A very fino martini

For ➊
4 cl Bombay gin*
0.5 cl fino sherry

Stir gin and sherry over ice-cubes in a mixing glass.
Strain the drink (without ice!) into a pre-cooled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

*Optionally, replace gin with top vodka.
**Some recipes recommend 4 cl gin  + 2 cl manzanilla or fino

Red negroni

For ➊
4 cl gin
4 cl Campari
4 cl sweet (red) vermouth

In a mixing glass, add ingredients and cracked ice. Stir for at least 15 s.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Twist an orange peel and garnish.

The negroni was invented in Florence, Italy in 1919, at Caffè Casoni. Count Negroni invented it by asking the bartender, Fosco Scarselli, to strengthen his favorite cocktail, the americano, by adding gin rather than the normal soda water.
The 'negroni sbagliato' ("wrong negroni" in Italian) uses sparkling wine (e.g., prosecco) instead of gin.
Negroski is a recipe with vodka again as substitute for gin.
Cardinaloski is a negroski with some angostura drops.
Punt e Mes negroni instead replaces standard red vermouth with a specific, distinctively more bitter-tasting brand called Punt e Mes.
The cin cyn uses Cynar an artichoke based liquor, instead of Campari.
Pinkish negroni is made with pink wine (instead of gin).
A raultini is a variation using Aperol instead of Campari, giving its distinctive orange color, lighter alcohol content, and a bit of sweetness.
The most basic variation is served straight up in a martini glass with a splash of carbonated water floating on top of the alcohol mixture and a twist of lemon zest replacing the orange peel, known as the American version.
Other Italian versions substitute spumante brut or vodka for gin. A sparkling negroni is made with champagne or prosecco.

Orange chocolate martini

For ➊ cocktail
25 cl cold chocolate milk
3 cl of Grand Marnier orange liquor (or vodka) (from the freezer)*

Pour the chocolate milk into a chilled glass then add the Grand Marnier. Stir to combine.
Serve.

*For a more potent drink, use 3 cl of vodka and 3 cl of Grand Marnier.

White witch

For ➊ drink
3 cl vodka
3 cl crème de cacao
12 cl vanilla ice cream

Mix in blender until smooth.

Serve in chilled coupe glasses.

There is a long tradition of concoctions, supposedly drunk by witches of all kind. Though we may never know what brew the three witches cooked for Macbeth, evil was one of the main ingredients. In the sixties' cocktail culture, people went wild over the rather over-sweet and quite disgusting Witch's Brew, based on classic Italian strong herbal liquor Strega ('strega' meaning 'witch', the village of the distillers is believed to be a gathering place for all Italian witches), pernod and crème de menthe. As the good wicca took over, it was time for a more sophistaced and gentler witch's brew, such as this one, though there is still magic in the air.

Matcha martini

For ➊ drink
1 tbs matcha green tea sugar mix*
2 tbs water
2 shots vodka
ice

Dissolve 1 tbs of matcha/sugar mix into 2 tbs of water.

Pour into a shaker full of ice, add 2 shots of vodka.

Shake.

If it's too strong, top up with a little sparkling water.

*With pure matcha, use ½ ts of powder and 1 to 4 ts of cane sugar.
When matcha is not available, use ½ ts finely ground green tea from about 2 green tea bags.

Le cocktail Lumumba

For ➊
6 cl dark Cuban rum*
12 cl milk**
5 ts cocoa powder**
whipped cream*
chocolate shavings*

For the warm version, heat the milk to drinking temperature.

Add rum and cocoa. Stir.

Top with whipped cream and add chocolate shavings.

For the cold version, mix milk and cocoa (or use chocolate milk**). Add rum*. Pour on ice cubes.

*For the original version, use vodka. Omit cream and chocolate shavings. Use brandy instead, or an equal mix of brandy and coffee liquor.
**For the original version, use dark chocolate milk.

When after the Congolese independence in 1960, Patrice Lumumba became prime minister and declared himself a partisan of mild communism, his fate was sealed by murder. In the former motherland Belgium, his name was used to mix a quite racist, but delicious cocktail of chocolate milk and vodka (the Russian influence). After his death, he was considered a martyr by African nations and by the USSR who honored his legacy with a stamp.
The cocktail disappeared in Belgium but lived on in several versions, hot and cold, with rum substituting the vodka (suitable enough, as Cuban fighters were involved in the Congo wars). (Sometimes it is replaced with brandy and/or coffee liquor, omitting the milk).
The warm version comes close to a simple version of the mighty Mexican serpent's chocolate.

Watermelon lemonade

For ➋ glasses*
6 cl fresh-squeezed lemon juice
12 cl fresh watermelon puree
3 tbs simple syrup
18 cl cold water**
ice

Make syrup by heating 1 part of sugar with 1 part of water. Let cool when the sugar is dissolved. (Use half the quantity of water, and add cold water to cool it quicker.)

Purée the watermelon, and strain through a coarse strainer to remove seeds.

Stir it all together and serve over ice.

Garnish with a thin watermelon or lemon wedge.

*Keep proportions when making more.

**Use half spritz water to add bubbles.
***Add dash of vodka to have a cocktail.

****Replace water with dry white wine to have a wine cocktail. Adjust sugar level, depending on dryness of wine.