Berry Merry

Whether you have a reason to get out the crystal glasses or whether you're like us and need no reason at all this is a good drink to put in it:

1 part Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur
1 part gin
1 part white cranberry juice
1/2 part lemon juice
Cava/Prosecco/Champagne to top it off
(Soda water or ginger ale could work too)
Frozen cranberries to garnish

Cheers!

Egg Nog with a Spoon

Don’t know if you’ve ever noticed but we’re not fans of the creamy cocktail round here,  our bottle of Bailey’s we discovered to be long past its expiration date, so I thought long and hard about doing an egg nog concoction (Yes, I even thought about making it from scratch!) but why go to so much effort if it's something I don't really enjoy. So here's my version of egg nog or the way I think it should be served. Eamon loves the stuff by the way and delights when it’s back on the shelves in the supermarket but to me it tastes like a glass of custard and this is why I ended up making my drink a dessert instead of a true cocktail. Best enjoyed with a spoon watching your favorite Christmas movie or put it in a blender and drink it like a milkshake.

Scoop of eggnog ice cream

1oz Bailey’s Irish cream liqueur poured over it

Freshly grated nutmeg to garnish.

Other ways to top this: crushed ginger snap cookie, crushed chocolate covered Kimberly biscuit, Cadbury’s flake

P.S. I went for the mini version of the cream liqueur instead of a full bottle, large tub of the ice cream though!

Peppermint Coffee

Peppermint and chocolate? Yes, but peppermint and coffee? Why not!

1 part Kahlua coffee liqueur

½ part peppermint schnapps

1 part (or more) fresh cream or half n’half

Crushed ice

Ginger Gem

A little ginger something for a festive toast during our Christmas tree lighting 'ceremony' tonight.

1 ½ parts spiced rum

½ part Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur

¼ part cinnamon schnapps

1 tsp molasses

Ginger ale/ginger beer

Candied ginger to garnish (or if you’re like us and don’t have any to hand a lemon twist works just as well.)

Shake first three ingredients with ice in cocktail shaker and pour into glass which has had the molasses twirled around the inside. Top off with ginger ale/beer and enjoy.

The molasses might need a little stirring towards the end and it really does give it a nice flavor. You can see the twirl so much better when I tried this with the citrus vodka. Himself approves of this ‘hobby’ of mine because of the trial and error involved. Nothing seems to go to waste around here compared to say, my sewing 'hobby'.