THE 50 BEST COCKTAILS: SHAKE, BABY, SHAKE!

What's in a Mai Tai? How do you fix a real Martini? And what's the best way to get your tongue round a Caipirinha?

Author and food critic Richard Ehrlich has consulted the movers and the shakers of the bartending world to create a sparkling dossier on the world's greatest cocktails. Start here if you really want to lift your

spirits this summer

n CLASSIC DRINKS

n MODERN ORIGINALS

n PARTY DRINKS

n NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKS

THE EXPERTS

My many thanks to all the experts who let me use their recipes. And particular thanks to Dick Bradsell and Bryan Duell, my original instructors in the bartender's art.

A FEW TECHNICAL POINTS

One: many recipes call for sugar syrup - sugar and water in equal parts. Easy to make. Two: you need a shaker, in metal or metal and glass. Shaking a drink till it's very cold takes a long time. Figure on a minute or so of really violent movement, holding the shaker firmly at both ends and parallel to the ground. Three: you need ice, sometimes in huge quantities, so be prepared. Ice is best if crushed, which you can do by wrapping the ice in a clean towel and bashing it with something heavy; return it quickly to the freezer. If you're making cocktails for a crowd, you will need a lot. Four: ingredients. Some fruit liqueurs are found in supermarkets while others are stocked only by specialists. If you can't find what you need, make something else. Note: the quantities given here make one drink unless otherwise specified.

01 Champagne Cocktail

This famous drink oozes luxury and old-fashioned elegance. And it is truly delicious. But it is also a waste to make it with good champagne, so use a good sparkler (French or New World), and save the true champers for drinking on its own. The traditional glass is a "saucer" shape, but a flute can be used instead.

1 sugar cube

2-3 dashes Angostura bitters

sparkling wine

Put the cube in the glass, and drop the bitters onto it. Leave to let the sugar soak up the bitters, then pour in the wine. Count to 10 before you start drinking.

02 Gimlet

This classic drink was a creation of the British Empire in the Far East, and probably owes its existence to the export of a quintessentially British product: Rose's Lime Cordial. Rose's is a godsend for cocktail bartenders, since it combines acidity and sweetness in a single, smooth punch. Use less cordial for a tart drink, more of it for sweetness. A Gimlet can also be made with vodka.

50ml gin

15-25ml Rose's Lime Cordial

lime wedge

Put plenty of ice in a large mixing glass, and add the gin and cordial. Squeeze in the lime juice and add the spent wedge, then stir well (or shake if you prefer). Strain into a cocktail glass.

03 Gin Fizz

The Fizz is another one of those endlessly versatile cocktails: you can make it with absolutely anything. This is the classic version, but try rum, vodka or tequila as first choices for experimentation.

50ml gin

25ml lemon juice

4ml caster sugar

100ml soda

Put all ingredients except the soda in a shaker with plenty of ice. Shake till very cold, then strain into a tall glass filled with ice cubes. Pour in the soda, and mix well.

04 Lime Daiquiri

This is the best Daiquiri ever, made by Bryan Duell when he worked at Detroit, in Covent Garden. The Daiquiri owes its name to the eponymous town in Cuba, where American engineers in the late-19th century added lime and sugar to make the local rum drinkable. Using cognac instead of rum gives you a Sidecar.

50ml anejo (aged) rum

12.5ml lime juice

10ml sugar syrup

Put a stemmed cocktail glass in the freezer. Put the rum in a shaker with plenty of ice, then add the juice and syrup and shake till very cold. Take the glass out of the freezer, and strain in the drink.

05 Mai Tai

This is the epitome of sweet drinks. supposedly designed for people who don't like the taste of alcohol but want its ego-liberating effects. But there is more to the Mai Tai than mere inebriation. Properly made, it's a real classic - and very refreshing.

juice of 1 lime

25ml white rum

25ml dark rum

12.5ml blue Curacao

5ml sugar syrup

5ml Orgeat (almond syrup)

pineapple chunks and maraschino

cherry to garnish

Put ice in a tall glass to fill it around halfway. Pour in the lime juice, then the remaining ingredients. Add more ice to fill the glass, garnish with the fruit, and serve with a straw.

06 Dry Manhattan

This is another of the classic cocktails, a long-time joint favourite with Martinis among American cocktail-drinkers. The variations are endless. From this basic module you can move on to make Sweet Manhattans (sweet vermouth) or Perfect Manhattans (the two vermouths in equal measure). Traditionally, it is made with rye whiskey, but bourbon is easier to find.

50ml bourbon or rye whiskey

25ml dry vermouth

dash of Angostura bitters

Mix all ingredients in a large glass filled with ice. Strain into a tumbler or Martini glass, and garnish with a twist of lemon or a maraschino cherry if using sweet vermouth.

07 Margarita

This great cocktail, ruined by cheap ready-made mixes and inferior bartenders, is so common that you would assume it's been around forever. In fact, it's an invention of the last few decades, and American (rather than Mexican) in origin. This version is made by Ed Crozier at La Perla, London WC2, source of some of the best Margaritas in the country. Remember: the better the tequila, the better the drink.

40ml tequila

25ml Cointreau

30ml fresh lime juice

Moisten the rim of a Martini glass or tumbler, and dip it in coarse salt. Shake all ingredients in a shaker with ice, then strain into the glass.

08 Martini

Invented in the USA 90-100 years ago, the Martini's the simplest and best cocktail on earth. Whether you like gin or vodka, follow three rules: use the best ingredients, keep the spirit in the freezer, and stir gently - no shaking a la James Bond!

50ml frozen gin or vodka

5-10ml dry vermouth

lemon twist or olive for garnish

Pour the spirit into an ice-cold Martini glass or a tumbler full of ice. Add the vermouth, then snap the lemon twist over the glass and drop it in, or just drop in the olive. Stir quickly.

09 Mint Julep

Mint Juleps are well loved in Kentucky. This is a greatly simplified version of David Embury's recipe in The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.

12 small mint leaves plus 2 for garnish

30ml (2 tbsp) sugar syrup

50ml bourbon

Put a tall glass and mixing jug in the freezer for two hours. Put the mint and sugar syrup in the jug, and bruise the leaves gently with a long spoon. Add half the bourbon. Fill the glass with ice almost to the top. Strain in the minty bourbon, and churn (in an up-and-down motion) to partially melt the ice. Add more ice, then the remaining bourbon. Churn quickly. Garnish with the extra mint.

10 Mojito

This is another great Cuban rum drink, closely related to the Daiquiri. Originally, the name was applied to a Rum Collins. Now it's served short, as in my adaptation of the version served by Mojo in Leeds. At Mojo, they use Facundo Bacardi, but another aged rum would do the trick.

50ml anejo rum

5 sprigs mint

juice of 1 lime

2 cubes of sugar

Put all ingredients in one half of a shaker and muddle (ie stir and crush) till the sugar has dissolved. Add plenty of ice, shake till very cold, then strain into a tumbler. Garnish with mint, if you like.

11 Dick Bradsell's Old Fashioned

This is the greatest bourbon cocktail, and no one makes it better than Dick Bradsell. His technique is labour-intensive - but, believe me, it's worth the labour. Dick uses Maker's Mark of bourbon.

10ml (1 tsp) sugar syrup

2 dashes Angostura bitters

50ml bourbon

twist of orange peel

Put the syrup and bitters in a tumbler and mix. Add an ice cube, and stir 20 times. Add half the bourbon, and repeat the process. Add another three or four ice cubes, and repeat yet again. Add the remaining bourbon, and repeat a final time, then top up with ice. Squeeze the orange zest in, drop in the zest, and drink.

12 Pink Gin

Pink Gin was devised as a "medicinal" drink in the British Navy. (Which disease did it cure?) Nowadays, its name evokes Mayfair in the 1930s: you can imagine people drinking them while Noel Coward plays the piano before dinner in a Park Lane penthouse. Good trick: add Angostura to a G&T.

50ml good gin, Plymouth by preference

a few dashes of Angostura bitters

twist of lemon

Fill a tumbler with ice and pour in the gin. Add the bitters, squeeze on the lemon zest, and drop the zest in, then stir quickly. If you keep gin in the freezer, you can make the drink straight up in Martini glass.

13 Planters' Punch

There are hundreds of Rum Punches, but none compares with this classic. Like every sour-type punch, it relies on a formula known to bartenders everywhere: four parts weak, three parts strong, two parts sour, one part sweet. Follow that rule, and your punches will hit the target every time. Makes two drinks.

20ml sugar syrup

40ml lemon juice

60ml Jamaican rum

a few dashes of Angostura bitters

Shake all ingredients in a shaker with plenty of ice till very cold. Pour, without straining, into two tall glasses. Add more ice, fill nearly to the top with soda, and stir well. Garnish with cherries or citrus, if you like.

14 Singapore Sling

One of the world's most famous cocktails, and also one of the most contentious. It's agreed that it was invented at Raffles Hotel in Singapore, but modern recipes vary enormously. The best recipe I know comes from David A Embury's The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. It's delicious. And intoxicating.

50ml gin

25ml cherry brandy

5ml sugar syrup

juice of 1/2 a large lime

dash of Angostura bitters

Put all ingredients in a shaker with plenty of ice. Shake till very cold, then strain into a tall glass, which may or may not have a few fresh ice cubes in it. Top with soda and serve.

15 Whiskey Sour

No one knows when the first Sour was made, but it's one of the all-time greats. It can be made badly with Scotch. It can be made well with Canadian whiskey or rye. But a good Bourbon, such as Maker's Mark, is the ideal. Purists skip the garnish by specifying "no fruit" when ordering.

30ml bourbon

10ml lemon juice

5ml caster sugar

maraschino cherry and orange slice to garnish (optional)

Put all ingredients except garnishes in a shaker with plenty of ice. Shake till very cold, then strain into a Martini glass or something similar. Garnish, if you like.

16 Tequila Sunrise

This is another drink shunned by some purists for being "unserious". But the Sunrise has a lot going for it. It's refreshing, it's good for sipping, and it looks beautiful. To hell with purism - enjoy yourself! This is the version made at La Perla, London WC2.

40ml silver tequila

around 100ml orange juice

large dash of grenadine

Put the tequila in a tall glass half filled with ice. Add juice to fill it nearly to the top, then carefully pour the grenadine by dribbling it down the side of the glass so it falls to the bottom. The layering of colours is what gives this drink its beauty.

17 Caipirinha

The Caipirinha is made with Brazilian cachaca, a spirit that is distilled (like rum) from sugar cane. Some think the Brazilian drink is closer in flavour to a fairly rough vodka. Whatever your opinion, the Caipirinha is a good drink. Incidentally, the spirit is pronounced "ka-cha-sah" and the drink "kai-pi-reen-ya".

1/2 a lime

5-10ml sugar

50ml Cachaca

Finely chop the lime, and put it in a short glass with the sugar. Muddle all ingredients (crushing and stirring) with a pestle or rolling pin. Add the cachaca and stir, then fill with crushed ice and stir again.

18 Blueberry Martini

This is a creation of the legendary Salvatore Calabrese, of The Library bar in London's Lanesborough Hotel. It's a slightly different approach to fruit Martinis, since the fruit is crushed by the action of ice in the shaker. Very popular at the moment.

20 blueberries

75ml vodka

dash each of Blue Curacao and Cointreau

Put all the ingredients in a shaker with plenty of ice. Shake for a good long time to crush the blueberries and make the drink very cold. Strain into a Martini glass (for straight-up drinking) or a goblet half filled with ice.

19 Dark Express

Another creation of Salvatore Calabrese from London's Lanesborough Hotel. Consider it a super-charged kir, with fresh fruit rather than liqueur. Other berries could be used in the same way.

4-5 blackberries

dash of Cointreau

dash of blackcurrant liqueur or vodka (optional)

champagne to top

Put the blackberries, Cointreau and optional liqueur/vodka in a shaker with plenty of ice. Shake till the fruit is crushed and the mixture very cold, then strain into a champagne glass and top with champagne.

20 Floridian

This is an ultra-modern cocktail in one sense, and a variant on the Martini in another sense. It is adapted from a drink served at Manhattan's trendy Asia de Cuba bar-restaurant, and it is indescribably delicious. These quantities make two drinks.

25ml lemon juice

5ml caster sugar

60ml orange vodka

25ml Cointreau or Triple Sec

2 splashes cranberry juice

2 twists of orange peel to garnish

Dissolve the sugar in the lemon juice. Put all liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice, and shake till very cold. Strain into two martini glasses, and garnish with a twist of orange peel.

21 Fruit Caipirinha (Bryan Duell)

Like most good drinks, the Caipirinha allows for all sorts of interesting variations - and in summer, the obvious option

is adding fruit. Here's the way Bryan Duell of AKA, in London WC1, does it for his contented customers.

1/2 a lime

1/2 a white peach, 1 kiwi fruit, 1 plum or 3 strawberries

5-10ml sugar

50ml cachaca

Finely chop the lime and chosen fruit, and put them together in a short glass with the sugar. Muddle all ingredients (crushing and stirring) with a pestle or rolling pin. Add the cachaca and stir, then fill with crushed ice and stir again.

22 Cognac Crush

Cognac is usually associated with winter. In this treatment by Andres Masso, a bartender at The 10 Room in London W1, it becomes a warm-weather refreshment. Masso recommends Bisquit Cognac.

50ml cognac

1 juicy lime plus 1 for garnish

3 cubes Demerara sugar

Chop 1 lime into small pieces, and crush with the sugar in a tumbler. When the sugar is well dissolved, add the cognac and ice to fill the glass. Garnish with the other lime, halved.

23 Lemon-Tini

Lemon is one of the quintessential summer ingredients, and this drink bursts with its fresh, lively flavour. The recipe comes from Jacquie Thomas, bartender at the hip Dust bar in Clerkenwell, London. Lemoncello is a Tuscan lemon liqueur; if you can't find it but still want to make this drink, just increase the quantities of the remaining ingredients by a third.

50ml lemon vodka

20ml Lemoncello

10ml fresh lemon juice

10ml sugar syrup

Shake all ingredients in a shaker with plenty of ice till very cold. Strain into a chilled Martini glass and garnish with lemon twist.

24 Momo Special

They serve these by the hundreds at Momo, one of London's trendier Middle Eastern restaurants. The fresh mint makes it a perfect (if somewhat labour- intensive) drink for hot weather.

small handful of fresh mint

25ml vodka

12.5ml lemon juice

12.5ml sugar syrup

soda

Pick over the mint to take the leaves off the stems. Put in a shaker with plenty of ice and add all remaining ingredients except the soda. Shake well, then pour into a tall glass and top with soda.

25 Passion Berry

This was one of the cocktails created by Sly Odozi of London's Match bar, in Clerkenwell, in the course of winning the 1999 "Culture of Cocktails" competition. He uses Wyborowa vodka, the favourite of many barmen. Some of the ingredients may be hard to track down, but the pursuit will be justified by a really exceptional cocktail.

50ml good vodka

25ml raspberry puree

splash of lemon juice

splash of passion-fruit syrup

dash of sugar syrup

Shake all ingredients with plenty of ice and strain into a Martini glass.

26 Pink Panther No 1

There are many versions of this drink. This one is adapted from a French cocktail website called "Top Friends Cocktail Club" (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/ homepages/S_Grialet/menutfc2.htm).

50ml vodka

25ml dry vermouth

12.5ml creme de cassis

25ml orange juice

Shake all ingredients with plenty of ice, then strain into a tall glass over fresh ice.

27 Pink Panther No 2

This version is courtesy of Dick Bradsell. It's easier than ever to make in the UK now that Welch's Grape Juice, an old American favourite, is sold here. Campari lends a touch of bitterness, which fans of this flavour will adore.

50ml vodka

around 100ml grape juice

12.5ml Campari

Put the vodka in a tall glass with plenty of ice. Top with grape juice, add the Campari, and stir well. No garnish is necessary, but add a twist of lemon if you like.

28 Polish Peach

This is something they whip up at Varsova, a vodka-specialist bar in Paisley, which formerly went by the name of Wodka Vodka. You can make your own vanilla vodka by steeping a stick of the stuff in the bottle; if you can't be bothered, buy Smirnoff Vanilla ready-made.

50ml vanilla vodka

25ml grenadine

dash of orange juice

Put all ingredients in a shaker with plenty of ice. Shake till very cold, then strain into a Martini glass.

29 Rum Dandy

Another of Bryan Duell's creations, this is reason enough to go out and buy a bottle each of spiced rum (such as Morgan's Spice) and apricot liqueur. Bols is the commonest brand of this liqueur, and of many others that form part of the barman's batterie de cocktail.

50ml spiced rum

15ml apricot liqueur

juice of 1/2 a lime

3-4 drops Angostura bitters

lemonade

Pour the first four ingredients into a tall highball glass filled with ice. Top with the lemonade, and garnish with a lime wheel.

30 Southern Cooler

This drink is currently a big favourite among customers at the discreetly elegant bar of Dukes Hotel, St James's, London, where master barman Gilberto Preti has been serving fabled Martinis (and other concoctions) for many years. The Southern Cooler is the invention of associate barman Giorgio Guerra. It's not a strong drink, which you may view either as a plus or a minus!

25ml Southern Comfort

40ml orange juice

juice of 1/2 a lime

dash of Rose's Lime Cordial

Shake all ingredients with plenty of ice in a shaker. Strain into a tall glass half filled with ice, then top with ginger ale.

31 Stingray

A fashionable variant on Tatanka (see No 44), from Marco Li Donni of London's The 10 Room. Goldwasser is a Polish vodka with flecks of gold leaf, a delicious drink beloved of bartenders. Ordinary vodka can be substituted for this ingredient, but there's no substitute for Zubrowka bison-grass vodka.

37.5ml Zubrowka

12.5ml Goldwasser or ordinary vodka

dash of sugar syrup

25ml peach puree

25ml apple juice

Shake all ingredients in a shaker with lots of ice till very cold. Strain into a chilled Martini glass and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

32 Strawberry Fizz

This is an adaptation of a drink created by Sly Odozi, of London's Match bar, in Clerkenwell, when he was winning the London and Southeast heat of Marblehead's "Culture of Cocktail" Awards in June. A great fizz.

25ml Bisquit Cognac

12.5 ml cherry brandy

2 strawberries

splash of sugar syrup

champagne or sparkling wine

Mix all ingredients except champagne and strawberries in a glass with lots of ice. Strain into a flute with the strawberries, top with the champagne and mix quickly.

33 Washington Eagle

This all-American creation comes from Peter Dorelli, one of the great figures in the bartending world, who's been working behind the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel for years. Jack Daniels isn't bourbon (being made in Tennessee rather than Kentucky), but this is a bourbon-style drink in all but name.

40ml Jack Daniels

25ml Southern Comfort

7.5ml lime juice

around 50ml cranberry juice

Put the first three ingredients in a tumbler with ice. Top with the cranberry juice, and serve with a lime wedge.

34 Watermelon Martini

Fresh watermelon juice is one of the world's great drinks, as you know if you've ever drunk it. Better still is this Martini, adapted from a recipe created by the Cub Room in Manhattan. Brilliantly simple, utterly winning. These quantities make two drinks.

1 lb watermelon cubes, seeded

100ml lemon vodka

Put the watermelon in a blender, and puree until smooth. Place a fine strainer over a bowl, and strain the puree, reserving the juice and discarding residual pulp. Put the vodka and 225ml of watermelon juice in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Shake till very cold, and strain into two chilled Martini glasses.

35 Bellini

This is the classic version, based on the recipe in The Harry's Bar Cookbook. All ingredients must be very cold.

10 ripe peaches

sugar syrup (if needed)

1 75cl bottle of cheap sparkling wine

Peel the peaches and cut the flesh off the stones. Put through a Mouli or squeeze with your hands, then force through a fine sieve. Correct the puree for sweetness by adding sugar syrup if necessary, then put the puree, wine and a pitcher in the fridge for at least an hour. When you're ready to serve, gently pour the wine into the pitcher, then add the puree and mix gently but thoroughly.

36 Bloody Mary

The name is almost certainly that of Mary Queen of Scots, but the drink - one of the indisputably great cocktails - is usually attributed to a bartender at Harry's Bar in Paris in the 1920s. Since Bloody Marys are a party drink par excellence, here's how to make enough for eight people.

45ml fresh lemon juice

5ml celery salt

5ml freshly ground black pepper

60ml Worcester sauce

6-12 drops chili sauce

1 litre tomato juice or V-8

300ml vodka

Put all ingredients except the vodka in a large jug. Mix well, taste for seasonings, and correct as needed. For each drink, put 30ml vodka in a tall glass with plenty of ice. Top with tomato juice mixture, stir well, and drink.

37 Checkmate Cooler

This is a summery chill-inducer from the new Knights Bar at London's Simpson's in the Strand. It has the great advantage of being relatively low in alcohol, so you can drink a few of them without losing contact with the ground beneath your feet.

25ml Chambord liqueur

25ml lime juice

pineapple juice

medium-dry white wine

Fill a tall glass with ice, and put in the Chambord and lime. Top with equal parts of pineapple juice and wine, stir well, and garnish with a lime wedge.

38 Cosmopolitan

Along with the Sea Breeze (see No 42), this is one of the few classics to be created in recent years (somewhere in America, though the origins are disputed). This recipe originated at the infamously trendy Groucho Club. The vodka must be a good one or the drink will taste rough and raw.

40ml vodka

10ml Triple Sec

40ml cranberry juice

dash of lime juice

Shake all ingredients with plenty of ice in a shaker. Strain into a frozen Martini glass and serve.

39 Mango Margarita

Fruit Margaritas can be a dangerous thing - and a truly disgusting thing, if they're made badly for people seeking sweetness and alcohol without concern for the flavour. This version is one of the exceptions. It comes from Mojo in Leeds, where they recommend using Cuervo Gold.

40ml silver tequila

12.5ml Cointreau

50g tinned mango

dash of fresh lime juice

Put all ingredients in a blender with a few cubes of ice. Blend till smooth and pour into a chilled glass.

40 Pimm's Royal

This variant on the summertime favourite is another creation of Bryan Duell, of London's AKA bar. Halfway between two classics, the standard Pimm's and a champagne cocktail, it's clean-tasting and exceptionally refreshing. Bryan specifies champagne, but a superior sparkling wine will suffice quite happily.

30ml Pimm's No 1

15ml Cointreau

sparkling wine to top

lemon zest, cucumber peel and mint leaves

strawberries to garnish

Pour the Pimm's and Cointreau over ice in a tall highball glass. Fill with wine, and add the lemon, cucumber and mint. Cut halfway into the strawberry, and push it onto the rim of the glass.

41 Polish Spring Punch

A great invention of by Dick Bradsell, who uses Polish Wyborowa vodka, which is also my favourite. It's delicious, but be careful: it has a justified reputation for being easy to drink in excess. This makes one drink.

crushed ice

25ml vodka

juice of 1/2 lemon

10ml gomme syrup

15ml creme de cassis

100-150ml sparkling wine

Fill a tall glass with ice. Add the lemon juice, syrup and cassis. Stir to mix quickly but thoroughly, and top with the wine. Serve immediately.

42 Dick Bradsell's Sea Breeze

One of the great cocktail inventions of recent years, and good to order in unfamiliar bars because even a terrible bartender can't screw it up too badly. Ask to have it shaken rather than stirred, as Dick Bradsell advises.

50ml vodka

50ml cranberry juice

75ml grapefruit juice

Put all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Shake till very cold, then strain into a tall glass filled with ice. There should be a nice froth on top.

43 Southside

This is a creation of the famous "21" Club in Manhattan. I love its versatility, both in base alcohol and style of presentation: it's either a short drink or a tall one. These quantities make two drinks.

100ml gin (or vodka, rum or bourbon)

75ml lemon juice

20ml sugar, or to taste

soda (optional)

4 sprigs fresh mint

Place gin, lemon juice and sugar in a shaker half filled with ice cubes. Shake till very cold, and pour into a glass with the ice, or pour into a tall glass and top off with club soda. Garnish with mint.

44 Tatanka

Thank Poland for the drink and Kevin Costner for the name. The drink is made with Zubrowka, vodka flavoured with bison grass. The Poles came up with the name after seeing Dances with Wolves, where they learned that "tatanka" is Native American for "bison". And it's a fabulous drink.

50ml Zubrowka

apple juice to top

Put the vodka in a tall glass with ice. Top with apple juice. It's that simple.

45 Tom Collins

The Collins is one of the most versatile of all cocktails, since it can be made with almost any liquor. No one knows which came first, the Tom (gin) or the John (bourbon), but they're both good - and easy to make.

50ml gin

25ml lemon juice

5ml caster sugar

75ml soda

maraschino, lemon and orange to garnish

Put the first three ingredients in a shaker with plenty of ice. Shake till freezing cold, then strain into a tall glass filled with more cubes. Stir in the soda and garnish.

46 Cranberry Cooler

Cranberry juice is one of the bartender's greatest assets, indispensable for any drink where tartness and a blue-ish colour are required. It's also delicious on its own, or with other non-alcoholic mixers. This is a good specimen of the soft-landing approach, perfect for children and adult abstainers.

75ml cranberry juice

sparkling lemonade to top

Put the juice in a tall glass half-filled with ice. Top with lemonade, mix quickly, and serve.

47 Passion Fruit Cooler

This comes from a book called Tiger Lily Street Food (Piatkus, pounds 14.99), and is a hit with both grown-ups and children. Mango can be used instead of passion fruit. This makes two generous portions

4 passion fruit

4 slices tinned or fresh pineapple

100g white sugar or to taste

Halve the passion fruit, and put the pulp and seeds with the sugar, pineapple and 600ml (1 pint) water in a blender. Liquidise till smooth, and serve over crushed ice.

48 Queen Charlotte Fruit Punch

This drink, based on a recipe in the Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide (1972), can be made X-rated by adding rum or vodka.

25ml orange juice

15ml pineapple juice

15ml fresh squeezed lemon juice

15ml fruit nectar - mango, peach, etc

5ml Ribena

fizzy water

1 sprig fresh mint (optional)

Mix the juices, nectar and Ribena with lots of ice in a very tall glass. Top up with fizzy water, garnish with the mint leaf (if using), and serve with a slice of orange.

49 Shoga Apple

This is a creation of Itsu, in London's Chelsea, the fashionable conveyor- belt Japanese restaurant from the people behind Pret a Manger. It takes time to make, but is truly delicious and very refreshing. This is enough for a party's worth.

1 kilo fresh lychees

2-inch piece of peeled ginger

500ml apple juice (fresh if possible)

juice of 1 lime

Peel and stone the lychees, and blend the pulp to make a puree. Chop the ginger, squeeze the juice out in a garlic press, and mix all ingredients. Refrigerate till very cold, and garnish with lime if you wish.

50 Smoothie No. 1

This is one of the most popular drinks at the thriving Fluid juice bar in London's Fulham Road. The key to fluid success, according to Fluid, is freezing the fruit. This ensures a good texture in the finished drink.

225ml fresh-squeezed orange juice

2-3 strawberries, sliced and frozen

1 banana, sliced and frozen

1 scoop frozen yoghurt or vanilla ice cream

1 ice cube

Put the banana and strawberries in the freezer till frozen. Dump into the blender with all other ingredients, and process till smooth.