We all like a cocktail or 10 come Christmas and here at Twisted Gifts we are no different. Now there are many types of Christmas cocktails and tbh we all have different tastes.
Take The Artist at Twisted Gifts. Now he will create you something that makes you sit back and think wow. It takes him 5 minutes and about 10 different substances to create but in all fairness it's a bloody good Christmas cocktail. I put it down to his Scandinavian connections.
Myself, however, I prefer a typical type of Christmas cocktail. Below I will list some of the Christmas Cocktails I enjoy however before I do that I will stand aside and let Mr Artist share his strange brew of Christmas cocktails before I share my list.
Enjoy and we hope you have a bloody drunken Christmas.
Enjoy and we hope you have a bloody drunken Christmas.
COFFEE & COKE
Ingredients:
- 1 oz. Rittenhouse Rye
- 0.25 oz. Gran Classico
- 0.25 oz. Mancino Rosso Vermouth
- 1 oz. espresso
- 1 dash chocolate bitters
- 1 oz. of Coca-Cola, to top
Method
Add all ingredients except Coca-Cola to a shaker tin. Shake hard for 10 seconds and double strain into a rocks glass with ice. Top with cold Coke and garnish with an orange slice.
Old fashioned
Ingredients
- 2 tsp sugar syrup or 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1-2 dashes Angostura bitters
- splash of water
- 60ml Scotch whisky or bourbon
- soda water (optional)
- orange slice
- maraschino cherry (optional)
Method
Put the sugar, bitters and water in a small tumbler. Mix until the sugar dissolves if using granulated. Fill your glass with ice and stir in the whisky. Add a splash of soda water if you like and mix. Garnish with the orange and cherry.
Long island iced tea
Ingredients
- 50ml vanilla vodka
- 50ml London dry gin
- 50ml reposado tequila
- 50ml rum
- 50ml triple sec
- 50-100ml fresh lime juice
- ice
- 500ml cola
- 2 limes, cut into wedges
Method
- Pour the vodka, gin, tequila, rum and triple sec into a large (1.5l) jug, and add lime juice to taste. Half fill the jug with ice, then stir until the outside feels cold.
- Add the cola then stir to combine. Drop in the lime wedges.
- Fill 4 tall glasses with more ice cubes and pour in the iced tea.
Zombie
Ingredients
- 25ml dark rum (or a mixture of dark rum and golden rum)
- 25ml white rum (or a mixture of white rum and overproof rum)
- 50ml lime juice
- 150ml pineapple juice
- ice
- 1 tsp grenadine
Garnish
- wedge of orange
- maraschino cherries
- mint sprig
Method
- Pour the rums and fruit juices into a shaker filled with ice and shake hard until the outside of the shaker feels really cold.
- Strain the mixture into a tall glass or hurricane glass filled with ice, then slowly pour in the grenadine to colour the drink.
- Skewer the orange wedge and cherries on a cocktail stick. Garnish the drink with mint sprigs and the skewered fruit.
Now for my list of traditional Christmas cocktails.
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Manhattan - RYE WHISKEY, CITRUS KICK
Ingredients
- 50 ml rye whiskey
- 12.5 ml Martini Rosso (red vermouth)
- 12.5 ml dry vermouth
- 2 dashes of orange bitters
- 1 orange
Method
- Stir the whiskey, vermouths and bitters together over ice.
- Strain well into a chilled Martini glass.
- Use a speed-peeler to add a strip of orange peel, to garnish.
Christmas Cosmopolitan - The Perfect Christmas Cocktail
Ingredients
- CHRISTMAS-INFUSED VODKA
- ½ a fresh red chilli
- 1 lime
- 1 clementine
- 1 lemon
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3-4 cloves
- a few pink peppercorns
- 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
- 700 ml quality vodka
- CHRISTMAS COSMOPOLITAN
- ½ a pomegranate
- 40 ml Christmas-infused vodka or quality vodka
- 10 ml triple sec
- 15 ml lime juice , optional
- 1 orange , optional, to serve
Method
- Start by making the Christmas-infused vodka: deseed the chilli, then use a speed-peeler to cut three strips of peel each from the lime, clementine and lemon (9 pieces in total).
- Place it all in a large, dry non-stick frying pan on a medium heat, with the cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns and rosemary, then toast for a couple of minutes, or until fragrant. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
- Once cool enough to handle, poke all of the aromatics into the bottle of vodka (you could use a chopstick to push them down the bottle neck) and leave to infuse for at least three days.
- To make a Christmas Cosmopolitan, fill a cocktail shaker or jug with ice. Squeeze in the pomegranate juice, through your fingers – you want about 25ml – then add the remaining ingredients (except the orange).
- Shake or stir well, strain into your favourite martini glass and garnish with a strip of orange peel, if you like.
Pink pepper negroni - GIN, MARTINI ROSSO & CAMPARI
Ingredients
- 25 ml Bombay Sapphire gin
- 25 ml Martini Rosso , (red vermouth)
- 25 ml Campari , or bitter liqueur
- 5 whole pink peppercorns
- 1 blood orange , or regular orange
Method
- To flavour your Negroni, simply mix the gin, vermouth, Campari or bitter liqueur and peppercorns together.
- Leave overnight, or for a couple of days, so the flavours infuse, leaving you with a light, sweet, bitter, spicy dimension to your cocktail.
- Stir into a glass of ice and add a nice slice of orange to garnish.
Mulled wine
Ingredients
- 200 g caster sugar
- 6 cloves
- 3 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 oranges
- 1 lemon
- 2 x 750 ml bottles of red wine
- 100 ml crème de cassis
- 1 whole nutmeg , for grating
Method
- Place the sugar and all of the spices (except the nutmeg) into a large, heavy-bottomed pan.
- Add the bay leaves and use a speed peeler to pare the zest of the lemon and oranges. Add to the pan, slice the oranges in half and squeeze in the juice.
- Pour in just enough of the wine to cover all the ingredients. Place the pan over a medium heat, bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, or until all of the sugar is dissolved and you have a lovely fragrant syrup.
- Add the rest of the wine and the crème de cassis, then gently heat for 10 minutes, until warm and fragrant. Be careful not to let the mixture boil. Serve hot, with fresh nutmeg grated on top, and mince pies.
Limoncello
Ingredients
- 3 Amalfi lemons
- 250 ml 95% pure gain alcohol
- 250 g granulated sugar
Method
- Peel the lemons, then add to a lidded container along with the alcohol.
- Leave it to macerate for 1 week in a cool place.
- When the alcohol is ready, dissolve the sugar with 750ml of room temperature water in a large bottle.
- Strain the lemony alcohol through a fine sieve and add it to the sugar water. Shake well to combine and serve as a digestif after your meal.
Bloody Mary
Ingredients
- 2 parts Grey Goose vodka
- 4 parts organic tomato juice
- ½ part of lemon juice , (to taste)
- 4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
- 4 dashes of Tabasco , (or hot pepper sauce)
- 1 pinch of fleur de sel (or sea salt)
- 1 pinch of black pepper
- 1 stick of celery
- 1 bunch of aromatic herbs
- ice , cubed
Method
1. Add plenty of ice and all of your ingredients to a shaker or stirring glass
2. If you're using a shaker, tilt it backwards and forwards a few times to mix the ingredients without making the drink frothy. If you're stirring, you can do so vigorously
3. Pour the mix into a glass. Top up with fresh ice if it's not quite full
4. Add your garnishes. Any fresh herbs and a celery stick work well
5. Tabasco tip: if you're making Bloody Marys for a group of people, make a jug without spice and let people add their own Tabasco. Some like it hot, others not so much!
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2. If you're using a shaker, tilt it backwards and forwards a few times to mix the ingredients without making the drink frothy. If you're stirring, you can do so vigorously
3. Pour the mix into a glass. Top up with fresh ice if it's not quite full
4. Add your garnishes. Any fresh herbs and a celery stick work well
5. Tabasco tip: if you're making Bloody Marys for a group of people, make a jug without spice and let people add their own Tabasco. Some like it hot, others not so much!
Christmas Spirit card only £2.99
So there you have it. Even though we work 365 days a year we do tend to have a few tipples come Christmas and those Christmas cocktails is exactly what hits the spot here at Twisted Gifts. We hope you have a very merry time and join us in having at least one of our Christmas cocktail suggestions.
See you all next year.
See you all next year.