‘Tis the season to sip back with a fresh cocktail and have yourself a merry little tipple! Whether you’re selecting cocktails for a work party or pairing recipes to your festive menu for family and friends, these cocktails shout ‘Happy Holidays’. They’re easy to make and oh-so-tasty.
And if alcohol is not your go-to, have a look at our alcohol-free cocktails that are sure to tantalise your tastebuds here.
1. Merry Manhattan
Ingredients
– 60ml bourbon
– 30ml dry vermouth
– 2 dashes of aromatic bitters
– 5 tsp spiced simple syrup*
– Sprinkle of edible glitter
Method
1. For the simple syrup, combine 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and cook until all the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and add a 2inch piece of ginger peeled and sliced, 2 cinnamon sticks, 2 star anise and 4 lightly crushed cardamom pods. Leave the spices to steep for at least an hour before straining your spiced simple syrup into a glass jar. Cover and store your leftover syrup in the fridge.
2. Once your simple syrup is ready, combine all your cocktail ingredients in a shaker with a handful of ice; give it a vigorous shake until you see the outside of the shaker becoming frosty.
3. Pour the content into a tumbler and garnish with some edible glitter.
2. Rudolph’s Sleigh Side Car
Ingredients
– 25 ml Lemon juice, raw
– 7 ml ginger syrup
– 7 ml cinnamon syrup
– 30 ml Remy Martin
– 15 ml Cointreau
– 4-6 dashes Angostura bitters
– 1 tablespoon sugar, granulated
– 1 lemon peel as garnish
Method
1. Wet the rim of your glass and roll in sugar to create a sugared rim.
2. Shake the rest of the ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker.
3. Serve in a sugar rimmed glass, with a lemon twist garnish.
3. Old Fashioned Vixen
Ingredients
– 60ml bourbon
– 3 dashes aromatic bitters
– 1 lemon peel
– Cinnamon stick for garnish
– 4 teaspoons cardamom simple syrup*
Method
1. For the cardamom syrup, toast 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Add 1 cup of organic cane sugar, 1 cup of water, 1 lemon peel, 1 cinnamon stick and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Stir the mixture over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Leave it to simmer for 20 minutes and then remove the saucepan from the stove. Allow it to cool completely before straining your cardamon simple syrup into a glass jar. Cover and store in your fridge.
2. Add your cardamom simple syrup and aromatic bitters to a short glass. Give the syrup and bitters a swirl around in your glass before adding ice, bourbon and lemon peel, and stir.
4. Dashing Modern Mule
Ingredients
– 30ml fresh lime juice
– 30ml simple syrup
– 45ml vodka
– 4-6 dashes aromatic bitters
– Ice
– Ginger beer
– A lime wheel & candied ginger to garnish
Method
1. Mix your lime juice, simple syrup and vodka into a shaker, then add ice.
2. Shake and strain into a glass filled with ice. Add the bitters and top up with ginger beer, then stir.
3. Add a lime wheel and candied ginger to garnish. Viola!
