La Rue À Paris, pt 1

The good folks at my day job are getting ready to launch a new cocktail menu for Paris Bar, one of their four bars in the bar/restaurant/nightclub/hotel thingy. The list's been in the works for a couple of months now, and ahead of the official launch on August 2nd, I thought I'd drag out a couple of recipes that almost made it into the final thirty.

Transmetropolitan
- 50ml Skyy Berry vodka
- 10ml Martini Rosso sweet vermouth
- 2 dashes Orange bitters

Stir all the ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a flamed orange zest.

This was an attempt to make a slightly more female-friendly martini-style drink, taking the flavour profile of a Cosmopolitan as its inspiration. Looking back, the recipe's a little simplistic, so I had a bit of a monkey around with it...

Transmetropolitan (refit)
- 25ml Absolut Kurrant vodka
- 25ml Absolut Citron vodka
- 10ml Martini Rosso sweet vermouth
- 5ml Cointreau
- 1 dash Orange bitters

Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with a flamed orange zest.

Keeping with the martinis, I also had a play around with something more consciously...girly, if you like.

Beijing Skyyline
- 25ml Skyy Citrus
- 12.5ml Midori
- 12.5ml Cointreau
- 25ml Apple juice
- 12.5ml Lemon juice
- 12.5ml Cranberry juice

Shake the vodka, Midori, Cointreau, apple juice and lemon juice with ice and fine-strain into a chilled martini glass. Float the cranberry juice over the back of a barspoon, and garnish with a cherry on the rim of the glass.

Unfortunately, it missed the cut because our martini section was getting mighty full. There'll be more recipes from the menu process as we get nearer to launch. Just y'know, to keep you interested...