Down on the farm... A Cocktail from McDonalds

We like, nay, we are obligated, to experiment here at the institute and inspiration can come from all sorts of places. For the festive period this fast-food chain, founded in 1955, has released a range of limited-edition foods. These include Mozzarella Bites, which are small circles of deep-fried mozzarella.

City Farm
A variation on the Red Snapper, this pairs tomato juice with the rather herbal Berkeley Square Gin, a dash of lemon juice for balance and some bitters for bite. The Mozzarella Bite is used as a garnish.

25ml Berkeley Square Gin
50ml Tomato Juice
10ml Lemon Juice
Dash of Bitters

Shake with ice, strain into a Martini glass and garnish.

The Taste
I was dubious but it works surprisingly well, rather well balanced. The herbal notes of the gin, basil, sage and a touch of lavender are good partners for the tomato juice and the lemon juice adds some bite.

Additionally you get a little snack from the garnish which you can dip in the cocktail in the same way you may use salsa.

The Shamrock Shake—Happy St Patrick's Day!

Uncle O' Grimacey

It's St Patrick's day and some of our cousins over the pond will be marking the event by indulging in a sticky green goo. Ectoplasm? No, it's the Shamrock Shake. This is a seasonal milkshake from McDonalds; it's green and it tastes of mint (although some folks dispute this). To the chagrin of "some Americans" this is not a product carried by all outlets and is an example of the inconsistencies that lead some McDonalds in the USA to serve breakfast all day.

For some reason this idea has always intrigued me and last year around St Patricks day I went into McDonalds armed with a bottle of peppermint flavouring and green food dye to make a recreation.

This was all well and good but it wasn't alcoholic nor is it really used as a mixer and thus, arguably, beyond the remit of this institute.

With a McDonalds around the corner from the IAEs South-Coast branch it was easy to bring a shake home to experiment with.

The UK Shamrock Shake

Here is my recipe for a Shamrock Shake:

One medium vanilla milkshake

20ml of green crème de menthe

STIR

The Taste
The aim of recreating a Shamrock Shake is to make it
1) Mint-flavoured 
2) Green
The Creme de Menthe method certainly does this. The taste is akin to an After Eight Mint (after dinner mint) with a bit of white chocolate thrown in for good measure. It certainly leaves your breath minty fresh.

I tried to spice things up by adding some (25ml) Grey Goose Vanilla Vodka and I must say this made the drink even better (I know! Who would have thought it?). The vodka adds a more complex vanilla and creamy note that the original milkshake was sadly lacking.

I really like this drink and it's a great way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.*

Beannacht Lá Fhéile Pádraig!

(Happy St Patrick's Day!)

* Certainly better than a Pickleback (A shot of Jameson whiskey followed by a pickle juice chaser)