Shake it up: Get in the mix with these creative cocktails from Ireland's best mixologists

The Europe's Manhattan

From the cocktail makers at the Europe Hotel, Killarney, Co Kerry, theeurope.com

Ingredients

50ml rye whiskey

30ml sweet vermouth

Dash of bitters

A twist of orange and a cherry to garnish

Method

Shake or stir according to your preference. Pour over ice into a chilled martini glass, and garnish with a twist of orange and a cherry.

Sit back and enjoy.

The real Italian

From the mixology team at Farrier & Draper, Dublin, farrieranddraper.ie

Ingredients

40ml Tanqueray Gin

50ml strawberry purée

20ml lime juice

10ml sugar syrup

5ml balsamic vinegar

10 pink peppercorns

8-10 basil leaves / 1 strawberry

Method

Pour all of the ingredients, except the peppercorns and basil leaves, into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a tall glass with fresh cubed ice. Top with a strawberry, some basil leaves and the peppercorns.

Elderflower Tom Collins

From the mixologists at Suesey Street bar and restaurant, Dublin, sueseystreet.ie

Ingredients

60ml Tanqueray gin

15ml St Germain Elderflower Liqueur

1 tsp caster sugar (or 4ml sugar syrup)

30ml lemon juice

Soda water to top up

Method

Put everything but the soda water into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a tumbler. Top off with crushed ice, soda water and finish with a sprig of basil or a slice of lemon.

Girl from Mars

From the cocktail makers at the Morrison Hotel, Dublin, morrisonhotel.ie

Ingredients

40ml Stoli vodka

20ml Napoleon Mandarin Liquor

15ml jasmine syrup

5ml lime juice

5 fresh raspberries (muddled)

Honey, to taste

Method

Mix all of the ingredients together and serve in a champagne coupe or cocktail glass to produce a short and elegant combination.

Bananasauras Rex

From the mixology team at The Exchequer Bar, Dublin, theexchequerdublin2.ie

Serves 1, multiply ingredients by 10 to make punch.

Ingredients

40ml Tullamore Dew pineapple-infused whiskey (or other Irish whiskey)

10ml pineapple juice

20ml vanilla liqueur

5ml Connemara peated Irish whiskey (or peated Scotch)

25ml lime juice

30ml banana purée

1 plastic dinosaur

Method

Shake all of the ingredients together. Pour over crushed ice into Slim Jim or highball glass. Garnish with a mint spring - and a fearsome dinosaur!

Hit the net

From Paul Malone, Bar Manager at the Five Star InterContinental in Dublin's Ballsbridge, intercontinental.com/dublin

Ingredients

50ml Cork Dry Gin

10ml lemon juice

15ml peach liqueur

15ml Limoncello

35ml apple juice

Top with ginger ale

Method

Shake all of the ingredients together - except the ginger ale - and pour into a tall noblesse glass with cubed ice. Fill to the top with ginger ale and decorate with an apple fan.

Grapefruit Gimlet

From the cocktail team at The Bridge 1859 bar in Dublin, thebridge1859.ie

Ingredients

70ml Beefeater 24

30ml lemon juice

15ml sugar cane syrup

2 dashes grapefruit bitters

Grapefruit, to garnish

Method

This twist on a classic is made up in a shaker. The combination should be vigorously shaken with ice and double strained into a chilled tumbler with cubed ice. Garnish with fresh grapefruit.

Berry Tastea iced tea

An alcohol-free concoction from the bar staff at the Fitzwilliam Hotel, Dublin, fitzwilliamhoteldublin.com

Ingredients

Muddled mixed berries (2 strawberries, 2 raspberries, 2 blackberries, 2 blueberries)

15ml fresh lemon juice

20ml sugar syrup

Approx 150ml Irish tea

Method

For best results, the tea should be strongly brewed at least 1 hour before making the drinks. It means the tea is strong enough so that it won't lose too much flavour when shaken/stirred with ice, plus room temperature tea won't melt the ice as fast. Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously. Serve over ice in a tankard. Garnish with mixed berries.

Pom pom

From mixologist David McDonnell of The Restaurant at Brown Thomas, Dublin, brownthomas.com

Ingredients

50ml Dingle Gin

10ml fresh pomegranate juice

6-8 pomegranate seeds

3 fresh basil leaves

Bottle Green Pomegranate and Elderflower tonic water

Method

Simply add all the ingredients to a balloon glass with ice, stir and enjoy.

The Camden mile

From the mixology team at Bow Lane cocktail bar, Dublin, bowlane.ie

Ingredients

35.5ml Absolut Mango vodka

10ml calvados

10ml apricot brandy

Fresh passion fruit (to taste)

10ml raspberry syrup

35ml fresh lime juice

50ml cranberry juice

10ml egg white

Lemonade, to top up

Method

Shake all the ingredients together and serve over ice in a tall glass, charged with lemonade for a sweet summer drink.

Castlemartyr's Gin Bliss

From the bar team at Castlemartyr Resort in Cork, castlemartyrresort.ie

Ingredients

30ml gin

30ml rosemary-infused sugar syrup

15ml lemon juice

Soda water, to top

Method

Place all of the ingredients, except the soda water, into a shaker and add ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into old fashioned glass or tumbler. Top up with soda water. Garnish with lemon and a rosemary sprig.

The Michael Collins

From the cocktail makers at the Seventy Six on the Mall bar at the Imperial Hotel, Cork, flynnhotels.com

Ingredients

45ml Cork Dry Gin

30ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

15ml sugar syrup

60ml carbonated water

Method

Mix the gin, lemon juice and sugar syrup in a tall glass, top up with soda water, garnish and serve.

Signature Bloody Mary

From the bar staff at 1826 Adare restaurant, Co Limerick, 1826adare.ie

Ingredients

240ml fresh tomato juice

60ml good quality vodka

60ml Worcestershire sauce

40g freshly grated horseradish

12 drops Tabasco sauce

4 good pinches celery salt

Freshly ground black pepper

15ml freshly squeezed lime juice

¾ tsp curry powder

Ice cubes

4 celery sticks

4 wedges lime

Method

We make our tomato juice from fresh tomatoes and leave the vine in it overnight which adds flavour. Finely grate the horseradish into a bowl and hit with 2 teaspoons of boiling water. Leave it to sit for 5 mins and then squeeze out the excess water. This will rehydrate the horseradish and take a lot of the raw flavour from it. In a jug, mix together the tomato juice, vodka, worcestershire, Tabasco, horseradish, celery salt, pepper, lime juice and curry powder. Mix well with a whisk or spoon. Fill 4 highball glasses with ice and pour over the mix. Garnish with a celery stick and lime wedge and serve.

Sheen Margarita

From Fabien Auzal, head barman at Sheen Falls Lodge, Kenmare, Co Kerry, who created the drink in honour of the hotel's 25th anniversary this year, sheenfallslodge.ie

Ingredients

35ml Patron Silver Tequila (Silver Tequila for 25 years!)

15ml Gabriel Boudier Pomegranate Liquor

10ml Finest Call Sweet & Sour Mix

Juice of half a fresh passionfruit

10ml grapefruit juice

Method

Simply shake all the ingredients together, pour over ice in a tall glass and enjoy!

Great island iced tea

A Long Island iced tea Cork-style from the Montenotte Hotel Cork, themontenottehotel.com/Cork

Ingredients

20ml vodka

20ml Cork Dry Gin

20ml white rum

20ml tequila

30ml Cointreau

Fresh lemon & lime

100ml Coca Cola

Method

Shake all the ingredients and serve in a hurricane glass. Dress with a sprig of mint and a slice of lemon. Serve, admire, sit back and enjoy!

The race winner espresso martini

From the team at Mount Juliet, mountjuliet.ie

Ingredients

1½ shots of vodka

A single shot of Kahlua

Double shot of espresso

Coffee powder (to garnish)

Method

This is shaken, filtered and poured into a martini glass, and then topped with coffee beans or garnished with coffee powder.

Powerscourt's Coral Punch

From the team at McGills pub in the Powerscourt Hotel, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow; powerscourthotel.com

Ingredients

35.5ml Bacardi Gold

20ml Aperol

20ml lime juice

2 dashes plum bitters

2 blackberries, muddled

1 egg white

1 bar spoon sugar syrup

Lime wheel, soaked in Absinthe

Method

Muddle together 2 blackberries with 1 lime chopped into 4 segments in the glass. Add 2 dashes of plum bitters and 1 bar spoon of sugar syrup and mix well. Pour in the Bacardi Gold and Aperol, then add the egg white before shaking well. Place a slice of lime on top of the drink and carefully pour a small dash of Absinthe onto it. For the Powerscourt finish, flame the Absinthe and enjoy the deep, fruity drink with a hint of liquorice.

Top 5 cocktail making tips

Tricks of the trade from David McDonnell of The Restaurant at Brown Thomas, Dublin

1 Choose quality ingredients

If you want a great cocktail experience, you need great spirits. I would suggest starting off with two or three good quality liquors. Expand your repertoire as you get more confident.

2 Don't forget bitters!

It always surprises me how adding a simple dash can change the whole complexity of the cocktail.

3 Invest in great glassware

Presentation is everything!

4 Preparation (mise en place) is all important

Ensure you have everything you'll need to make your cocktail from the outset. Prep it and stick to the recipe. Preparation will make the experience easier and more enjoyable and it also means you'll be enjoying your drink sooner.

5 Consider your garnish

It shouldn't be an afterthought. Not only will it look great, it's the final piece that brings the whole drink together.

Top 5 essential tools

The best tools are the simple ones, according to the mixology team at The Exchequer. Most of these easy-to-use items can be picked up at reasonable prices on the high street.

1 Shaker/Tin

Essential for shaking up cocktail mixes.

2 Long thin metal spoon

To get to the bottom of the shaker to ensure all contents are thoroughly mixed.

3 Measure

An alcohol measure which can measure both a single and double shot is so important for keeping ingredients accurate to get the best result when making homemade cocktails.

4 Hawthorne/rough strainer

Used to remove ice from cocktail mixes to produce a smooth cocktail with a chill.

5 Fine strainer

To achieve proper filtration and remove excess ice, fruit or other solids that could make their way past a larger strainer.