Top 5 Classic Boozy Drinks

Everyone enjoys a little something now and then, this also goes with drinks. I'm sure given the trouble with Coronavirus, everyone's liver is probably in a form of trouble. So for those who don't have troubles with their liver, here are a few cocktails and mixed drink ideas for up and coming parties or to help keep up with the Jones'.

1. Ian Fleming's The Vesper Cocktail

Ian Fleming was a notorious drinker, but while he may have damaged his liver to write all his James Bond novels, the iconic cocktail was referenced in the remade film of Casino Royale with the help of Daniel Craig mentioning the amounts in his line to the bartender:

• 3 measures of Gordon's Gin
• 1 measure of vodka
• 1/2 a measure of Kina Lillet

For those who don't know Kina Lillet is a local French Apéritif (or appetite-inducing drink; a digestive). Lillet is a ratio of 85% Bordeaux wines and 15% citrus liqueurs and comes in red or white. For the vodka, you can choose your own Vodka preference, Smirnoff is preferred if you want a sharpness to go with the lemon peel.

Gin is a drink for anyone and everyone. But it's preferred that you don't drink it by itself. You can use Gordon's Gin or any Gin you enjoy.

When you make Fleming's Vesper cocktail, shake them in a mixer and never stir the ingredients together. Add a lemon peel for decoration and enjoy a touch of James Bond with either breakfast or after dinner.

2. Lipstick Liz Cocktail

The Prohibition Era often led a lot of people to find ways to sneak booze into a club or in a public venue. However, you could enjoy alcohol in your own home. A New York socializer named Barry Gallant was entertaining one woman whose signoff on her many New York Times columns was "Lipstick" or "Lipstick Liz." Her real name was Lois Long and she often wrote about the adventures of the modern woman: the Flapper. A woman who wore knee-length dresses smoked Virginia cigarettes, rolled her stockings down, listened to Jazz, and bobbed her hair so short it was often boyish. Oh and let's not forget that they were dresses that hid their feminine beauty but were open to dramatic makeup.

The Lipstick Liz Cocktail went something like this:

• 2 parts Champagne
• 1 part Gin
• 1 part Orange Juice
• Dash of Grapefruit Juice
• A Trickle of Cherry Brandy

Shake all the items in a mixer and add a maraschino cherry or a simple piece of seasonal fruit. It's tangy, refreshing, and enjoyable. For the liquor, you may use any you like except ensure that the brandy is cherry flavored. You could easily buy any Champagne or Gin that you enjoy.

3. Iceland Twist

Iceland is a place everyone dreams of visiting. But if you go to the wonderful land of fire and ice, be sure to visit a museum that is the remains of old homes or how Icelanders lived starting from their colonization to their modern living methods.

Back in the day alcohol was often a problem. We're not talking beer or wine, but hard liquor, it was often brewed illegally, this also includes Vodka. So one way to have Vodka was to ship it in from outside already pre-made and ferment it once again making it stronger. Now Iceland does make its own Vodka and other hard liquors, before not so much.

You can make this at home with these ingredients:

• 0.7L of Vodka
• 1 canister for fermenting
• 1 tablespoon of caraway seeds
• 1 tablespoon (optional) of star anise for clarity

You can ferment your Vodka for 3 days to about as many as you like. I've gone close to a week doing this a couple of times and it does get stronger each time you let it ferment a little more.

For some twists on the classics that use Vodka or Whiskey, like Irish Coffee, follow the same ingredient steps but swap out whiskey with your homemade vodka, it now becomes Icelandic Farmer's Coffee. It's very tasty.

4. Whiskey Sour

Whiskey is not just a drink, it's also great for health properties. Whiskey consumers if they are women cut their risk of getting cancer, increasing their weight loss aid, preventing strokes, decreasing the risk of dementia, it can soothe a sore throat and even help with the common cold (like me with my Jagermeister if I feel a cold coming on).

A whiskey sour is very much like an Old Fashioned cocktail. But if you are watching your sugar, you can just do lemon juice and whiskey, it just depends on how much lemon juice you want. You could even make a boilermaker, literally whiskey and beer.

5. Mibuki

Midori is a popular liquor by itself or within a drink. It's often used in a cocktail called a Mibuki, which I have enjoyed creating. This one is easy to do and simple to make.

You need:

• 2 parts Midori
• 1 part Sake
• 1/2 a part of lemon juice

Shake them in a mixer and serve chilled. It's a bit on the sweet side, but hopefully, it tastes refreshing on a summer day. You could even use it to wow guests or in-laws when normalcy hits the big screen again.

Well, I think that does it for classic cocktails. I hope you enjoy reading and learning how to do some of these items or consider them for the next time you want to enjoy alone time. Other than that, stay safe and protect you and your loved ones from this horrible superbug spreading around.