So lockdown is boring (have I mentioned that?), and we have to find ways to make it more fun. My awesome husband came up with the idea of inventing a cocktail with just ingredients we already have in the house (although, fair warning, we do have two shelves of booze in the pantry, so it’s not a particularly heavy restriction). Clearly this would be named… The Quarantini. And this is the Quarantini Challenge!
I suggested we should each separately come up with a recipe and swap. Originally we were both going to make our drinks on Sunday evening, but after Martin made his drinks, it rapidly became clear that having another cocktail each would result in a much higher level of inebriation than intended or appropriate for a Sunday night. So I made mine on Monday instead.
Read on for the recipes…
Martin’s Quarantini: The Dirty Artini
Named after Dirty Arty, a video game character notorious for eating tinned peaches and leaving the cans behind (among other things). Martin went with the base of a classic Martini, and a quarantine twist straight from our cupboard of canned goods. His recipe:
- 50ml gin (he used Roku gin, a Japanese brand)
- 10ml Marsala wine
- 10ml peach liqueur (or umeshu)
- 15ml tinned peach juice
The above to be stirred over ice, strained into a cocktail glass and garnished with a slice of tinned peach (lockdown bonus: you get to eat the rest of the tin afterwards).
My Quarantini: The Jumbletini
Named because it was made of a total mish-mash of random booze from the store cupboard, I proudly present my recipe for a quarantini:
- 25ml spiced dark rum (I used Kraken rum, our favourite)
- 25ml lemon gin (Sipsmith Lemon Drizzle)
- 10ml pink grapefruit gin (from the Ely Gin Company)
- 10ml umeshu (Japanese plum wine which I’m obsessed with, I used The Choya Single Year)
- lemonade to taste
- mint leaves from the garden
I smushed up the mint leaves (technical term) and served the above over ice in our favourite sparkley whiskey glasses.
The Quarantini Challenge: Who Won?
Obviously it pains me to admit it, but Martin’s quarantini was better! My cocktail was pretty nice actually, and I would drink it again, but Martin’s was delicious, plus you got to eat the boozey peach slice at the end, which was awesome. So yes: Martin won the Quarantini Challenge!
Have you made a quarantini? What was your recipe? I’d love to try other people’s store cupboard cocktails too!
More lockdown fun…
I’ve also written about my kitchen tips and tricks for lockdown, focusing around cooking and storage tips and ideas for stocking up during the Covid-19 pandemic. Why not check it out?
