This may not be the most flattering outfit(!), but I had to get a little festive to show you how to make my favourite Winter cocktail of 2023 (so far!), the Winter Punch.
Features my purchases from: Dubliner Irish Whiskey, Red Leg Rum, Disaronno, TheZestCo, Luxardo & Tesco.
1.5oz (45ml) Bourbon 0.75oz (22.5ml) Spiced Rum 0.75oz (22.5ml) Amaretto 0.75oz (22.5ml) Cranberry Juice 1 tsp (5ml) lemon juice or orange juice Lemon or orange zest and cherries for garnish
Shake everything except the garnish with ice and strain into a coupe or cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon zest and cherries.
Juleps hadn’t really been on my radar until recently – perhaps surprisingly given my love of the classics!
Yesterday I did my regular cocktail session with the P&O Cruises – UK Fan Page, and the juleps were the perfect collection of drinks for a crazy-hot day!
Juleps are a short drink, sweetened slightly and packed with ice… choose you favourite spirit, a syrup or liqueur and some herbs (usually mint), crack some ice and you’ve got the ingredients for a delicious julep!
Classic Mint Julep
The ultimate classic, which is always worth a try… with origins in the 1600s, this mix of alcohol and herbs, sweetened with sugar or honey, was once a way to administer medicines – with this you really can say “It’s medicinal” 😉
The name ‘julep’ followed much later, and the type of alcohol changed too. Where once it would likely have been brandy, whisky became popular – especially in America with the Kentucky Cup – and I really enjoy whisky or dark rum in mine.
Traditionally served in a silver or copper julep cup, it’s not unusual to now serve this in a rocks glass or small wine glass.
My favourite so far: 2.5oz Mackmyra Björksav 0.5oz sugar syrup (2:1) 4-5 mint sprigs
In a chilled julep cup or glass, gently muddle the herbs in the syrup. Add the whisky, then fill half the cup with crushed ice. Give it a stir and fill the rest of the cup with crushed ice, making a small mound on top. Garnish with mint leaves.
Fancy a twist on the classic?
The julep is a great cocktail that you can adapt to suit what you have available, here are some recipes to give you some ideas…
A Classic Gin Martini has long been one of my favourite cocktails… I tend to make it with a 6:1 ratio of gin to vermouth, though of course a Martini is quite a personal thing and finding your own preference can take some time 😉
This was, of course, one of my chosen recipes for my Martini Day video, together with an Appletini and an Espresso Martini…
Martinis and Martini-style cocktails often need only a few ingredients, making them a good choice for cocktails at home.
The Appletini is lovely for summer – crisp and clean, with a choice of vodka or gin, the apple flavour makes a refreshing and very easy to drink cocktail!
Ohhh, but then there is the Espresso Martini… perfect for after dinner drinks, this is a recipe I am at last happy with. The vanilla vodka makes all the difference here, but if you don’t want to splash out on vanilla vodka, plain vodka with just a drop of vanilla essence is a great alternative.
It wasn’t hard to choose a gin to showcase for World Gin Day… I knew I wanted to go for something outside of the UK and recently I’d purchased Mackmyra’s Lab Distillery Organic Gin, which I may have fallen in love with!
With botanicals including lingonberry, elderflower and mango, this is right up my street! Mackmyra are a Swedish distillery, mainly known for their whiskies, but their gin is great and well worth considering for your cocktail kit.
I chose three cocktails that I think work brilliantly with this gin, the Swedish 75 (appropriate, yeah?!), Flora Dora and Have a Heart.
Swedish 75 is the perfect Summer cocktail, whichever gin you choose… gin, lingonberry jam, lemon juice and fizz make for such a lovely spritz for BBQs, picnics or outdoor drinks. If you can’t get hold of lingonberry jam, choose raspberry or strawberry instead – I like the Strawberry Daiquiri jam from Baked in Belfast.
The Flora Dora is such a fabulous classic – long, cool and so easy to drink (oops!), with gin, Chambord, lime and ginger ale, or soda water if you prefer.
And Have a Heart packs a punch – quite literally… Swedish Punsch, gin, grenadine and lime gives a grown up cheekiness. No Swedish Punsch? No worries – switch for golden rum.
