TDC sustainable Christmas cocktail recipes
Seven million tonnes of food goes to waste every year over the festive season in the U.K. From those clementines at the bottom of your stocking to the sprouts leftover from the roast, it’s not just gravy we’re pouring down the drain. With that in mind, we wanted to look at our Christmas table and create three delicious cocktails that were easily to replicate at home to make you season that little bit more sustainable.
BOXING DAY BLOODY MARY
For the day after the night before, our Boxing Day Bloody Mary is a staple over the party season. Upgrade your garnish (and get use) out of those spare Brussel sprouts with our simple pickle recipe that’s bound to impress at the brunch table.
THE DRINK
50ml vodka (or your favourite base spirit)
100ml carrot juice
10ml fresh lemon juice
10ml dry sherry
10ml honey syrup
1 tsp of pickle brine
Dried rosemary and salt for glass rim
Garnish: Pickled Brussel sprout and fresh cranberries
For your pickled sprouts: Elevate your garnish using our simple recipe for pickled sprouts. Using a 1:1 ratio of water and vinegar and a few of your favourite (leftover?) seasonal herbs and spices in a jar, combine with your sprouts and leave for 24 hours. Perfect pickles in practically no time at all.
Take your glass and use your lemon to wet the rim before coating in a mix of salt and dried rosemary.
Place all your ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and roll the mix gently for 8 seconds. Strain into your glass and enjoy.
MARMALADE BUCKS FIZZ
Wine and beer account for 11% of what people overbuy over the holidays so we’ve married the Breakfast Martini with a Bucks Fizz to make your bubbles extra festive. For those looking to undertake their own marmalade making we’ve got you covered recipe wise there, but it’ll be just as delicious with that you have in your cupboard.
THE DRINK
35ml of vodka or gin
2 tsp of clementine and thyme marmalade
10ml triple sec
12.5ml of lemon juice
Champagne or your favourite fizz to top up
Garnish: A sprig of thyme
Add the gin, marmalade, lemon juice and tripe sec into a shaker with ice and shake well. pour into a flute glass or croup and top with your favourite fizz.
THE MARMALADE
This simple marmalade is going to see you through the festive season and beyond - this perfect preserve will be a great gift if you’re in a pinch!
1kg of clementines
1kg of caster sugar
2 litres of water
The juice of 3 lemons
A handful of thyme
Clean the oranges, remove stocks & thinly slice, leaving the pips to one side. Add the lemon juice, oranges and any leftover juice into a large heavy bottomed pan. Put the pips into a muslin cloth and add to the pan along with 2L of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 hours until the peel is soft. Place a couple of saucers in the freezer (you will need this at the end).
Add sugar to the pan and place over a gentle heat. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved then turn up the heat. Cook at a rolling boil until the marmalade reaches 105C for 10-15 minutes.
To check if the marmalade has reached its setting point, remove the pan from the heat and put a teaspoonful on one of the frozen saucers, placing it into the fridge for a minute. Once cooled push lightly with a fingertip; if the surface wrinkles it's ready! If not return to a roiling boil for another five minutes and test again.
Once ready, remove it from the heat and leave to sit for 15 mins, add the thyme leaves, stir then pour into the warm sterilised jam jars.
PANETTONE BOULEVARDIER
If you manage to have any leftover panettone try this twist on one of our all time favourite classics. Panetonne infused whisky is as delicious neat as it in a cocktail. - and makes an ideal accompaniment for wrapping presents ahead of the big day!
THE DRINK
25ml panettone infused whisky
25ml campari
25ml sweet vermouth
Garnish: orange twist
For the panettone infused whisky: Slice and toast some leftover panettone. You’ll need about 50-60g of toasted panettone per 250ml of whisky. Place the panettone in to a mesh bag and leave in your chosen whisky for 4-12 hours. Once infused, gentle extract the bag and strain the liquid through a coffee filter or a cheesecloth.
Add your panettone whisky, campari and sweet vermouth into a mixing glass filled with ice and stir until it’s well chilled. Finally, strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube.
We took inspiration from vintage cook books, our gran’s recipe cards and our favourite drinks to enjoy over the holidays to create a mini recipe book of tasty tipples that is small enough to be in your pocket and designed that we can add to it over time. Our cocktail recipes have been made to be easy enough to create at home so we do hope you’ll enjoy making them as much as we did creating them!