Olly Smith – Food for Thought

‘Tis the season for a tipple or two. From hot glühwein to bitter negronis and creamy Irish coffees, festive revellers up and down the country are celebrating Advent in the way they know best, with booze.

December is a time to come together to reflect, give, and show gratitude, but it is also a month of gluttony. A survey by Drinkaware found almost two-thirds of drinkers in the UK claim they overindulge on alcohol in the festive season, but what else gives you liquid confidence at tiresome festive parties or soothes the nerves when fighting with family over overcooked turkey? After all, everyone in No.10 seems to be off their rocker at Christmas time, so why not you?

Here to make sure you have an Epicurean Christmas is the drinks expert Olly Smith. Dubbed “the King of cocktails”, Smith – and his liver of steel – has made himself a glittering career in the world of drink. You may recognise him from BBC 1’s Saturday Kitchen, Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel or even from toasting fizz with Phil and Holly on ITV’s This Morning.

On top of this mountain of accomplishments and awards (he has been named International Wine and Spirits Communicator of the Year and Drinks Writer of the Year at the Great British Food Awards), he also hosts his own drinks podcast, A Glass With, interviewing an array of famous faces from Kylie Minogue to Ainsley Harriot, Dan Snow and Jay Rayner. 

Smith’s sixth book, the Home Cocktail Bible has come out just in time to be the perfect adult-stocking filler. With over 200 recipes it contains every cocktail you can think of. “Cocktails instantly invoke a sense of occasion,” writes Smith in the book. “Formal, relaxed, celebratory, era-evoking, mood-provoking or calmly reflective, these clever combinations are your fast-track to a world of liquid treats.”

“The idea for the book resulted from the last lockdown,” Smith tells me, “we needed to have more fun at home and find some means of entertainment.” The public had a clear penchant for cocktails over lockdown, as we saw when the clip of Stanley Tucci making a negroni went stratospheric. “Well, you want to feel like Tucci when making a drink, you want that sense of occasion,” Smith says, “I love what he [Tucci] did for cocktails – give him a knighthood!”

Smith decided to organise his new book around spirits you might have lying around in your drinks cupboard. “I would dive deep into gin and work from that. I wanted the bible to be led by convenience, and whatever you have to hand at home,” he says. “Take the southside cocktail, for example. It’s the most simple recipe, and you muddle a bit of mint, add some simple syrup, gin and freshly squeezed lemon juice. It only takes 30 seconds, and it tastes incredible.”

Other than Gin, the chapters are divided into Vodka, Tequila, Brandy, Rum, Whisky & Bourbon, Back of the Cupboard, Wine and Retro Shooters. Within each section, Smith has included graphic flavour wheels to offer inspiration with what works best with each spirit. More of a Vodka fan and after something fruity? Add a splash of cherry liqueur. Prefer a spicy Tequila drink? Rim your glass with chilli salt. 

Smith continues: “To come up with a recipe, I’d ask myself: what are the boundaries of a spirit? Where would you go? And what new twists and classic twists could I add? For example, I remember wanting a festive cocktail that I could drink all year round. I thought: what if I put sake, fino sherry, and white port together? I sipped it and thought wow, and then the flavours lingered for long after. It was like an eternal gong! And that’s now the name of the cocktail.”

The drink he is proudest of in the book is the “Olly Daquiri”. Smith was apprehensive about naming a cocktail after himself but thought “to hell with it”. If Hemingway could do it, he could too. “The drink reminds me of Christmas,” says Smith, “it is citrusy and sweet, and it has a real depth and dimension to it. It is also a properly beautiful and bright orange colour that is effortless to make. It truly is disco fuel.”

Does Smith do a Gregg Wallace and enjoy his first drink at 6:30 am on Christmas day? “Not that early!” he says, “my first drink tends to be more late morning, a cocktail followed by some fizz alongside some smoked trout before a long banquet with raucous music and a late disco in the kitchen.” Soon after, like the rest of the inebriated nation, Smith and his family pass out on the sofa.

For Christmas Day, Smith recommends a Poinsettia, a dazzlingly red drink that could rev up a room, made up of Cointreau, cranberry juice, and champagne.

“I love people, and I love leisure, and drink is a conduit to all those things,” Smith says. I couldn’t help but wonder who is the best person Smith had enjoyed a cocktail with? “Roger Moore, without question,” he quickly replies. “He loved a gin martini as much as a glass of Sancerre. Meeting him was like meeting my hero, and then he started talking about all the strife around the world, from HIV to education for women in Afghanistan, and he became my hero all over again.” 

Over the years, Smith and Moore became close-knit, united by their shared love and passion for all things gastronomic. The last time Smith saw Moore before he died was at lunch in Monaco; Smith had got up to leave and had a helicopter waiting for him – naturally. Moore turned to Smith before leaving and remarked humorously , “very Bond”.

For his last ever drink, Olly Smith picked his The Eternal Gong cocktail – “because it lasts forever.” 

Please remember to drink responsibly.

Olly Smith’s recipe for an Olly Daquiri 

Ernest Hemingway famously came up with his own signature Daiquiri using maraschino cherry and grapefruit as the key ingredients. Taste my signature Olly Daiquiri for a simple, scrumptious alternative. Using a bunch of my personal favourite flavours, it’s easy and precise, and if I do say myself, it’s tastier than Hemingway’s. Whether it’ll end up sipped as widely worldwide, time will tell. It’s great to make at home, and I also recommend photographing the recipe for an Olly Daiquiri to take to parties and bars to make sure you can always get a ready supply. It really is utterly splendid!

Ingredients

60ml (2oz) Havana Club Especial rum (double aged)

22.5ml (3/4oz) freshly squeezed blood orange juice

22.5ml (3/4oz) freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice

7.5ml (1/4oz) red wine syrup (see page 11)

1 tsp soft brown sugar (or simple syrup made with

demerara sugar; see page 11)

Ice: Cubed

Garnish: Orange twist

Equipment: Cocktail shaker, strainer

Method

Fill a shaker with ice

Add all the ingredients

Shake vigorously until the shaker is frosted

Strain into a chilled glass

Garnish with an orange twist