Christmas Cocktails

SLOE GIN GIMLET

*Pre chill your glasses in the freezer before for maximum enjoyment.

• 60ml sloe gin

• 25ml fresh lime

• 15ml sugar syrup or honey (if using honey, give the mix a stir in the shaker before adding ice or it’ll turn out a sticky mess)

• Whack it all in your shaker, along with plenty of ice, give a good strong shake to combine and chill, then strain into your chilled martini glass. Garnish with a wee old fashioned lime twist because, isn’t it cute?

SPICED APPLE SOUR

Fluffy, fresh, balanced, & warming. A certified crowd pleaser.

• 50ml dark or spiced rum

• 50ml Granny Smith apple juice

• 15ml fresh lemon juice

• 10ml maple syrup infused with cloves overnight

• 1 egg white

• Shake it all up (without ice first), until it’s fluffy in texture.

• Then add ice to the shaker and give it a firm shake. Strain into a rocks glass and garnish with some grated nutmeg.

GINGER FIZZ

Possibly too simple a drink to bother including a recipe, but this Fever-Tree Spiced Orange Ginger Ale for me just tastes like Christmas bottled. It’s tangy, warming, and goes well with your preferred dark spirit. It also slaps with Seedlip Spice 94 for alcohol-free.

• 50ml spirit of choice

• 150ml chilled FT Spiced Orange Ginger Ale

• Garnish with a big, juicy citrus wheel

• Simple, bright, balanced. Maybe even one to convince non-whisky lovers on a whisky tipple.

WINTER NEGRONI

Batch this one up ahead of time and keep in the freezer. Recipe makes 10.

• Infuse overnight into 3 separate jugs:

  • JUG 1: 200ml Gin with the skin of a whole orange (use a potato peeler to peel it off and avoid the white pith as much as you can!) you can also just use an orange gin if you have it, but I like the oily texture provided by the citrus peel.

  • JUG 2: 200ml Campari with 2 x cinnamon sticks and handful of sultanas

  • JUG 3: 200ml sweet vermouth and 1 tablespoon ground coffee

• Strain everything - (use a cheesecloth or fine strainer for the vermouth!)

• Then into a couple of empty bottles divide the mixture and keep in the freezer ready to serve over block ice

• SERVING:

• Add together into a large botte:

  • 100ml orange infused gin

  • 100ml spiced Campari

  • 100ml coffee vermouth

  • 100ml filtered water

• This will give you 10 negronis., so pour 100ml of this mix over block ice into a glass and garnish with orange twist and a star anise

DECEMBER DAIQUIRI

Because a simple Daiquiri is absolutely in my top 3 cocktails, I made a winter version so I can enjoy it all year round.

Into a shaker add:

• 50ml dark rum of choice

• 25ml spiced syrup (100ml sugar, 100ml water, hard spices like star anise, cinammon stick, black peppercorns and clove)

• 25ml fresh pink grapefruit juice

• 15ml fresh lime

• Shake extra hard with lots of ice, and strain into your chilled martini glass.

• Garnish with lime

WHITE RUSSIAN

I don’t know why but this cocktail always makes me feel festive. It’s simple to do and always gets a great reaction so I recommend you give it a shot this Christmas.

Into a rocks glass, add:

• 25ml Vodka

• 25ml Coffee Liqueur

• Fill the glass with ice

• Gently pour double cream over the back of a tablespoon to layer over the coffee liqueur mixture.

• I like to grate dark chocolate on top and add a lil squeeze of orange peel too!