Blueberry and Elderflower Virgin Mojito

Now that the excesses of Christmas are well and truly over, and the lashings of New Year champagne are a distant memory, most people find their minds drifting over to turning over a new leaf.  Health and wellness beckons, the spiaralizer comes out of the cupboard and the bottles of wine are replaced by green smoothies and gym gear.

Dry Janurary is the first port of call for a lot of adults; sick of glugging down the funny juice, you start to feel like your liver needs a bit of a break.  Did you know that 16% of UK adults took part in dry Janurary last year, I know, right?!

This Janurary I've teamed up with Fentimans to bring you a delicious mocktail that will have you in the party spirit, without the need for booze.  This blueberry and elderflower virgin mojito is so damn tasty you'll forget that the rum is even missing.

I used Fentimans Wild English Elderflower as the base for this cocktail. It's so delicious I'd be perfectly happy drinking it over ice, but add a bit of bluberry syrup and mint and you're on a whole other planet!

Blueberry and Elderflower Virgin Mojito

Ingredients

• For the blueberry syrup :
• 150ml water
• 50g blueberries
• 100g caster sugar
• For each mocktail :
• 10 mint leaves
• 1 1/2tbsp blueberry syrup
• juice from 1/2 a lime
• Fentimans Wild English Elderflower Soft Drink

Cooking Directions

1. For the blueberry syrup, combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce to heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
2. To make each mocktail put 1 1/2tbsp of syrup in the bottom of each glass followed by the mint leaves. Muddle the syrup and leaves together. Add the lime juice, fill up the glass with ice then pour over the Wild English Elderflower soft drink. Give the drink a little stir and garnish with a little extra mint and some lime wedges.

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St Clements Cocktail

Our final cocktail of the Fentimans three is a nice little fruity number, the St Clements.  This one is a virgin, so non-drinkers and designated drivers won't feel too left out of the festivities.

 

Freshly squeezed orange juice topped up with Fentimans bitter lemonade served over ice and garnished with a sprig of rosemary.  

If, like me, you like to spike your juice then I gotcha.  Simply add a shot of gin to the bottom of your glass to turn this puppy into a St Clements 75.  I'm planning on serving these up while decorating the Christmas tree this year.  I'm itching to throw on a bit of Elvis and shimmy around the living room sipping on a St Clements 75. I hope you'll join me! 

 

St Clements Cocktail

Ingredients

• 150ml freshly squeezed orange juice
• 150ml Fentimans Bitter Lemonade
• Crushed ice
• Rosemary for garnish
• Twist of lemon for garnish

Directions

1. Fill two champagne flutes with ice, half fill each glass with the freshly squeezed orange juice. Top up with the Fentimans Bitter Lemonade and garnish with a sprig of rosemary and a twist of lemon.

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Blackberry and Lemon Gin and Tonic

The second cocktail in our Fentimans based trio is this fruity take on a gin and tonic.  Another easy but impressive number this is the perfect laid back cocktail. Ideal for sipping while telling holiday anicdotes around a roaring fire, or a hot radiator at least.

For this cocktail I added a little sugar syrup to counteract the sharpness of the berries so to keep things nice and light I used the Fentimans Naturally Light Tonic Water from the 500ml mixers range.  A lovely light and sparkly tonic water you certainly can't tell it's low calorie, you can never be too carful around the festive season.  I'm looking at you, selection box!

Blackberry and Lemon Gin and Tonic

Ingredients

• 8 blackberries
• small handful min leaves
• 1 lemon
• 30ml sugar syrup
• 200ml gin
• Fentimans naturally low tonic water
• A few blackberries and a slice of lemon to garnish

Directions

1. In the bottom of two pretty glasses muddle together 4 blackberries, a few min leaves, a small dash of sugar syrup and the juice from 1/2 a lemon. Make sure everythings fully mixed together and mushed up.
2. Fill the glasses to the top with ice and pour over the gin. Top up with the Fentimans Naturally Light Tonic Water and garnish with a slice of lemon, a few blackberries and a sprig of mint.

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Cranberry Moscow Mule

With the festive season fast approaching we've all got our mind on one thing, parties. Or is that just me?  The first thing I think of when planning a party is an easy signature cocktail you can serve your guests on arrival.  A cocktail so simple but so beautifully tasty it'll have everyone reaching for their Instagram accounts, #thirstythursday.

When Fentimans got in touch with me asking if I'd like to try out some of their delicious mixers my mind instanly went wild with festive cocktail ideas.  So much so I couldn't narrow it down to just one, I narrowed it down to three instead. You're welcome.  Look out for the other two drinks coming later in the week.

For this Christmassy version of a Moscow Mule I used Fentimans Ginger Beer with Muddled Lime mixed with cranberry juice.  Check below for the full recipe.

First up is one of my absolute favorite cocktails to sip on a chilly night. There's something so charming about a Moscow Mule, I mean who wouldn't want to sip on a drink served in a copper mug?  I bought mine in TK Maxx but you can get some pretty hammered versions over here.

Cranberry Moscow Mule

Ingredients

• 120ml vodka
• 150ml Fentimans Ginger Beer with Muddled Lime
• 100ml cranberry juice
• 1 lime
• Handful of fresh cranberries
• Sprigs of rosemary

Cooking Directions

1. Fill two copper mugs with ice, pour over the vodka then squeeze half a lime into each mug. Pour in the ginger beer and top up with cranberry juice, stir together. Garnish with a handful of cranberries and a sprig of rosemary. 

*This post is sponsored by Fentimans

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Bloody Halloween Cocktails

A friend recently said to me 'Katie, in your house every day is Halloween.' She wasn't wrong! We're big fans of October 31st in this household and this year we'll be handing out candy, watching my favorite psycopath stalk his innocent camp councellors and sipping on these bloody beauties.  It'll be a graveyard smash!

A delicious mix of vodka, chamboard and pomegrannet juice these babies will have you in the Halloween spirit in no time.  You'll be itching to get out and party with those skelletons.

Bloody Halloween Cocktails

Ingredients

• 100ml Vodka
• 50ml Chamboard
• 250ml Pomegranate Juice
• 4 Tinned Lychees
• 4 Blueberries

Cooking Directions

1. To make the eyeballs simply pop a blueberry into the hollow of a tinned lychee and skewer two eyeballs onto a cocktail stick.
2. In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake together the vodka, Chamboard and pomegranate juice.
3. Strain into two ice filled glasses (top up with any remaining pomegranate juice)
4. and garnish with your gruesome eyeballs. Enjoy.

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Sunshine and Pimms

If there's anything that screams British Summer time its a nice cold glass of Pimms on a perfectly manicured lawn.  However, in my case I'll be enjoying it on a slightly balding garden with an annoying downward tilt.  Nothing a good old Pimms won't fix, I'll just close my eyes and imagine.

When TheBar.com got in touch and asked me to share a recipe for this traditional Summer drink I was delighted.  Normally I'd try and put my own spin on things but why tamper with perfection?  Although, I do have a hankering to turn this delicious cocktail into an ice lolly, more on that later...

The thing I love most about Pimms is the ease of putting the drink together.  It's just as simple to make a tipple for one as it is to make for ten making it the perfect drink to serve for a Summer garden party, weather permitting of course.  Mix up a few big jugs of Pimms and let the good times roll.

Pimms Summer Cup

Serves 1

Ingredients:

25ml Pimms Cup No1

2 Strawberries, quartered

Cucumber slices

Lemon slices

Sprig of mint

Ice

Lemonade

Ginger beer

Method:

Fill a tall glass with ice and add a few slices of cucumber, lemon and the strawberry quarters.  Pour over the Pimms then fill the glass half way with ginger beer, top up with lemonade.  Give it a little mix, pop a sprig of mint in the top and enjoy.

This is a collaborative post with theBar.com

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Fig Margaritas

The sun is shining, the weather is sweet yeah!  At long last, we're finally seeing some decent weather in good old blighty. While there's still a little bit of a nip in the air, the scent of barbecues and beers is fresh in the air.  Nothing excites us Brits like a little bit of sun.

As it's not quite Summer, and the weather can change at the snap of a finger I thought I'd stay clear of the typical sunshiney cocktail. These fig martinis are so delicious, the sweet but earthy element of the figs is just as perfect with grilled meat on the patio as it is pizza with the girls.

The figs are imparted into this recipe by ways of sugar syrup, make that part ahead (it keeps in the fridge for up to a week) so you can whip these beauties up at the drop of a hat.  Hostess with the mostess or what!  You just know people are gonna be talking about your mad cocktail skills for weeks.

Fig Margarita
Makes two drinks

Fig Syrup:
500g figs cut into quarters
125g caster sugar
500ml water

Margaritas:
100ml tequila
75ml fig syrup
25ml triple sec
25ml fresh lime juice

Method:

For the fig syrup: place all the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to the boil.  Turn the heat down to a steady simmer and let reduce to half the original volume.  Strain through a fine meshed sieve and leave to cool to room temperature.  Will keep in the fridge for around a week.

For the margaritas:  Place all of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.  Give it a good shake and strain over two ice filled glassed.  Garnish with a slice of lime and a slice of fig.
Place all 

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Mint & Passion Fruit Rum Punch

It's the bank holiday weekend here in rainy old Blighty, and if there's one thing us Brits love it's a jolly good knees up on an extra day off work.  What better way to celebrate than to whip up a nice fruity cocktail, even if it is grey and drizzly outside.

This is such a delicious cocktail and looks hella pro, the best thing is you can make it well in advance leaving you plenty of time to lap up all the compliments from your guests.  I've included the measurements for two cocktails bellow but feel free to double or even triple the recipe to keep you sauced up all weekend long.

Mint & Passion Fruit Rum Punch
Makes 2 cocktails

Ingredients:
Juice of 3 limes, plus an extra lime sliced thinly for decoration
3 passion fruit, plus extra to decorate
Handful of fresh mint, plus extra to decorate
1/2 stick of lemon grass, bruised and chopped into pieces
125ml sugar syrup
175ml white or golden rum
Fizzy water
Ginger beer
Ice

Method:
In a large jug stir together the lime juice, the pulp from three passion fruit, mint, lemongrass, rum and sugar syrup.  Muddle it all together with a wooden spoon and place in the fridge for at least an hour or up to 24 hours.

When ready to make your cocktail, strain the contents of the jug through a sieve making sure to press out all of the delicious liquid.  Fill two tumblers with ice and push two slices of lime down the side of each glass, using the ice to keep them in place.  Pour half of the fruity liquid in each glass and top up with tonic and ginger beer.  Top each cocktail with a sprig of mint and half a passion fruit.

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