Cocktails to shake off the cold
The UK’s love for mixed drinks has never been stronger and it’s predicted that the cocktail market will account for 10% of spirits sales by 2020. So why not welcome the colder winter months by upselling with some comforting cocktails?
Here are a few ideas to get you started...
The Real McCoy Berry Blazer
When asked for “some hellfire that’ll shake me right down to my gizzard”, Jerry Thomas allegedly gave his guest what he was after... By setting fire to cask-strength whiskey and water, he served up his hellfire, immortalising the Blue Blazer. The world’s first celebrity bartender, Jerry popularised many of the cocktails we drink today and this is a twist on his 1850 creation.
Ingredients
100ml The Real McCoy 5 Year Aged Rum
30ml hot water
1 spoonful agave nectar (or to taste)
4 raspberries
4 blackberries
6 orange peel rounds
Method
Heat up two metal jugs – the ones used to make cappuccinos are perfect.
Pour the rum into one and the water, agave nectar, raspberries, orange and blackberries into the other.
Set fire to the rum and pour into the jug with the water. Pour from one jug to the other three to four times.
To extinguish the flames place the empty jug on top of the flaming one, cutting off the oxygen.
Pour into two balloon glasses.
Warning! It's a hot one!
Hyde's Irish Coffee
Irish coffee was created back in the 1940s in Ireland. When a group of weary American passengers arrived to a cold and soggy Irish winter, their host Joe Sheridan decided to add some whiskey to their coffees to warm them up. This ‘Irish coffee’ quickly became a popular concept in the USA, Ireland and beyond. Our take on it incorporates some warming whiskey and sweet hazelnut liqueur.
Ingredients
25ml Hyde Single Grain Irish Whiskey
75ml coffee
2 teaspoons sugar
5ml Fratello Hazelnut Liqueur
30ml double cream
Method
Dissolve sugar into the freshly-brewed coffee and add Hyde Whiskey, stir and wait for the brew to still.
Pour into a preheated stemmed glass.
Half whip the cream with Fratello (it shouldn't be too stiff or too liquid).
Gently pour the whipped cream and Fratello over the coffee using the back of a warm spoon.
A perfect Irish coffee should look just like a Guinness!
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Jessica Broadbent
Jess cut her teeth in the drinks industry throwing muddlers around behind the bar at Be At One. After a brief stint as an education journalist she found her way back to booze in the rather more sophisticated arena of wine, and was shown the ropes by the very best wine educators at Bibendum.