Toast the festive season with these surprisingly simple summer cocktails.
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1. French 75 with Nicolas Feuillatte Sélection Brut Champagne and Hendrick’s Midsummer Solstice Gin
What could be better than Champagne? A Champagne cocktail of course! Sure, sparkling wine is delicious on its own, but with a few extra ingredients we can turn something good into something great. The French 75 is one of the best-known Champagne cocktails, so let’s start there. This classic cocktail was first invented back in 1915 at the famed Harry’s New York Bar and gets its name from French military equipment.
A zingy mix of lemon juice, brightly floral Hendrick’s Midsummer Solstice Gin and sugar syrup is shaken together before being poured into a Champagne flute and topped up with bubbly Nicolas Feuillatte Sélection Brut Champagne. The lemon and sugar create the perfect balance of sweet and sour, while the botanicals of the gin come alive in the creamy bubbles of the Champagne. Give your usual Italian Spritz a miss this summer and hop over the border to France instead – you won’t be disappointed.
2. Strawberry Daiquiri with Bacardi Carta Blanca Superior White Rum
Break out the blender, it’s time for frozen cocktails. The king of frozen cocktails is surely the blended take on the Daiquiri, and a warm summer afternoon is the perfect time to whip up a batch of this kitschy favourite. Technically, the name Daiquiri refers to a family of cocktails that feature rum, citrus juice, and sugar. Once you’ve got that base, you can flavour your Daiquiri however you like, but this summer we’re taking advantage of fresh strawberries in season.
Making a Strawberry Daiquiri couldn’t be easier – the blender does all the work for you. Blitzing all the ingredients together to a slushy consistency not only creates a refreshing icy texture, it also combines the freshness of the strawberries, the zingy lime juice and Cointreau, and the smooth Bacardi Carta Blanca Superior White Rum. Pour into a glass, top with a paper umbrella and you’re done.
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3. Mudslide with Vestal Vodka
We all know the holidays are a time for indulging, and this chocolatey cocktail is the ultimate indulgence. Sweet, creamy and rich, the Mudslide is a fantastic cocktail that can be served as dessert or any time you need to satisfy your sweet-tooth.
First adapted from the classic White Russian, the recipe calls for a delicate trio of flavourful spirits balanced in harmony with heavy cream. Starting with vodka as a base, we like Vestal for its clean but distinct flavour, we then add Kahlua for a hint of coffee, and some Baileys for kick. Once blended up with ice, you’ve essentially got a milkshake for grown-ups. Top it off with a chocolate drizzle and you’re in dessert heaven.
4. Negroni with Cinzano Rosso Vermouth
Some cocktails will be known as classics forever and that list certainly includes the Negroni. It’s one of those go-to cocktails that everyone should know how to make. Especially if you love throwing dinner parties, since it’s one of the best aperitifs to get the tastebuds zinging before a meal.
Mixing a Negroni is surprisingly simple – it’s just three ingredients and a garnish. But within those three ingredients, there’s plenty of room to play around. The style of gin can make a difference, but really it’s vermouth’s time to shine. Cinzano Rosso Vermouth is a delicate mix of red wine and herbaceous essences that perfectly tiptoes the bittersweet line. And that’s exactly why it’s the gold-standard Italian red vermouth for a classic Negroni.
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