If you didn’t see my Christmas present post, then you won’t know that I got the 11th Edition Difford’s Guide for Christmas. My boyfriend gave it to me, so the first cocktail I made from it was for him. He loves a Corpse Reviver and there are 6 recipes for it in this book, we better get started.

All these measures are 3/4oz in the guide, but I rounded it off to 1oz, you know, for ease of jigger use.

• 1oz Gin (guide says Tanqueray, we used NB Gin)
• 1oz Cointreau Triple Sec (thought these were 2 of the same thing. We used Triple Sec)
• 1oz Lillet Blanc
• 1oz Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/8oz Absinthe

The recipe says shake these in a shaker with ice, then fine strain in to a Martini glass (though they illustrated with a coupette, so I guess that’s fine too). I did do this on this occasion and result was that the absinthe flavour was a little too prevalent. I prefer to add a little Absinthe to the glass and swill it around so that it coats the side, then discard the excess.

I dropped a Luxardo cherry into the bottom of the glass, which adds an aesthetic benefit and a little sweetness too.

I’m looking forward to trying the other 5 recipes. Will keep you posted.