Winter mulled drinks
Mulled wine
Ingredients
- 1 bottle of red wine (a good value red wine but not one that’s too rough)
- 1 sachet of Old Hamlet mulled wine spices
- (Optional) Brandy, oranges and lemons
Method
- Pour the bottle of red wine into a saucepan.
- Add the sachet and heat gently without boiling for a delicious and potent mulled wine.
- For special occasions, add a dash of brandy and sliced fruit – oranges and lemons are perfect.
Mulled cider
Method
- Add one Old Hamlet mulled cider muslin sachet to the cider in a saucepan and heat gently. Do not boil.
- Let the mixture to stand for 10 minutes to allow the spices infuse through the cider. The longer the Old Hamlet mulled cider sachet is left in, the spicier the mulled cider will be.
- Remove the muslin sachet, reheat and serve piping hot, with a slice of apple for an added flourish.
- For a chilled cider drink: Heat the sachet with cider as before, removing the mulled cider sachet after 10 minutes, then leave the mixture to cool and chill.
Rum Punch
Ingredients
- 1 sachet of Old Hamlet rum punch
- 200 ml (7 fl oz) of dark rum
- 100 ml (3½ fl oz) of brandy
- 700 ml (25 fl oz) dry sparkling apple juice
Method
- Stir the contents of one Old Hamlet rum punch sachet into the rum and brandy.
- Heat gently until the sugar is dissolved. Leave to stand for 10 minutes.
- For hot rum punch: the dry sparkling apple juice to the above mixture. Re-heat but do not allow to boil. Strain and serve piping hot.
- For refreshing chilled rum punch: leave the mixture to cool, strain then add the dry sparkling apple juice and chill.
Mulled Cranberry Juice
Method
- Add one Old Hamlet Spiced Cranberry Juice Sachet to a litre of cranberry juice in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
- Allow the mixture to stand for 10 minutes to let the spiced mixture infuse. The longer the sachet is left, the spicier the drink will be.
- Remove the muslin sachet, reheat and serve piping hot with a slice of orange or lemon if desired.
Mulled Apple Juice
Method
- Add one Old Hamlet Spiced Apple Juice sachet to one litre of clear apple juice into a saucepan, and bring to the boil then remove from the heat.
- Allow the spiced apple mixture to stand for 10 minutes to let the mulling spices infuse.
- Remove the Old Hamlet Spiced Apple Juice sachet, reheat and serve piping hot, perhaps with a slice of apple.
- For Chilled Apple Juice: heat the sachet with apple juice as before, removing the muslin sachet after 10 minutes, leave the mixture to cool then chill. Serve with lots of ice and a slice of apple.
Other drink recipes
Champagne Cocktail
Method
- For a simple champagne cocktail: place a sugar lump in each champagne glass plus one or two drops of Angostura bitters.
- Add a dash of brandy, then pour in the chilled champagne or sparkling wine.
- For a more exotic champagne cocktail: Before you make the cocktail, simply add one Old Hamlet muslin sachet to 150 ml (¼ pint) of brandy and heat gently in a saucepan. Do not boil.
- Allow the brandy to cool and absorb the spicy flavours for at least 15 minutes then remove the sachet.
- When the spiced brandy has cooled, use this instead of the ordinary brandy as above.
Mint Julep
Ingredients
- Bourbon
- Dark rum
- Cracked ice
- 2 sprigs of mint
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 maraschino cherry
Method
- Crush a few mint leaves and put into a glass – ideally pre-chilled.
- Add a teaspoon of sugar and a few drops of water into the glass, and mix to a paste. Fill the glass with cracked (not crushed) ice and push down, then fill up the glass with bourbon.
- Float some dark rum gently over the back of a spoon on to the top. Add a sprig of mint and a maraschino cherry.
Whisky Sour
Ingredients
- 50 ml (2 fl oz) bourbon
- juice of half a lemon
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Cracked ice
- Dash of soda
- Sliced orange or pineapple
Method
- Add 50 ml (2 fl oz) bourbon, the juice of half a lemon and a teaspoon of sugar into a cocktail shaker.
- Shake with cracked ice and pour or strain into a gin-and-tonic glass.
- Add a dash of soda and decorate with slices of orange or pineapple.
Gin & Tonic
Ingredients
- 52.5ml gin from freezer
- 97.5ml ice-cold tonic water
- Quarter of fresh unwaxed lemon or lime
- Ice, straight from freezer
- Glass, straight from freezer
Method
- Pour gin into glass, then pour over tonic with glass at 45 angle.
- Next, add lemon, and finally the ice.
Martini
Ingredients
- 75ml gin, at room temperature
- 15ml dry vermouth, at room temperature
- Bitters
- 120g ice from freezer
- Glass from freezer
- 1 – 3 olives
Method
- Pour gin and dry vermouth into cocktail tin or large glass.
- Add the ice, stir until cold.
- Add 1 dash of bitters.
- Stir again and strain into chilled coupe glass.
- Garnish with an olive.
