Cocktails from £4.30, katzensuppe.com Boomshankar, Canacona Boomshankar isn't fancy but it has a big, old-fashioned beach cocktail list and the best sunset spot in Goa – with tables looking over the gorgeous Colomb Bay.
Once just shorthand for a tour bundling transport and lodging, these days it carries dingier connotations: high-rise hotels, beaches crammed with blistering bodies, lurid cocktails slurped from exposed belly buttons.
Whereas Punta del Este is all about cocktails and beer, hard bodies and hyperactivity, the winegrowing region of the south-west is as laid back as a sozzled gaucho enjoying his Sunday siesta.
"He had access to the shah, but he didn't have [formal] rank, he was never invited to diplomatic cocktails, because the Iranians wanted a degree of deniability [about their relationship with Israel] vis-a-vis the Arabs".
To test his claim, you only need to flick through any modern cocktail book to see just how many gin-based cocktails there are.
The invitations to the three-day forum promise access to influential figures – including a potential future occupant of the White House – in a relaxed setting, with time for cocktails, golf lessons, and fishing.
Mostly, they'd been doing jungle training and were now trying to reacquaint themselves with society through the medium of cocktails.
Chocolate-inspired cocktails are all attractively restrained and grown up, with kids enlivened by the fondue dishes.
Along with a comprehensive whiskey list that currently exceeds 90 varieties, Deutsch is always offering a couple of seasonal in-house infusion cocktails, like The Rubino Rosemary Vodka or Blueberry Gin.
Alongside selling collections of loose tea and teaware, the site displays 30 recipes for cocktails as varied as an oolong negroni to an Earl Grey martini, and for those looking to jazz up their meals, there are recipes for a jasmine creme brulee and tea-smoked duck.
While bitterness and saltiness can be important in cocktails, Rachel tells us, the balance between sweetness and acidity is paramount.
