Tag: DIY cocktails

The Must-try Ready-to-Serve Cocktails to Get the Party Started

Almost everyone loves a good cocktail but not everyone has mastered the art of mixing drinks in a way that tastes perfect as though they were made by some skilled bartender. That is where pre-mixed beverages that only require you to add your desired amount of ice come to play. Check out these must-try beginner-friendly drinks to get the party going or simply sip along with your dinner at home.

Exuding a refreshing feeling in every sip, the Chandon Garden Spritz tastes fruity with the cocktail being made from the Chandon Argentina 2014 Brut that won the Best Argentine Sparkling Wine award at the 2020 Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships and an orange liqueur that consists of extracts from orange peels, herbs and some special spices that give the drink its natural flavours. The perfect blending of flavours that was perfected over more than 60 trials, in addition to its organically-sourced ingredients, makes the wine-based cocktail an absolute bliss. It can be bought from select retailers in Hong Kong and the prices vary.

Next, there is the Chateau Highball Classic Cocktail Range. Following its popularity in Italy, the Chateau Highball, newly launched in Hong Kong, is sure to win the taste buds and the heart of partygoers and hosts by making it easy to relish cocktails that taste like they were prepared at a top-class bar. The four offerings in the collection include Gin & Tonic, Vodka Soda, Whisky Soda and Tequila Soda. The highlight among the four is the Gin & Tonic, which was prepared by mixing London Dry Gin with house-made stevia tonic water boasting comparatively lesser sugar content than most other tonic waters. Each bottle can serve up to six glasses and costs HK$380.

Also making it to the list of best ready-made cocktails are the ones from Bacardi, a brand that has become synonymous with rum so who better to trust than this Cuban drink company if you want to sip on some rum-based cocktail? Luckily, the brand offers a variety of popular and famously-enjoyed cocktail choices like Pina Colada, Mojito and Rum Punch that are available as both ready-to-drink cocktails in cans and read-to-serve versions in bottles. These pre-made cocktails for parties are enriched with fruity flavours that feel pleasant with each gulp while also transcending you on to a vacation in the Caribbean Islands.

Regardless of all these aforementioned beverages, if you find mixing your own cocktails to be more fun, then you can always find a list of DIY cocktail recipes on Barcadi’s official site which will help you make the tastiest tipsy tipples. Simultaneously, those who prefer whisky cocktails can rely on Johnnie Walker’s range of recipes and Smirnoff for some vodka-infused cocktails.

Also Read: The Best Food and Wine Pairings

The Balvenie: Mastering the art of pairing tea with whisky

When tea and whisky are put next to each other for comparison, the intrigued mind will easily get surprised by the many parallels that can be drawn between these two classic beverages that have a history dating back thousands of years.

From the creative process of making a cup of tea or a barrel of whisky to tasting either of the drinks, there are many similarities between the two every step of the way.

Balvenie

Starting from the very first step of picking the raw ingredients – tea leaves are carefully handpicked with consideration to the geographical location of the plant and when it is farmed, and the barley is also treated with great attention to how and when it is dried using peat.

Such dedication and mastery that have a significant impact on the final outcome only prove that making tea or whisky needs extensive knowledge and years of experience to achieve the optimal taste for both beverages.

Balvenie

In this regard, the pioneering whisky label The Balvenie has set high standards when it comes to making whisky due to their trusted five rare crafts – barley that is homegrown in one of the few remaining malting floors, copper stills with the precise shape and size, the perfect cask and finally a whisky master who is passionate and has a high calibre of understanding and experience in this liquid gold.

Finally, when the final drink is in hand, both a whisky master and a tea master will appreciate their chosen drink in closely matching manners. While the tea master notes every rinse of the tea leaves as they sip, a whisky expert would note every single fill of the cask as they drink the alcoholic beverage.

Balvenie

All these matching qualities set a strong connection between tea and whisky thus making them a pair made in heaven. The single malt scotch whisky label The Balvenie is a trendsetter in discovering and perfecting the ideal tea and whisky pairings. Some of such iconic pairings include Week of Peat 14 paired with Emperor’s Breakfast tea, The Sweet Toast of American Oak Paired with Oolong Tea, Caribbean Cask 14 paired with Nepalese Jun Chiyabari, Doublewood 12 Paired With Jasmine Tea or Taiwanese Oolong tea.

Tap here to discover The Balvenie’s full range of Tea & Whisky cocktails with recipes for preparing each of them.

Drinks Whiz: Create your own cocktails with these four delicious recipes

As we discussed in a recent article, cocktails – one of the most versatile alcoholic tipples, with hundreds upon hundreds of variations in existence – can widely be divided into two separate categories, those of a headier spirit-forward variety and those lighter fruit-forward blends. If you’re keen to transform yourself into a DIY drinks whiz, why not check out these four delicious recipes – both classical and contemporary iterations – and create your own cocktails in the comforts of your own home?

Create your own cocktails - Old-Fashioned

OLD-FASHIONED

Undoubtedly one of the most classic spirit-forward cocktails, this bourbon-based beverage is perfect for fans of smoky whisky flavours.

Ingredients

  1. 2oz of Rebel Yell bourbon
  2. 1 tsp of brown sugar
  3. 3 dashes of Angostura bitters
  4. Orange peel for garnish

Instructions

  1. Add sugar to glass, douse it in Angostura bitters and muddle
  2. Add 60ml of Rebel Yell bourbon and stir until sugar dissolves
  3. Add ice and strain into serving glass
  4. Express oil of orange peel around lip of glass and add as garnish

Create your own cocktails - Pink Negroni (Credit - Zoe Schaeffer)

PINK NEGRONI

Negronis are staples on bar menus the world over, and with good reason, and this contemporary interpretation puts a citrusy spin on the long-time favourite.

Ingredients

  1. 2oz of gin
  2. 1oz of Campari
  3. 1oz of lemon juice
  4. 1oz of Lillet Blanc
  5. 3 dashes of Bittermens burlesque bitters
  6. 1 sprig of tarragon for garnish

Instructions

  1. Combine gin, Campari, lemon juice, Lillet, and bitters in a cocktail shaker filled with ice, then shake vigorously
  2. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a sprig of tarragon

Create your own cocktails - Mojito

MOJITO

The perfect summer drink, this rum-fronted cocktail a more-than-suitable refreshment for those hot summer days.

Ingredients

  1. 2oz of white rum
  2. 1/2oz of simple syrup
  3. 3/4oz of fresh lime juice
  4. Mint leaves

Instructions

  1. Add mint, simple syrup and lime juice to a shaker and muddle
  2. Add white rum and ice, and shake vigorously
  3. Strain into serving glass filled with ice and garnish with mint leaves

Create your own cocktails - Pink Grapefruit Whisky Sour

PINK GRAPEFRUIT WHISKY SOUR

A fruit-forward twist on a spirit-forward favourite, this is one whisky sour that packs a powerful citrusy punch.

Ingredients

  1. 1 pink grapefruit
  2. 2oz of whisky
  3. 5oz of lemon juice
  4. 2+ tbsp of sugar

Instructions

  1. Grate roughly 1 teaspoon of pink grapefruit zest and mix with sugar
  2. Wet the rim of serving glass and dip into the zest-sugar mixture
  3. Squeeze the juice of one grapefruit into a large glass, then add the whisky, lemon juice and sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves.
  4. Add ice to serving glass, pour the drink mixture then stir
  5. Garnish with pink grapefruit wedge