Cider Nectar – Recipe from the ‘Old Waldorf Bar Guide’

(1 quart) (star) 

Juice one-half Lemon One

spoon Sugar

One jigger Brandy

One jigger Sherry

One quart Cider

Mint on top

I’ve toyed with this drink quite a bit, cutting the cider way down, a quart being comfortably over a litre, so that the whole thing fits nicely in a tall glass. I wasn’t sure what this would be like, but it definitely sits in my ‘nice surprise’ category of drinks from this year. I used Aspall’s cider, light and dry, so it would allow the flavours of the Cognac and Sherry to creep though, and I increased these amounts. Cognac 25ml, Oloroso Sherry 25ml, Cider 150ml – a much shorter stronger drink. The Sherry I think was the big winner in this drink, really complementing the others very well, it’s a much underused ingredient these days, and with all the talk of ‘low abv’ drinks I would’ve thought a perfect ingredient. I find that your Oloroso Sherries pack a very large punch regarding there flavour, and that beautiful caramel woodiness blends beautifully with other ingredients.