#1: TROPICAL
One of the easiest ways to serve lots of drinks on a girls’ night in is to make a punch. There’s a rhyme for making punch in Barbados that goes “one of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak” – from this we get the following super simple recipe:
1 part lemon juice
2 parts sugar
3 parts rum – if you’re feeling really flash, make this a mixture of light, spiced and dark rums.
4 parts mixer – try pineapple juice and grenadine to make a Hurricane-inspired punch, or ginger beer (and lime instead of lemon) for a Dark N’ Stormy.
Recommended pairings: Mean Girls, homemade pizza.
#2: FANCY
If punch is a bit too Spoons for you, mix 2 parts sparkling wine with one part grapefruit juice for easy grapefruit mimosas. Once the weather warms up, top a healthy glug of Aperol with sparkling wine to make an Aperol Spritz (is it just me, or was Aperol everywhere last summer? Not that I’m complaining!)
Recommended pairings: Fatal Attraction, decorative nibbles.
#3: ‘ARD
Want something stronger? Mix 1 part gin with 1 part lime juice for a Gin Gimlet, or 1 part tequila with 1 part fizzy water, a splash of triple sec and some ice for a Margarita On The Rocks.
To make a Long Island Iced Tea, add equal amounts of gin, light rum, vodka, tequila and triple sec to a glass, add half that amount of sour mix (cheat by just dissolving some sugar in lemon juice) then top up the glass with coke (if there’s 5 of you, just buy a spirit each and the drinks will seem verrrry good value by the end of the evening.)
Recommended pairings: There’s Something About Mary, cheesy nachos.
#4: NON-ALCOHOLIC
Top up half a glass of sweet aloe vera juice (you can buy this at Wah Yan Hong supermarket on Denmark Street opposite College Green – it’s really worth a try!) with cranberry juice and lemonade.
Mix 2 parts apple juice with one part lime juice, stuff a few raspberries in the glass and top up with ginger beer.
Recommended pairings: The Breakfast Club, copious amounts of popcorn.