I was lazing around after an evening of washing, cleaning, ironing and general domestic bliss so decided to finish the day with a cocktail. No doubt Troy, a regular of the James Joyce, will point out that this is a lady’s cocktail, but he is skating on thin ice. I have to say I like this one – the Cointreau nicely compliments the lemon.

White Lady: Put equal measures of lemon juice, gin and Cointreau into a cocktail shaker. Shake with plenty of ice and strain into a Martini glass. Serve with lemon peel. In the picture I have used two measures of everything because my Martini glasses are like me – large.

The first book The Classic 1000 Cocktails by Robert Cross contains a wealth of cocktail recipes but some strange additions including a Shandy (equal quantities of beer and lemonade). I disagree with the Cosmopolitan recipe in this book although I have not tried it. The second is, in my view, a better book with a picture of each cocktail.

The second book Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook 200 Cocktails makes it clear what the cocktail should look like and the recipes are easy to follow. It’s from this book that I will be experimenting with cocktails, including this Long Island Iced Tea.

Long Island Iced Tea: Shake equal measures of Lemon Juice, Gin, Vodka, Tequila, Cointreau and White Rum with ice in a cocktail shaker. Strain into a glass filled with ice. Top up with Coca-cola and top with lemon slices.

I found that the Tequila was slightly too prominent in the mix and will be revisiting this one when I’ve burnt off all the calories consumed in the drink above…