Monsoon special: Here is how you can make super-easy gin-based warm cocktails
When it is raining outside, you automatically crave for a warm drink. And, although warm cocktails are a trend now, they are not that easily available. Plus, why burn a hole in your pocket in buying them when you can create them at home? Here are three simple recipes:
1. Hot Gin Punch Cocktail
Ingredients: 400 ml Hendrick's Gin | 400 ml Madeira Wine | 2 tsp brown sugar | 6 large lemons | orange twists | 1 sliced orange | 1 fresh pineapple | 4 teaspoons of honey
Method:
■ Combine all of the ingredients in a small pot and simmer gently for 30 minutes
■ Pour into a teapot and serve hot in teacups with some gingerbread on the side.
2. Hot Gin Old Fashioned
Ingredients: 50 ml gin | 10 ml sugar syrup | 3 dashes of orange bitters | 50 ml boiling water with a twist of orange
Method:
■ Gently heat gin, sugar syrup and orange bitters in a pan.
■ Add 50ml boiling water
■ Serve in a tankard or teacup and garnish with an orange twist.
3. Hot Spiced Apple Cocktail
Ingredients: 750 ml Apple juice | 2 cloves | 2 crushed cardamoms | 2 star anise | juniper berries | peel of 1 orange | 150 ml gin | grated nutmeg
Method:
■ Simmer apple juice with spices in a pan
■ Add gin
■ Serve in a tankard or teacup and garnish with three slices of apple and a dusting of nutmeg
Recipe and image courtesy: Hendrick's Gin