Christmas Cocktails

With Christmas around the corner & bars all over the world getting the usual orders of Irish coffee, mulled wine & hot toddies into the mix as people get into the Christmas spirit we at Cocktails For You would like to help bartenders create & inspire them with some of our own recipes to get into the Christmas mood for!

Name: Christmas Cosmo Ingredients: 40ml Vodka 20ml Mandarin Napoleon

25ml Lime Juice

40ml Cranberry Juice

2 Dashes of Cranberry Bitters

Method: Shake & Strain Although originally popularised by the infamous Sex & the City the inclusion of cranberries drives this definitely into the holiday season. Taking out the triple sec & substituting some Mandarin Napoleon drives this firmly into the festive season.

Name: Napoleon Coffee Ingredients: 40ml Mandarine Napoleon⁠ 100ml Filtered Coffee⁠ 20ml Brandy cream⁠

Method: Shake & Strain then layer Our twist on the classic Irish coffee for a more fruity & sweeter version combining with brandy cream instead of classic. Velvety, smooth & delicious!

Name: Sloe Royale Ingredients: 25ml Sloe Gin Top up with Champagne Dash of Peychauds Bitters Method: Build

Celebration calls for bubbles! Using the basic formula of the Kir Royale substituting the Creme De Cassis for Sloe Gin instead gives a less sweet more dry kick to the cocktail. Sloe berries were historically picked after the 'first frost' as it made them taste better. The Peychaud's gives an extra layer of complexity & longer finish.

Name: The Grinch

Ingredients: 60ml Christmas Gin 20ml Lemon Juice 10ml Sugar Syrup Top up with The Basil Soda

Method: Build Although many of us love the festive period of New Year & Christmas there are definitely many of us who are the "Grinch" during this season. For those just wishing to escape all the fanfare & cold it good to try something that brings us back to more refreshing times whilst still being a little bit Christmassy.

Name: Alternative Highball

Ingredients: 30ml Don Q Vermouth Cask Finish 2 Dashes of Gin Barrel Aged Orange Bitters Topped up with Elderflower Tonic

Method: Build Highballs are the drinks du jour of the 2019 calendar but also the way forward when it comes proper pairing of spirits with mixers. The usual G&T can go along way but there's many ways to explore new spirit categories using the good old highball category. Try the above rum alternative for a most delicious winter warmer!

Name: Winter Flip

Ingredients:

40ml Shackleton Whisky

20ml Pedro Ximenez Sherry

5ml Dark Sugar Syrup

1 Whole Egg

2 Dashes of Angostura Bitters

While Flip's & Nog's were definitely a winter treat all over the Britain where they were first invented the classic recipes can be played with to bring out bigger flavour profiles than the classics. Using the raisin like flavours of Pedro Ximenez combined with the clove notes of Angostura bitters gives silky texture & full-bodied kick.