SPONSORED CONTENT: Get into the festive spirit with Badachro Distillery
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There is no better time of the year than Christmas and Hogmanay for a party, and nothing says party better than cocktails!
Whether it is a family affair or a long overdue get-together with friends, be sure to leave your guests shaken and stirred with some amazing tipples.
From winter warmers and classics with a twist, to inspired inventions, there are cocktails for all tastes.
Gordon Quinn, founder of Badachro Distillery in the north-west Highlands, has some gin-spirational ideas to make sure your cocktail creations hit the spot!
Badachro offers award-winning small-batch artisan whisky, gin and vodka, hand-crafted and bottled in the family-owned distillery, and created with locally foraged botanicals including juniper, wild myrtle, coriander, gorse blossom, lavender, rose-hip petals, local seaweeds and elderflower.
The key to a great cocktail is to always use the very best ingredients you can find to create the most flavourful and smoothest of tipples.
Gin, vodka or whisky generally form the first of three main components in a cocktail, the base.
Second is a modifier, such as vermouth in a martini or cranberry juice in a cosmopolitan, which is added to give the required flavour and smoothness. For more flavour and colour, syrups and bitters are then added.
The winter months offer up some wonderful flavours that are perfect in Christmassy cocktails.
Think cranberries, pomegranate, apples, oranges, cinnamon, ginger and cloves to mention just a few. Here are a few ideas from Badachro Distillery…
Spiced Apple Winter Warmer with Badachro gin or whisky
As the nights are drawing in and temperatures dropping, why not try this comforting winter warmer? The spices and fruit are just as delicious with whisky or gin. And for teetotalers you can just leave out the booze. To make you need: 50ml Badachro gin or whisky per person; assorted mulling spices (cinnamon, cloves, star anise); the peel of 1 large orange and the peel of 1 large lemon; a small knob of fresh ginger, grated; 500ml cloudy apple juice and orange slices to garnish.
Place all the ingredients except the gin or whisky in a saucepan and heat gently until warmed through. Take off the heat and add your spirit of choice. Strain through a sieve before serving warm and garnish with orange slices.
A Noel Negroni
Badachro Gin 57° Storm Strength is a full-flavoured, high-strength version of Badachro Gin and was originally created for cocktail use. It’s a firm favourite for making a flavour-packed and turbo-charged gin & tonic, a gin martini, or here, a negroni.
Use equal parts Badachro Gin 57° Storm Strength, Campari and sweet red vermouth. Stir and serve over ice, garnished with orange peel.
A Christmas Cosmopolitan
An absolute classic vodka cocktail and with its pinky-red hue, it’s Christmas in a glass. Badachro’s Dancing Puffin Vodka won the gold small producer award at the Scottish Retail Food & Drink Awards 2021 and with its super-smooth texture it’s the perfect base for your vodka cocktails.
Combine vodka, triple sec or orange liqueur, cranberry juice and freshly squeezed lime juice in a shaker with ice. Strain before serving with a garnish of lemon, lime or orange peel, or pomegranate seeds. The ratio of ingredients depends on taste but two parts vodka to one part triple sec or orange liqueur and one part cranberry juice is a good starting point!
“There is no better time of year to get together with family and friends than at Christmas and Hogmanay, and enjoy a fantastic tipple or two,” added Gordon.
“We have some wonderful spirits being produced across the Highlands ‒ including Badachro of course ‒ and they are the perfect indulgence on their own or in a cocktail. This year, we all deserve something special so let’s raise a glass this festive season. Sláinte from all at Badachro Distillery.”
For more info, visit: www.badachrodistillery.com
