New creations and reimagined classics: Three summer cocktails made with Pembroke Dock-based Portafortuna XO.

The Mediterranean has always been an inspirational arena for cocktails that look and taste cool. At the heart of the coolest sun-drenched cocktails are sophisticated Brandies, Cognacs and Ports. No surprise that the Pembroke Dock-based creators of Portafortuna – the world’s first blend of Port & Brandy augmented with Cognac – have released a collection of summer cocktails to make the most of this unique drink during the summer months.

Portafortuna XO marries 2016 vintage port with 15-year-old XO Brandy, augmented with Cognac and a bespoke recipe of hand-crafted, natural flavours: dark chocolate, burnt orange, rich vanilla and black cherry.

It’s the first brand in 300 years to create a new style of drink by blending, maturing and bottling the fortified wine of port with the distilled spirit of brandy, making the world’s first fortified spirit, “Spirito Fortificato”.

Portafortuna’s rich, sweet flavours blended with Port and Brandy make it a year-round drink – perfect for winter after-dinner toasts, and equally good in a summer cocktail.

The name Portafortuna means “lucky charm”. It was invented by Portafortuna XO founder Owen James after drinking a toast with a group of friends in the Duomo Bar in front of the Duomo di Milano in Italy. Nobody could agree on the ideal drink to raise as a lucky charm in a toast, so Owen decided to create one.

Portafortuna XO’s recipe and process took eight years to perfect. Its precise recipe will remain secret, but some of the stages include barrel blending select vintage port and brandy, harmonising the flavours to mitigate their harsher tones, ice filtering the master blend, amplifying selected natural flavours present in the blend, reducing the sugar levels, calming the acidity, and optimising the final level of alcohol at 27.5% for stability and performance.

Portafortuna XO is available from portafortuna.co.uk and from selected stores nationwide.

The new Portafortuna cocktail recipe book can be downloaded free of charge here and three of the recipes are included below and can be published free of charge.

Owen James said:

“We’ve been delighted by how well Portafortuna works in a range of cocktails, including summer classics and some sensational new recipes our mixologists have created in our cocktail lab. These are the perfect drinks for a summer toast.”

Three summer cocktail recipes from Portafortuna:

XO.XO

The marque of quality and experience sealed with a kiss.

Add Portafortuna XO, Lychee Monin and ice cubes to the shaker and roll it until all the ingredients are sufficiently cooled.

Pour your drink from one shaker to the next, to mix gently without over-diluting or trapping air bubbles inside.

Pour into a martini glass and top it up with Prosecco.

Garnish with orange peel and a piece of chocolate.

75ml PORTAFORTUNA XO

15ml Lychee Monin

35ml Prosecco

6-8 ice cubes

Scarlet Storm

The Mediterranean has no weather guarantee, so sometimes you just need great friends, good drinks and an umbrella.

Build 4-5 ice cubes, slices of lime and mint leaves to the top of a Hi-ball glass. Muddle fresh ginger and celery salt to taste and pour on top of the ice cubes. Pour Portafortuna, allowing it to cascade slowly over the ice cubes. Add fiery ginger beer and lime juice and stir slowly and well.

Garnish with a lemon wheel and mint leaves.

60ml PORTAFORTUNA XO

70ml Fiery Ginger Beer

15ml Lime Juice

Fresh Ginger

Celery Salt

Martini De Capri

Ingredients

25ml PORTAFORTUNA

25ml Premium Vodka

10ml Black Raspberry Liqueur

30ml Pomegranate Juice

Method

Not a true martini, but when you are in Capri, there are no rules.

Combine Portafortuna, Vodka, Black Raspberry liqueur and

pomegranate juice then shake over ice. Strain into a chilled Coupe

glass and garnish with Mediterranean colours.

One of the most frequently cited theories is that ‘Professor’ Jerry Thomas, an

influential 19th century bartender, invented the Martini at the Occidental Hotel in

San Francisco, (est. 1850s – 1860s