If you know anything about us, you’ll know we love us a Martini. So with National Martini Day coming up on Thursday 19th June, followed by World Martini Day on Saturday 21st June, it would be rude of us not to give a little nod to our signature drink.

With that in mind, we’ve picked out two very different bases for our Martinis, we go high proof with Beluga Gold Line Vodka and low – not in quality, but volume – with Second Sip, a new, recently released 20% abv gin created very much with sessional Martinis in mind by industry stalwarts Leo Robitschek and Nick Strangeway.

Make Mine A Martini – 130 cocktails and canapés for fabulous parties by Kay Plunkett-Hogge, is our book choice and it does exactly what it says on the tin. That’s if you’re staying in… if you’re going out, we can’t recommend the seven-strong Martini List at Twenty8 NoMad in London highly enough.

In the hotseat, we have Tibor Krascsenics, group beverage director at LPM Dubai. He gives us the lowdown on the brand new, extremely stylish cocktail menu, conceived and perfectly presented as a glossy fashion magazine as well as sharing his tip for the perfect Martini.

What we're mixing:

Turf Club

45ml gin (Plymouth or London Dry)

45ml dry vermouth

7.5ml maraschino liqueur

2 dashes absinthe

2 dashes orange bitters

Your choice of lemon twist /olive/maraschino cherry to garnish

Method: Stir all ingredients over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with your choice of lemon twist/olive/maraschino.

Method:

Add a handful of fresh mint leaves and the sugar syrup to a Julep cup or Rocks glass, then lightly 'muddle' together. Add bourbon, then stir, before adding plenty of crushed ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

28 NoMad

Beluga Gold Line Vodka

LPM Dubai

LPM Restaurants

Make Mine A Martini – 130 cocktails and canapés for fabulous parties by Kay Plunkett-Hogge

Second Sip

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We're counting down the days until Simone Caporale and Lorenzo Antinori open their destined-to-be-hot, new destination bar in Hong Kong but before we hear from them on the what, why and how of their first collaboration, there's our usual housekeeping to attend to.

Starting with our product reviews… Gary gets the ball rolling with the latest expression from Johnnie Walker, Johnnie Walker Black Ruby, and Sandrae cracks open a bottle of Gin Mare Capri. Our book choice is definitely one for the bartenders out there, it's the Spirited Awards nominated Bubbles: A Guide to Carbonated Cocktails by Bart Miedeksza and Valentino Girotto.

Next we head over to Scarfes Bar in London where the works of British artist and caricaturist Gerald Scarfe are reimagined in the latest menu: Long Drawn Out Sips. Then it's time to hear from two of our favourite Italians, Simone Caporale and Lorenzo Antinori about their new joint project, Montana, which combines 1970s Miami with Cuban hospitality.

What we're mixing:

Mint Julep

60ml Maker's Mark Kentucky Bourbon Whisky

20ml sugar syrup (1:1)

A handful of mint leaves

Method:

Add a handful of fresh mint leaves and the sugar syrup to a Julep cup or Rocks glass, then lightly 'muddle' together. Add bourbon, then stir, before adding plenty of crushed ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Bubbles: A Guide to Carbonated Cocktails by Bart Miedeksza and Valentino Girotto

Gin Mare Capri Mediterranean Gin

Johnnie Walker Black Ruby

Montana

Scarfes Bar

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We're back with season 9 and over the next few weeks we’ll be talking to some of the fabulous people we’ve met up with during our recent travels but this episode begins, as always with our chosen products: the first of which is Be-Gin a gin celebrating all things flowers and the second, a new range from Cointreau which zones in on citrus.

Our book is spiritual wisdom, seasonality and locality personified, it’s Hyper Drinks, the debut book from Angelos Bafas aka Mr Ungarnished, and we head to Shoreditch for Waltz, the new bar from Gento Torigata.

For our first interview of the season we’re talking to Rodrigo Urraca, Marcos Di Battista and Eric Van Beek, the dream team behind Handshake Speakeasy in Mexico City, recently taking the top slot on North America’s 50 Best Bars List for the second consecutive year and currently number one in the world. We hear from them about the highs and lows of being number one and why they won't have their awards on the back bar.

Grand Mimosa

90ml sparkling wine

45ml orange juice

15ml Grand Marnier

Orange zest or slice to garnish

Method: Add 45ml of sparkling wine to a chilled wine glass, the add the fresh orange juice and Grand Marnier. Gently 'pull through', then top with the remains 45ml of sparkling wine. Garnish with the orange garnish or zest.

Be!Gin

Cointreau Citrus Series

Handshake Speakeasy

Hyper Drinks by Angelos Bafas

Waltz bar

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In this episode we're taking our tastebuds on a journey that goes from London via Latin America, Kentucky to England and various stops in between.

We start with Never Say Die, a whiskey distilled in Kentucky, then shipped to England for its final maturation. We then head to Sweden for a taste of Bex Almqvist's fresh take in a traditional Nordic spirit, Rejmyre Akvavit.

This week’s read is a must for anyone who wants to know anything about the history of American drinks, it’s the incredible Imbibe! From Absinthe cocktail to whiskey smash, a salute in stories and drinks to Professor Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar by David Wondrich.

That’s north America’s drinks history sorted, in west London the team at Viajante87 celebrate the flavours, tastes and traditions of Latin America in their new menu Cocktail + Culture.

Then we’re in New York where we catch up with this week’s guest, the much travelled vision in pink and violet that is ms. franky marshall. We chat to her about her love of craft bartending, the joys of Cognac and her unwavering positivity.

What we're mixing:

Jameson Cold Brew Tonic

50ml Jameson Cold Brew

125ml tonic water

Orange wedge to garnish

Method:

Fill a Highball glass with ice. Pour in Jameson Cold Brew, top with tonic water. Garnish with orange wedge.

In this episode:

Almqvist Destilleri Rejmyre Akvavit

Imbibe! From Absinthe cocktail to whiskey smash, a salute in stories and drinks to Professor Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar by David Wondrich

ms. franky marshall

Never Say Die Rye Whiskey

Viajante87

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It wasn't planned, but Martinis pop up a few times in this episode. Not in our product reviews, which feature Planteray Cut and Dry Coconut Rum and Tito's Handmade Vodka (although, come to think of it, the latter would make a fab base if vodka-based Martinis are your thing).

As the title suggests, they're front of centre of our featured book 'The Martini – The Ultimate Guide to a Cocktail Icon' by Alice Lascelles; then they pop up in fine style in our bar review at one of the oldest restaurants in London – Rules, as well as in this week's Cocktail Hack with Simon Ford.

With more than 20 years experience in the drinks industry under her belt, it's fair to say that this week's guest Charlotte Voisey knows her way around a Martini. But rather than that, we're talking to her about her brand new, exciting role as Executive Director of the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation. Tune in to find out more.

What we're mixing:

Split-base Sazerac

10ml absinthe rinse

30ml cognac

30ml rye whiskey

10ml sugar syrup

4 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

1 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters

10ml Absinthe rinse

Method:

Chill an old Fashioned glass, then swirl with absinthe to coat. Then add remaining ingredients to mixing glas and stir over ice. Strain into glass them=n garnish with a lemon twist.

In this episode:

Planetary Cut & Dry Coconut Rum

Rules Restaurant

The Martini – The Ultimate Guide to a Cocktail Icon by Alice Lascelles

The Winter Garden Cocktail Bar at Rules

Tito's Handmade Vodka

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Appearance, aroma, flavour – the enjoyment of great drinks works on many levels – driven by aesthetics or emotions. Behind them, though, is often a great deal of deep and demanding thinking. This episode celebrates this thinking.

We have two products which take on the difficult task of creating delicious non-alcoholic drinks: the complex Crossip Blazing Pineapple and, the delicious ready-to- drink Jasmine and Lily Highball created in partnership with the bright minds at Tayer + Everleaf.

Then there's our book choice… This week we're taking a deep dive into the many and varied thought processes that go into becoming a great bartender, via the tome that is The Cocktail Balance 2.0, by Stanislav Harcinik. Our bar choice takes us to The Rivoli Bar at The Ritz where they unveil their first new concept cocktail menu in the history of the bar, it's the playful yet thought-provoking 'Biodynamic Forces Through The Alchemy of Planets and Plants' Then we catch up with Ben MacFarland and Tom Sandham to chat to them about bringing the stories behind drinks to life in their award-winning comedy shows, where they go by the aptly named The Thinking Drinkers.

What we're mixing:

Adonis

45ml fino sherry

45ml sweet vermouth

4 dashes orange bitters

Orange zest (discarded)

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a mixing jar, add ice, and stir until well chilled. Strain into a cocktail or wine glass. Aromatise with a spritz of orange oils from orange zest, then discard.

In this episode:

Campari Bar at The Alchemist

Crossip Drinks Blazing Pineapple

Press Club DC

Tayer + Everleaf Jasmine + Lily Highball

The Cocktail Balance 2.0 by Stanislav Harcinik

The Rivoli Bar at The Ritz

The Thinking Drinkers

Waldorf Astoria New York

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