As much as I love wine, I also adore a solid mixed drink. There are days that call for a Bombay Sapphire and tonic with just a spurt of lime, while others call for a dry vodka martini with three olives, not two or four, but exactly three. Therefore, as we begin to wrap up our month long devotion to Spanish cava, all varying styles and types, it behooves me to mention some intriguing, and not so intriguing, cava mixed drink recipes we recently stumbled up in Las Buenas Companias: El Libro de los Cocktails de Cava by Jose Maria Gotarda. Given to us by the European Marketing Manager for Raventos i Blanc, Rosa Aguardo, this book was originally designed as a promotional tool for their wines. Although I was unclear how successful it was in marketing their cavas, I was crystal clear on the fact that Rosa preferred her cava pure, without any additional bells or whistles added. We, on the other hand, love to experiment with our cava, and of the 25 recipes compiled in the book, I’ve whittled the list down to the top five recipes I found interesting for one reason or another. So what you’ll find below is not only the recipe itself, but the hows and whys behind the creation of the drink.

Terciopelo Negro, Black Velvet

1/2 Guinness
1/2 Cava Brut

Ever been to an Irish bar and asked for a Black and Tan or Black Velvet? My first experience with a Black Velvet (Guinness and Woodpecker) left me speechless at 21 wondering the physics as to how they layered liquid on liquid. Thinking the Irish were mixed drink magicians, only later discovering that their passion for alcohol was more of an Olympic sport, I was humbly …