Building and drinking a spirits collection (part 3): Midori

This week's spirit is Midori, a melon liqueur which is bright green in colour. The cost varies, supermarkets will generally sell it at around £12 for a 0.7l bottle, however it's not always available in local supermarkets. I have had to resort to buying it from more specialist shops in the past and have paid as much as £15 a bottle. That said, I use it in a good number of cocktails and there are hundreds of recipes available on the internet that use it, the recipes that follow are only a small selection but importantly, they only require spirits covered up until now in this series.

Love junk
Approximate cost per glass: £1.50

• 25ml (1 shot) Midori
• 25ml (1 shot) Peach schnapps
• 25ml (1 shot) Vodka
• Apple juice to taste

Combine Midori, peach schnapps, vodka and apple juice in a glass with ice and stir. The stirring on this one is fairly important as the Midori tends to stay at the bottom of the glass after adding the apple juice.


Melon vodka daiquiri
Approximate cost per glass: £1.50

• 25ml (1 shot) Midori
• 25ml (1 shot) Vodka
• Fresh melon

A bit more of an adventurous recipe, this one requires a blender or ice crusher, the method differs slightly depending on which you use.

If using a blender, place a glass full of small ice cubes into the blender, add a few chunks of fresh melon and pour in the spirits. Blend using the ice crush function of your blender until you have a smooth liquid.

The method for using an ice crusher is very similar; start by crushing up a glass full of ice, the smaller the better. In a separate glass purée the melon chunks (or pulp using the back of a fork) and stir in the spirits. Transfer this mixture to the glass with the crushed ice, stirring again to ensure an even distribution.

I tend to find that the best results are obtained with a blender, but do make sure that your's is capable of blending ice as many are not and it can damage the blender if you try.

Midori sour
Approximate cost per glass: £1.50

• 50ml (1 shot) Midori
• 25ml (1 shot) lemon juice

The last cocktail this week is a short drink, you will find that it won't fill a glass of the type I suggested in part 1. You can serve it in something different, such as a whiskey glass, wine glass or Martini glass; alternatively you could top it up with lemonade or soda water to make it into a long drink.

The first thing you need to do when making this as a short drink is to chill a glass. The best method of doing this is to put a handful of ice cubes into a glass and fill it up with water. Leave it to stand while you make the drink. While your glass is chilling, squeeze the juice of a lemon into a second glass (25 ml is about 1 lemon's worth of juice, but this may vary depending on the size and ripeness of the lemon), then add the Midori. If you have a shaker, you can put a handful of ice cubes into the shaker and shake to chill the drink further but this isn't vital. Take the glass that you chilled and empty the water and ice down the sink. Transfer the drink into the chilled glass and serve.

If the recipes above weren't enough for you, Midori is great to drink just as it is, serve a double shot in a short glass over ice. Leave to chill for a couple of minutes before drinking for the best taste.