The Food Diaries

Lost in Translation cocktail - vodka-based with an Asian twist

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice vigorously shake together 20ml Sake, 30ml Vodka, 25ml lychee puree (canned fruit works really well), 1 and 1/2 fresh passion fruit pulp , 1tbs agave syrup (found in all health food shops these days). Strain into a tumbler filled with ice. Garnish with a 1/2 passion fruit.

Cherry Blossom Girl Cocktail

Named after the song by the French electronic duo Air, this is a fresh and perfumed cocktail in anticipation of springtime (preferably spent in Japan to coincide with the sublime cherry blossom season:

- 30ml Sake

- 20ml Bombay Sapphire Gin

- 30ml Briottet Maison Edmond Lychee Liqueur

- 10 ml lemon juice

- 2 drops Peach bitters

- a dash of pomegranate syrup

- Fever Tree ginger ale

Build in a Hi Ball glass filled with ice. Garnish with a mint sprig or lychee.

Lydia’s comments:

I’ve made this cocktail twice this week (I included a test run before serving it at a cocktail party). Both times I made minor adjustments - once with regular oranges and once with blood oranges from Sicily (the red hue is really lovely). Also, it can be quite hard to track down the shiso leaf (a Japanese plant which is reminiscent of mint but has more similarities with basil).

Next time I make a myojo I will trek to the Japan Centre in Piccadilly first to see whether it is worth the extra effort