Lava cocktails: Most cocktails have two shots of liquor

“Most cocktails have two shots of liquor,” Leah Otieno tells us. She is giving us a crash course in making cocktails. The cocktail menu is written in colourful swirls of chalk on the blackboard behind her at Lava Latte.

It is a quaint artsy spot on 209 State House Road, selling food or drinks. Leah Otieno, the manager and one-third of the founding partners also doubles up as the mixologist and is pretty adept at it too. She is self-taught and never shies away from a challenge.

“Being self-taught is not an excuse to be mediocre. You have to work really hard. I had to immerse myself in cocktail books, websites and YouTube tutorials. I then had to experiment to perfect the art, so that making a good cocktail was more intentional than accidental,” she says with a chuckle.

She also runs Mshonaji, which has been in existence for two years. It deals with making custom clothes from African fabric or the client’s fabric of choice.

Leah is coincidentally in a beautiful print dress which she informs us is known as Atoti and is readily available for order from the fashion store.

“Mshonaji, is actually what brought me together with the other partners. My experience running Mshonaji made me the perfect fit to manage Lava Latte,” she explains.

She offers to show us how to make two common cocktails; the margarita and the mojito. “I like our mojito because it looks like it’s layered and tastes good. On the other hand, I love the margarita as it is quite potent. It is basically alcohol, lime juice and ice,” she tells us as she expertly moves around the bar.

We later try out the cocktails and love them almost more than she does. “I love seeing people enjoy my work. It is what keeps me going,” she says with a smile while watching us light up as we sip away.

Mojito

INGREDIENTS

2 shots of Captain Morgan

1 shot of lime juice

Mint leaves

1 shot of sugar syrup

Sprite

Ice cubes

Lemon wedge for garnish

METHOD

Put some ice cubes in a shaker.

Muddle mint leaves and put them in the shaker.

Add the lime juice, rum and sugar syrup and shake everything until condensation forms on the shaker.

Put more ice in a glass and pour in the liquid from the shaker.

Top it all off with Sprite for some extra fizziness.

Garnish with a lemon wedge.

Enjoy.

Margarita

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ shots of tequila

½ shot of Triple sec

1 shot of lime juice

Crushed ice cubes

Lemon slice

Salt

Grated lemon rinds

Lime wedge for garnish

METHOD

Run a lemon slice on the rim of your serving glass, then dip it in a bowl of salt and grated lemon rinds to create a beautiful rim.

Put some ice cubes in a shaker.

Add in lime juice, triple sec and tequila and shake it all together.

Sieve out the ice cubes as you pour the drink into the rimmed glass.

Garnish with a lime wedge.

Enjoy.