Bubbly Negroni *Deluxe*

One of the best perks of being a drinksblogger is that you get to know many other drinksbloggers all around the world. One of those pretty famous bloggers is Natalie Migliarini. Together with her partner-in-crime James Stevenson she wrote a very nice book “Beautiful Booze”, packed with recipes to try at home. 

Tonight I’m re-shaking one of the recipes from that book. It’s a festive take on the iconic Italian classic. I may have done this before by adding Prosecco to Belroy’s bottled Negroni, but this time by using only ‘Limited Edition’ ingredients, we make this a very exclusive and festive drink. It was awesome !!!

Bubbly Negroni *Deluxe* 

Ingredients
30 ml Hennessy Cognac Very Special Limited Edition 
30 ml Campari Cask Tales (Barrel aged)
30 ml Gonzalez Byass La Copa Reserva (sweet vermouth)
90 ml Vilarnau Limited Edition Cava Extra Sec

Method
Combine the cognac, Campari and vermouth in a mixing glass with lots of ice. Stir for half a minute to chill and combine the ingredients. Strain into a festive Champagne flute. Top with sparkling wine. Garnish with an orange twist. 

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Xmas Gifts Parade 2020 : Maker's Mark

Tonight it’s Christmas Eve and this is also the final day of our “Xmas Gifts Parade”.
Of course in the next days, weeks and hopefully years we’ll keep on serving you more delicious cocktails and spirits. 

It’s winter, it’s Christmas and even my bottles are wearing sweaters against the cold. You might think such a sweater is pretty useless, unless you have a very small dog or your daughter still plays with Barbie dolls. And yes, it’s a collector’s item. 

In this season, Bourbon and blood orange go very well together. Let’s take that as a start for a very tasty cocktail. Maker’s Mark is a bit sweeter than most bourbons, because they use 70% corn in their mash, which is considerably more than the obligatory 51%... and no wheat. They use corn, red winter rye and barley.

The name of my cocktail refers to a famous movie 😉 

I also want to take this opportunity to wish all of you a Merry Christmas. Hope you can enjoy some good food and delicious drinks with your family. 

Blood oranges mean mortal danger

Ingredients
50 ml Maker’s Mark Bourbon
20 ml Gonzalez Byass La Copa Reserva Vermouth
15 ml Cointreau Blood Orange
20 ml Blood Orange juice

Method
Add all ingredients to a shaker with enough ice. Shake for 15 seconds and strain into a chilled Martini glass. Garnish with cocktail cherries. 

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

 

Xmas Gifts Parade 2020 : Graham's Port Six Grapes

Next up in our series “Xmas Gifts Parade” is a beautiful love story between Italy and Porto. Our cocktail is an Italian-style aperitivo, but with a base of red port wine by Graham's Port. 

A very tasty and refreshing recipe created by Ran Van Ongevalle, award winning bartender and owner of Bar Ran in Bruges. 

Port Garibaldi

Ingredients
60 ml Six Grapes Port
15 ml Lemon juice
15 ml Campari
120 ml Fresh orange juice

Method
When a cocktail contains fruit juices, you need to shake it. Add everything to your shaker, with just one single icecube and shake hard to develop a bit of foam. Strain in a highball glass with fresh ice and garnish with a nice wedge of orange. I was out of oranges, so I used a wedge of pink grapefruit. 

Tip: Want to make a serious difference with your Garibaldi? Start by adding some air to your juices by mixing them up in your blender. Trust me, the result is stunning. 

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Xmas Gifts Parade 2020 : Ron La Progresiva 13

A while ago we mixed some drinks with Black Tears, a Cuban spiced rum. Today I’m sipping a relative of this rum, Ron La Progresiva 13. This rum is hand-crafted by Bodega Vigia’s women rum maestros. 

It’s an elegant dry rum, which can easily compare to a fine cognac or rare whisky.
We’re going for a Cuban-Spanish twist on the Old Fashioned.

Vigia Old Fashioned

Ingredients
50 ml Ron La Progresiva 13
15 ml Gonzalez Byass Nectar (Pedro Ximenez sherry)
15 ml Gonzalez Byass Viña AB (Amontillado Sherry)
1 dash Bleeding Heart Calamansi bitters (alternative could be grapefruit bitters)

Method
You can either stir this drink straight in the tumbler, or stir first in a mixing glass and strain into the tumbler. Make sure you got a nice block of ice in your tumbler. Garnish with an amarena cherry. 

Tip: Serve with a piece of dark chocolate !

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Xmas Gifts Parade 2020 : Vilarnau Limited Edition Cava

Christmas is just a few days away, so let’s get to the more festive drinks. When thinking about cocktails for these holidays, you absolutely need to consider bubbly cocktails made with Champagne, Crémant, Cava or Prosecco. There is a whole range of very tasty recipes from the classic “Champagne Cocktail” (with brandy and sugar) to the modern classic, the Negroni Sbagliato. 

Today I’m going for another pretty classic recipe : The Poinsettia. You could say it’s something like a crossover between a Champagne cocktail and a Cosmopolitan. The name refers to the Poinsettia flower (“Kerstster” or “Christmas Star” in dutch), which is commonly associated with Christmas. So it’s absolutely perfect for our “Xmas Gifts Parade”.

For the bubbly we picked Vilarnau Limited Edition Cava (Extra Sec). Since my wife happens to be diabetic, we always go for Extra Sec, Extra Brut or Brut Nature, so this is absolutely perfect. This wine is produced from a blend of Macabeo, Parellada and Subirat grapes. Lots of fruity aromas, you can still smell the grapes. 

In most recipes they use a bit more of the cranberry juice, but I wanted a dry result with a fruity aroma. This recipe gave me the exact result I wanted. 

Poinsettia

Ingredients
15 ml Cointreau
60 ml Cranberry juice
Vilarnau Limited Edition Cava (Extra Sec)

Method
Add the Cointreau and Cranberry juice to a chilled Champagne glass. Stir to blend. Top with sparkling wine. Add a cocktail cherry. 

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Xmas Gifts Parade 2020 : Hendrick's Gin

Up to 20 years ago the Gin & Tonic was an outdated drink, mostly made with Gordon’s and Schweppes, garnished with a wedge of lemon. And then came Hendrick’s...

Hendrick’s Gin is distilled by Willian Grant & Sons at the Girvan Distillery in Scotland. Yes, indeed… whisky distillers. And I don’t know why, but every single time I taste a gin distilled by a whisky producer, I think to myself “Yes, those guys really know how to do it”. In this case it was actually a girl who created this gin, Lesley Gracie. Hendrick’s rocked the world by serving its premium gin with a slice of cucumber. Never done before. Everyone was amazed by the added value of the cucumber, which created a fantastic perfume in combination with the spirit. Other gin producers starting to add other garnishes, botanicals and herbs. The rest is history. The gin hype was launched. And until now, Hendrick’s is still one of the most popular gins around.

Hendrick‘s G&T

Ingredients
5 cl Hendrick’s Gin
15 cl Premium tonic
+ You really need a cucumber 

Method
A Gin and tonic is the easiest cocktail to make. Add both to a glass with icecubes and you’re done. The trick here is to add enough cucumber to your glass to get this great effect. 

If you are going to use round slices, add 3 of them to your glass. I went a bit crazy and cut ‘tongues’ of cucumber (long slices) and made them stick to the inside of the glasses. Don’t worry about them, the icecubes will hold them in place. Cheers !

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

Xmas Gifts Parade 2020 : Leonce Vermouth

In the past we already reviewed Sorgin and a bit later the yellow edition. From the same house, we now got a nice bottle of vermouth. Leonce Extra Dry Vermouth has a base of fortified sauvignon blanc. In this range they also have a red vermouth and even a Malbec based vermouth.

After the succesful launch of their gins, Sabine en François Lurton started working on this new range of premium vermouths. Each bottle stands for one of the favourite cepages of François : Sauvignon Blanc Gascogne (France), Maury Le Roussillon (France) and Malbec de Chacayes (Argentina). 

How can I mix up this vermouth in a cocktail, which really highlights the vermouth instead of other spirits? Let’s do a “Reverse Dry Martini”.

Reverse Dry Martini

Ingredients
50 ml Leonce Extra Dry Vermouth
20 ml Sorgin Barrel Aged
1 dash Orange bitters

Method
Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with lots of ice. Stir for 15 seconds and strain in a pre-chilled Martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
No olive, you want to highlight the taste of the grapes in this one. 

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.