What to do with the booze you got for Christmas
We all know Christmas is a great excuse to spoil loved ones, and those of us who always get alcoholic surprises can often be left with an odd array of things that were not too sure what to do with or how to drink them...
Well fear no more, i've compiled a list of popular Christmas and New Year booze gifts and what you might want to do with them at home.
Taylors 20yo Tawny Port
This classic christmas staple is often left til the end of the evening when the cheese is flowing. It's the one thing in my cabinet that ill use in a couple of drinks then it's left for a few months. You can always count on a half drunk bottle on your shelf, whatever time of year,
What to do with it?
As a classically sweet and syrupy liqueur i like to liven it up in a spritzer, it makes a great low alcohol drink thats perfect before dinner as a digestive or a party welcome cocktail.
50ml Taylor's 20yo Tawny Port
100ml Soda/Lemonade
10ml Lemon Juice
50ml Cranberry Juice
20ml Pinot Grigio Blush
Whack it all in a big wine glass with lots of ice
So simple, so tasty
Flat Champagne
Over done it on the old Vivvy Clikkit this year? Couldn't finish the bottle? Never fear! Your favourite champs don't have to go to the big cocktail in the sewers this year.
Try making champagne and grape ice cubes for spring time punches or just to liven up your glass of Sauvignon.
Simply pour your leftover champagne into an ice cube tray with a whole grape inside. Leave to freeze and pop out into a fresh glass of bubbles or even a glass of wine when you want.
The lovely flavours will merge into the rest of the drink as they melt and give you a yummy, cold and fresh twist on your basic drinks.
Try them in a White Sangria or a Champagne Punch with fresh berries, Champagne, Grapefruit Juice, Lemon and Sugar.
If you've not had enough Veuve this year why not grab a Magnum for Master of Malt...
Veuve Cliquot
Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 Rum
With a big rating from the Beverage Testing Institute Ron Zacapa is a gorgeously sweet yet fresh Rum made in Guatemala. It's got an above average price tag for the UK but always seems to be a staple Christmas gift for lots of people i know. This is because its sublime on its own or used as a solid cocktail base.
Not sure what to do with it?
Try this as a classic Old Fashioned. Bitters offset the sweetness of the Rum and a flamed orange zest brings out the dried fruit favours.
50ml Ron Zacapa
1 Tsp Demerara Sugar
4 drops Angostura Bitters
1 small orange zest.
Stir it all together with plenty of ice
Baileys Irish Cream
The good old Christmas staple is sadly left on the sideboard after the festive period gathering a kind of crystallized creamy goo around the lid....It's a tricky little thing to work with, and now there's a mountain of flavours to try you may even have more than one bottle left.
Baileys or any variety of Irish Cream is a great ingredient not just for drinking, but adding to desserts and coffee. Its rich and smooth texture is a great match with ice cream, or even blended into a cheesecake. With it's subtle alcohol and bold sweetness i love it in Espresso Martini's as it brings a great texture to the palate. For a relatively inexpensive product you can create
some great looking and tasting drinks for friends.
25ml Baileys Irish Cream (any flavour you like apart from the mint, no one likes the mint one in a cocktail)
25ml Cazcabel Coffee Tequila
10ml Vanilla Syrup
50ml Fresh Espresso
Shake it all up and enjoy
This delicious Single Malt Peated Whisky from Islay is up there in my top 20 drams. Nevertheless i understand so many people can't deal with the taste of peated whisky, its heavy, bold and full of flavour and some people just can't hack it.
They call it medicine, I call it awesome.
If you received a bottle of Laphroaig or a different kind of peated whisky for Christmas and it's not your favourite of things to drink, don't just leave it collecting dust til next year, try out some of these cocktails that actually showcase the flavours of the whisky without reminding you of a dentist surgery. On the other hand if you're like me whack another log on the fire and sit back with a healthy measusre, no ice please.
10ml Sweet Vermouth
25ml Macallan Gold
2 dash Angostura Bitters
Stir it all down and sip from a small martini glass. Its sweet and delicate.
100ml Heated Apple Cider
1 cinnamon stick
1pinch ground nutmeg
1tsp granulated sugar
10ml Lemon Juice
50ml Apple Juice
Heat it all up together then add the whisky.
A good January cosy night in with this cocktail livens the senses.
Unusual Gins
After conducting some lengthy research (not) i discovered that the majority of my booze loving friends all received some kind of Gin for Christmas. These days the market is inundated with fancy new flavours and Gins that really push the boundaries of classification all over the world. Its hard to advise what to do with these tipples apart from to drink with your favorite mixer, or to showcase the ingenious flavours chill it down into a martini. Either way if you were one of the lucky few to receive one of the following products, it probably means your'e a bit of a Gin nut and you know how you like it served
Unicorn Tears
From the guys at Firebox this one is even a bit out there for me. With real pieces of edible silver this gimmicky Gin 'liqueur' boasts real punchy citrussy and orange flavours.... you guys need to tell me what to do with this... i don't even know where to start.
Rock Rose
A great Gin from the Norterthly reaches of Scotland boasting a list of locally foraged ingredients.
This is real flavour sensation, get it with a good tonic water and plenty of ice. Plus the bottling is really cool and will no doubt look great on your shelf full or empty.
They call it medicine, I call it awesome.
If you received a bottle of Laphroaig or a different kind of peated whisky for Christmas and it's not your favourite of things to drink, don't just leave it collecting dust til next year, try out some of these cocktails that actually showcase the flavours of the whisky without reminding you of a dentist surgery. On the other hand if you're like me whack another log on the fire and sit back with a healthy measusre, no ice please.
Smoked Rob Roy
25ml Laphroaig10ml Sweet Vermouth
25ml Macallan Gold
2 dash Angostura Bitters
Stir it all down and sip from a small martini glass. Its sweet and delicate.
Hot Scotch
25ml Laphroaig100ml Heated Apple Cider
1 cinnamon stick
1pinch ground nutmeg
1tsp granulated sugar
10ml Lemon Juice
50ml Apple Juice
Heat it all up together then add the whisky.
A good January cosy night in with this cocktail livens the senses.
Unusual Gins
After conducting some lengthy research (not) i discovered that the majority of my booze loving friends all received some kind of Gin for Christmas. These days the market is inundated with fancy new flavours and Gins that really push the boundaries of classification all over the world. Its hard to advise what to do with these tipples apart from to drink with your favorite mixer, or to showcase the ingenious flavours chill it down into a martini. Either way if you were one of the lucky few to receive one of the following products, it probably means your'e a bit of a Gin nut and you know how you like it served
Unicorn Tears
From the guys at Firebox this one is even a bit out there for me. With real pieces of edible silver this gimmicky Gin 'liqueur' boasts real punchy citrussy and orange flavours.... you guys need to tell me what to do with this... i don't even know where to start.
Rock Rose
A great Gin from the Norterthly reaches of Scotland boasting a list of locally foraged ingredients.
This is real flavour sensation, get it with a good tonic water and plenty of ice. Plus the bottling is really cool and will no doubt look great on your shelf full or empty.
Scout and Sage 1st Label
Now if you got a bottle of this for Christmas consider yourself a very lucky person. Scout and Sage have just launched an incredible 1st Label Gin distilled in Cambridgeshire. The whole ideology of the people behind the Gin is to Scout out the best distillers in the UK and collaborate to create some amazing tipples. This means not only does each label showcase incredible wisdom and knowledge from the people that make it, but locally sourced ingredients too.
Check them out on facebook.
"Taken neat, Brecon gin is a big traditional juniper gin laced with coriander and revealing hints of spicy cinnamon. Add a mixer and the citrus freshness of oranges and lemons appear with nutmeg, liquorice and angelica in a supporting role. The characteristic flavours go well with tonic, ice and lemon on a warm summer’s day with a refreshing juniper in the lead role but Brecon’s traditional heritage is equally at home besides a roaring fire on a cold night and will bring back memories of long hot summers past."
Check out their website here for a great list of cocktails that really show the beautiful mixable nature of this Gin.
Happ New Year, Happy Imbibing!
Now if you got a bottle of this for Christmas consider yourself a very lucky person. Scout and Sage have just launched an incredible 1st Label Gin distilled in Cambridgeshire. The whole ideology of the people behind the Gin is to Scout out the best distillers in the UK and collaborate to create some amazing tipples. This means not only does each label showcase incredible wisdom and knowledge from the people that make it, but locally sourced ingredients too.
Check them out on facebook.
Brecon Gin
from the amazing people at the Penderyn Whisky Distillery comes Brecon, an awesome bold and intriguing Gin from Wales.
The guys at Penderyn say...
Check out their website here for a great list of cocktails that really show the beautiful mixable nature of this Gin.
Happ New Year, Happy Imbibing!
It’s a simple but more or less binding rule. Certain international superspies occasionally break it, *cough James Bond with his “special Martini”, cough*. However, it will serve the rest of us well. When you break it down, there are essentially two kinds of cocktail: aromatic cocktails, which contain only alcoholic ingredients; and sour cocktails, which contain citrus fruit (or occasionally other fruits, cream, egg, coffee etc). The former (which are often dry, boozy and occasionally bitter) should be stirred with ice, which results in even dilution and a smoother texture. The latter (which are often tangy, fruity and occasionally creamy) require shaking, which results in more amalgamation, more dilution and a slightly altered texture. Both can be diluted with water, soda, tea, champagne and so on, to form a third category: long drinks. Pretty much all else is variation. https://icemakershub.com/knox-ice-maker/
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