Celebrating Spring with Bubbly Cocktails

Weekend was brilliant with the weather being so generous to us...loads of sun and not windy at all..which meant it was definitely time for the outdoors. Central London was bustling with people and i declared out loud that Summer was definitely around the corner and the tourist season was catching up. We tried out this brilliant Malaysian fine dining restaurant called Awana in the posh area of South Kensington and it was one of the best ever..shall review it later.

But for now....here are a few cocktails i tried, to celebrate spring. Had them with a biryani lunch on Sunday and it was perfect. I'm really enjoying the bar tending bit..even if its at home and I'm so kicked that i finally learned how to open a bottle of bubbly on my own..without running to the next room when Ro tries to do so.

Manning Mimosa (makes 1 cocktail)

This is a bubbly cocktail made with Prosecco- an Italian sparkling wine- and is good for all occasions, but best for brunch.

Orange juice- 6 tbsp (freshly squeezed is way better)

Lemon juice- 2 tbsp

Orange liqueur like Cointreau or Grand Mariner- 2 tbsp

Chilled Prosecco- to top

Fresh mint leaf- for garnish

Mix together the orange juice, lemon juice, liqueur in a Champagne flute. Top with Prosecco, garnish with mint leaf and serve immediately.

Strawberry Smash (makes 1 cocktail)

This is more like a Mojito, but with a bubbly. You can basically put in any herb of your choice and adjust the amounts as per your taste.

Fresh strawberries hulled and sliced- 3

Fresh herb- 6 leaves ( I used mint leaves)

Gin or white rum- 1 oz ( I used Gordon's Gin)

Lime Cordial- 1 oz

Prosecco- 2 oz

Lightly muddle the strawberry and mint leaves in a 'rocks glass' until the strawberries become pulp-like and the herby smell of the mint leaves are strong. Add the gin and lime sour and give it a stir. Fill about 3/4th with ice and top with Prosecco.

Notes: Lime cordial can be substituted with a Lime sour or even lime juice for that matter.

I avoided ice cubes in my drink

You can use cilantro, basil, rosemary, thyme etc., but don't overdo, as it can be a bit over powering.

If you want a mocktail, use sparkling water instead of Prosecco.

I would also like to raise a glass to Meeta of What's For Lunch Honey? for completing 4 awesome years of blogging. I am sending these Bubbly Prosecco cocktails to the Monthly Mingle event hosted by her where the theme is to prepare anything with Champagne, Processo or sparkling wine. These cocktails are an awesome way to celebrate. Kudos to you Meeta.

Wine Tasting at Roberson

When i was working in Chennai for a magazine, i had been to cover a Wine tasting event at the Alliance Francaise. A wine expert from France was taking a class on the types of wine, what each taste signifies, how to distinguish tastes, the glasses used, what kind of food goes with what etc. They were even giving out samples of wine to taste, which was a big thing, as you don't get to buy wine in grocery/dept stores and the availability was restricted to the star hotels, where the wines were way too expensive. This i suppose was the reason why the entire studio at AF was packed mostly with college goers, who had absolutely no idea why they were there, except to have free wine. I however, religiously took down notes and pictures and Ro thoroughly enjoyed the whole wine experience. I even remember the expert telling us that the only food he could think of that would go well with wine was Biriyani:)

The session at Roberson was nothing like the one in Chennai. It was a very sophisticated event with well-dressed people walking around, taking notes, talking to the experts and placing orders. From Champagne to Port, there were 50 different wines on display along with the platters of cheese and crackers. This was our first experience at a formal tasting event and had no clue how to go about it. So what you actually do is take some wine in your mouth, swirl it to get the exact taste and then spit it out because of the alcohol content in it and so that your judgement is not affected. This was seriously gross for me and so i kept drinking it all and by the time we got to the Ports (mostly served as dessert wine because of its sweetness), we were pretty much drunk.

I'm no expert in selecting wines and had absolutely no clue if one tasted different from the other, but now after being abroad for a while, and being able to buy and taste various varieties of wine (bottles of wine are as cheap as 3 quid), i now have a faint idea and can distinguish varieties, dryness, aroma and the like. So here is how i have figured it all out. Feel free to correct me if i am wrong, but this is just how i prefer it.

My favourites are the sweet wines and the White Zinfandel is a top priority, although they are considered the most unfashionable of wines by experts (who cares!). Then the whites and last the reds, one because they are usually very dry and two, because they are not served chilled. They however are a great accompaniment to the red meats. So when i made a beef fry the other day, I picked up a bottle of Chilean red wine called Maipo and it was actually good. I should broaden my taste a bit more i guess. The whites go well with fish, chicken, bakes (again white wine for white meat) and the Rose, i think, goes well with more or less anything. Chill it and its a great summery drink. If you ever get a chance to taste some Ice wine, you definitely should give it a try. They are apparently made from grapes which are left to freeze in the winters and the result of which is really sweet wine (again served as dessert wine). The colour is a deep golden brown and the more brown it is the more sweeter the wine is. Canada is popular for its Ice wine and last year when my mom visited Canada, we had asked her to pick up a bottle for us. It's very expensive and you get them in these swanky bottles. We were stingy about using and took it out only on certain occasions.

It was the first time i tried out Vintage Port at the wine tasting session, and i loved it. Its very very sweet and suits the Indian palette beautifully. They were unbelievably expensive and so we didn't place an order for that. We however did pick up a bottle of Prosecco which is an Italian (dry sparkling) white wine and another one (i don't remember the name..I'm yet to get it delivered) which we liked at the tasting. This was nothing compared to the others ordering wine cases with their favourites.

There are various wine merchants in London who custom make wine cases as per your requirement and also conducts wine tasting sessions. The cost varies from about 20 to 35 quid, depending on the arrangement. I would suggest you try out a session, at least to know what its like...you need not be a hard core wine enthusiast for that.

Thats me @ Roberson