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Cocktail of the Week | Gløgg

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With Christmas and winter comes the continued love of mulled drinks. There must be millions of litres drunk each year of mulled something. You could probably drink a different version of mulled wine each day in December. This week, we are taking inspiration from our recent trip to Copenhagen and this week’s cocktail of the week is Gløgg.

Gløgg in Denmark is a staple winter drink. As the borders through the Nordic countries moved regularly over the centuries, it is impossible to say whether it is a Danish started drink, a Swedish drink or German variation of Glühwein imported to Denmark. However it arrived, the Danes have made it theirs! There appear to be as many different versions of the drink as there are Danes! It is traditionally drunk with a Danish winter treat called Æbleskiver, a doughnut/pancake type dessert that is served many ways. We were told the traditional way is with strawberry jam and a sprinkling of icing sugar.

To make this week’s cocktail you will need;

Bottle red wine
Almonds slivered
1 cup raisins
Your own version of mulling spices

To start, heat the wine, but don’t let it boil. Add the spices and allow the flavours to infuse for a short while before serving. You can buy premade versions of the spices and as there are many versions, any type of mulled spices will recreate the drink. To serve, pour the wine into a suitable glass or mug using a sieve to remove the spices if using your own. Add the raisins and slivered almonds to the drink and stir. If you are so inclined, you can add a shot of rum, brandy or any other spirit of your choice.

Gløgg is a great way to keep warm whilst taking a short break from the sightseeing across Copenhagen. The only tip we can give is that it is best to serve Gløgg with a teaspoon to get to the good stuff of the warmed raisins and almonds.

13th December 2016

Cocktail of the Week | Purple Monster

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Orchard Blog

With Halloween creeping ever closer, the ghoulish activities start to take over. We have pulled out the ‘BOO’ candleholder and our pumpkin is going to be carved this weekend. We have also started to stock up on the treats for any trick or treating monsters that might appear at our door! Any excuse for a party also means a need for a cocktail. With that in mind, we decided to try our hand at making our own Halloween themed cocktail. For our creation, this week’s cocktail is the ‘Purple Monster’.

We have been making cocktails each week for six months now and hopefully something has started to rub off on our own skills in cocktail making. Here’s hoping our researching, mixing and sampling will pay off! Additionally, looking in the drinks cabinet we found some of the lesser-used bottles and tried to find a cocktail to make use of them. I am not entirely sure what we will be making from the Amarula, but the rest are suitably coloured to make something interesting! We found a few cocktails that used the ingredients we have, but none that we wanted to try leading us to give our own mix a go. Based on our knowledge of colours we started out to make a purple drink.

For this week’s cocktail, you will need;

One measure of curacao
One measure of spiced rum
One measure of cranberry juice
½ measure of pineapple juice
Ice

Add the curacao, rum, cranberry and pineapple juice to a shaker filled with ice and shake well. Add some ice to a glass and pour the mix in. Nothing fancy to creating this week’s cocktail the Purple Monster.

The drink gives a suitable purple/black colour for a Halloween themed cocktail. The fruit flavours from the cranberry, pineapple and curacao do come through with the rum giving a pleasant kick. Sadly not a classic like the many we have tried, but with a bit of tweaking, we might have something!

27th October 2016

How to host a Brazilian Barbeque Party

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Orchard Blog

Over the two weeks in August 2016, the Olympics were hosted in Rio de Janeiro. The city hosted 207 nations with 11,500 athletes competing for just over 800 medals. We both love the Olympics, the sport and the Olympic spirit that brings a positive force of friendship. The great herculean efforts by the athletes competing reminded us of the 2012 Olympics in London. With this Olympics coming to an end, we decided what better way to celebrate than to have a Brazilian Barbeque! Surely nothing says Olympics better than eating?

To start, we poured ourselves the first (of a few) caipirinha. It is always best to start with the cocktail! For the BBQ, we prepared some chicken a few days before to mature in a marinade. To do this, we added a cup of rum, two crushed limes (including the rind), 4 cloves of crushed garlic, salt, pepper and a pinch or two of chilli flakes to a bag and added 6 chicken thighs. We then froze it before allowing it to thaw on the day we had the BBQ.

We added some sides to the meal including prawn skewers, using an easy recipe from Morrison’s that can be found here. A Brazilian rice dish that we found on Life in the Lofthouse blog found here. This rice will become a staple for any tropical themed meal we have in future. Lastly, a great zingy Salsa Verde we found here on Olivia’s Cuisine.

To finish, we put some pineapple on the BBQ, yes, you did read that correctly! It is really easy to do by chopping the pineapple into large chunks, sprinkling a good dose of cinnamon on them as they cook. You need to BBQ both sides for about four minutes or until they start to char before pouring on about a tablespoon of toffee sauce.

After setting the table, and with a few more caipirinha flowing we tucked into the food. The food combination tasted wonderfully of lime and the flavours in the prawns and salsa enhanced the flavours. Our Brazilian Barbeque made a great accompaniment to watching the last of the Olympics and the fantastic performance from all the athletes.

Cocktail of the Week | Strawberry Mojito

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Orchard Blog

With the weather getting warmer we decided that it would be a good time to start putting the summer cocktails to the test. Whilst a traditional mojito hails from Cuba, we thought we would try out a mojito with a summer fruit that is a British favourite, the strawberry. I am not sure what Ernest Hemingway would make of this (a classic mojito was rumoured to be his favourite drink), I can only assume he would approve.

For this week’s cocktail, You will need;

The juice from one lime
2 teaspoons of sugar syrup
1/2 lime cut into quarters (the other half for garnish)
6 strawberries (one for garnish)
Mint (plus a sprig for garnish)
1 measure of rum
Soda water
Ice

The basics of this Strawberry Mojito is the same as a classic mojito, with a few strawberries thrown in during the muddling stage. To start, you will need to mix the half lime, strawberries, mint and 2 teaspoons of sugar syrup. Using a muddle, apply pressure to all the ingredients to mix them together. You should be able to remove the lime juice and pulp, along with turning the strawberries into a mush. If you don’t have a muddle, would can use the back of a spoon.

In a glass put some ice, add in a measure of white rum, the juice from a lime and pour in some of the muddled juice. We used a sieve to remove the bits from the juice. Fill the rest of the glass with soda water and garnish with the remaining lime, strawberry and mint.

You are now ready to sit back and enjoy the Cocktail of the Week. You just need to pretend that you are enjoying the warm evening sunshine, sat on the beach in Havana, sipping a refreshing citrus flavoured Strawberry Mojito. Not the easiest of things to do whilst sat in a Surrey garden on an average spring day, but worth a go!

26th May 2016

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