cheap alternatives
- 1/2 shot of peach schnapps (which ideally should be lightly chilled)
- A dash of grenadine
- Top up with orange juice (normally about 20cc will mix in nicely)
- Try and get a good quality concentrate off the shelf or do a half and half mix with freshly squeezed OJ - it's sooooo good for you!
Shake the mix quickly and with long smooth strokes for about five seconds. The ingredients will be blended and chilled without the ice melting or too much air getting into the mix. If you're using other glasses as mixers, pass it back and forth to each glass at least three times.
Put in a couple of straws and a nice orange peel decoration or a pretty drink umbrella.
Enjoy!
*I live in a non-standardized country so I use 1.5oz shot glasses as my standard units