As the weather grows warmer we find ourselves reaching for the sherry, and in particular, a nice, chilled bottle of manzanilla sherry. Manzanilla is a dry style that hails from the seaside town of Sanlucar de Barrameda in Jerez, Spain. The town’s cool, humid seaside climate creates the ideal conditions for flor, the film of yeast that covers the ageing fino sherry, to develop, and its underneath this flor that manzanillas get their delicate aromas of nuttiness and sea-spray.
They also go great in classically-proportioned cocktails, such as the London Calling and Burrow Bar’s Gone Pear Shaped, whilst more oxidised and fuller bodied sherry styles, like oloroso, give greater heft to drinks.
London Calling
- 40ml gin
- 15ml lemon juice
- 15ml sugar syrup (1:1)
- 15ml fino sherry
- 2 dashes orange bitters
Shake all ingredients with ice, and strain. Garnish with grapefruit twist.
Created in 2002 by Chris Jepson, Milk & Honey London.
This drink is rightly called a modern classic, and it’s one that comes to mind immediately when bartenders are thinking of using dry sherry in a drink; the salty, nutty character of manzanilla sherry works best.
Dunhill
- 30ml Generous Gin
- 30ml oloroso sherry
- 30ml dry vermouth
- 10ml curacao
- 5ml absinthe
Rinse a rocks glass with the absinthe. In a mixing glass, stir down remaining ingredients. Strain over quality ice in the absinthe-rinsed glass. Garnishw with a fat lemon twist.
Adapted from a recipe Talia Baiochi’s book, Sherry.
Gone Pear Shaped
- 30ml white rye whiskey
- 10ml dry sherry
- 15ml génépi liqueur
- 15ml lime juice
- 15ml pear and dill syrup
Shake all ingredients and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Recipe adapted from Burrow Bar, Sydney.
This drink was quite a find, and it strikes a fine balance between each of the five ingredients. You’ll want to craft a pear and dill syrup that doesn’t go overboard with the dill; instead, you want one that fits snugly with earthiness of the génépi and the tang of the fino sherry.