Cocktail hour

Hans (JMP's resident mixologist, for newcomers) has been glued to his adored Daily Mail's free 'Cranford' DVD's, and it has only been with difficulty that it has been possible to persuade him to turn his attention to his blogging duties, and the continuation of his terrific A to Z cocktail challenge. Miss Mattie...the wonderful Imelda Staunton...and my dear, the outfits! He's been sitting a foot away from the television, sucking what he assures me is his thumb, enthralled by the mid 19th century period drama unfolding before him, and insisting on speaking only in 'Cranford dialogue'. For example, he tells me that last night 'he formed an attachment to' and 'walked out with' a bricklayer from Peckham. In the dungeon of a club in Shoreditch. For about two hours.

Anyway, after telling me that he recognised that 'my countenance was troubled' (I'd just told him to pull his finger out and give me the frickin' details of today's cocktail) Hans has shared the secret of a cocktail named, he says, after his 'beloved alma mater' (nonsense obviously, as far as I've been able to tell Hans spent most of his teenage years in a reform school in one of the loucher parts of Switzerland) - the Eton Highball Soda. Also known as the What Are We Going To Do With This Cherry Brandy That's Been Hanging Around For Ages, Oh God You Need Soda Water. Mix a measure each of gin and c.b. with two teaspoons of lemon juice and of sugar syrup. (If you don't have sugar syrup to hand, substitute two teaspoons of granulated sugar.) Shake, strain, and pour into a glass with plenty of ice. Top with the soda, and enjoy the unusual taste. First half pint's the worst, as my father would say.