BRAND NEW - TGI Fridays Cocktails*

I absolutely love cocktails and as the festive season starts to near, I love the thought of going out on a cold crisp evening after work and having a cocktail or two in a warm bar or restaurant. After all, it’s all about having that Friday feeling. Now you can have that Friday feeling all day with the new range of TGI Fridays’ brand new bottled cocktails.

The bottles come in 500ml sizes and contain 10% alcohol content. 

I was lucky enough to receive all three and had great pleasure in testing them all out for you. First up was the Long Island Iced Tea, this was blended wit fruit alcohol and vodka and had a nice tangy lemon flavour to it, like most previous Iced teas I have had in the past. I am not usually a fan of iced tea but this cocktail was sweet and had a really nice flavour.

The next cocktail I received was probably my favourite, the Pink Punk Mojito. I loved the vibrant colour of the cocktail too, perfect for a girls night in. The cocktail contains pineapple juice, cranberry juice, lime juice blended with fruit alcohol and vodka.It has a slight minty flavour which makes this the perfect festive drink, you could even serve it with a candy cane.

Finally, I received the Passion Fruit Martini, which was also equally delicious. Serve with a side of prosecco for that extra special feel. Bring TGI's into your own home and feel like an amazing host this Christmas. Your guests will be spoiled for choice.

With these cocktails it always feels like Friday. Find TGIF Cocktails at the following social links: @TGIFCocktailsUK and @TGIF Cocktails UK

*I received these items free of charge in exchange for an honest review. 

Summer Cocktails Feat. Fentimans HOB Syrups*

You may remember a little while ago I received some mixers from Fentimans where I created some delicious cocktails. Fentimans have now brought out an exciting range of syrups called House of Broughton, made to enhance various cocktails and drinks. These high strength syrups means bartenders can create the perfect balance between sweet and sour when it comes to creating delicious cocktails and mocktails!

I received a gorgeously presented box with everything I needed to create a couple of delicious cocktails which would be perfect for the summer (or all year around – who needs an excuse?!). There are six different flavours including Raspberry, Rose, Cucumber, Ginger, Elderflower and Simple. I received the Raspberry and Cucumber flavours so made a couple of different drinks with them. These recipes were kindly provided in the House Of Broughton Syrups Bartenders Guide! I hope you like them!

Razzmatazz

Ingredients:

30ml Gin

15ml Cream Sherry

20ml Raspberry Syrup

20ml Lemon Juice

15ml Simple Syrup

Method:

Add all ingredients into a Boston glass with ice and shake. Double strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with a spiral of lime zest.

Red Berry Cooler (Mocktail)

Ingredients:
25ml Raspberry Syrup
Fresh Mint Leaves
12.5ml Lime Juice
125ml Fentimans Soda Water

Method:
Add the raspberry syrup, lime juice and mint leaves into a highball glass filled with ice. Top up with the soda water and stir. Garnish with fresh mint and raspberries.

Cucumber Mule

Ingredients:
50ml Vodka
15ml Cucumber Syrup
20ml Lime Juice
125ml Fentimans Ginger Beer

Method:
Add the vodka, syrup and lime juice into your cup filled with ice and give it a stir. Top up with the ginger beer. Garnish with sliced cucumber and candied ginger.

What do you think of these cocktail recipes? Will you be trying some out yourself? For more recipes and inspiration, please head over to the Fentimans website. 

*I received these items free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.

Summer Cocktail Recipes Feat. Chambord*

I love cocktails and any excuse to drink them or make them, I will! When I was contacted about trying some Chambord, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity! Having never tried Chambord before, I didn’t really know what to expect but now know that it is a luxurious French black raspberry liqueur with raspberry and vanilla notes. It is perfect to enjoy with champagne or any sparkling wine or in a host of cocktails, I have received some recipes below which I have personally trialled and fully recommend!

According to legend, Chambord was inspired by a luxurious raspberry liqueur produced for French royalty in the 17th Century.  This first recipe is very simple to recreate, and one that I can’t believe I haven’t tried sooner! In the recipe, I used my favourite Prosecco but you can replace this instead with Cava or Champagne.

Chambord Royale
Ingredients:
Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur
Champagne, Prosecco or Cava
One Raspberry

Method:
Pour yourself a flute of your favourite fizz and top off with a little Chambord. Most importantly, garnish with a single raspberry. I used a frozen one!

The light and fruity flavour of Chambord makes this this perfect BBQ or picnic accompaniment this summer. At RRP £7.50 for a 50cl bottle, it doesn’t break the bank! The next recipe I tried is the Chambord Spritz which is very refreshing and incredibly easy to make! See the recipe below!

Chambord Spritz
Ingredients:
50ml Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur
125ml Dry White Wine
Soda

Method:
Fill a wine glass with ice then top with 125ml of dry white wine. Add your Chambord, then top with some soda. The best Spritzer I have ever had!

Finally, the last recipe I tried out was the Chambord Cobbler. This one contains a few ingredients that I didn’t have handy in the house so is one to try if you want to go all out and impress those dinner guests! Recipe below.

Chambord Cobbler
Ingredients:
50ml Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur
25ml Lemon Juice
25ml Peach Puree

Method:
Shake and strain the ingredients over crushed ice into a glass. Garnish with some raspberries and a mint sprig. Voila!

Chambord is available in most supermarkets nationwide, will you be adding this to your basket this summer? Let me know if you try any of the recipes!

*I received this item free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.

Festive Cocktail Recipes feat. Fentimans Drinks*

Fentimans drinks are a favourite in our household and James and I associate these with fun days out. We’ve had these at Blickling Hall and consider them to be a nice luxurious treat. Drinking these natural drinks without any nasty additives or preservatives is a real refreshing experience so when I was contacted by Fentimans to try some of their new mixers, I couldn’t wait to sample them. The drinks come in 500ml sixed bottles, perfect for using as mixers for cocktails but can also be enjoyed on their own as a soft drink.

Seeing as Christmas is officially next month (scary I know!) I decided to create some fun and festive cocktails with some of the Fentimans drinks I received. It’s never too early to start stocking those cupboards for Christmas so I hope you like these recipes and they inspire you to create your own cocktails over the Christmas period

I thought the Ginger Beer & Muddled Lime drink would be perfect for Christmas as the ginger would really remind me of gingerbread. The idea came to me after attending the Norwich Blogger Cocktail Event to garnish the cocktail with a gingerbread man on the side. I served this with 25ml of Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum which really went well with the soft drink and the spiciness added to that festive feeling. This cocktail to me tasted exactly like Christmas in a cup.

The Botanical Tonic Water is made with lime flower for a unique floral flavour. I decided to add some Midori Melon Liqueur to this tonic water to create this lovely elf green colouring. This fruity sweet drink was really tasty and a great one to serve at parties over the festive period.

The Rose Lemonade is one of my favourites and is made with the juice of real lemons balanced by an infusion of aromatic rose oil. The pale blush colour comes from the infusion of 100% natural steam distilled rose petals which also work to enhance the flavours. I thought I would mix this drink with 25ml of my favourite vodka and serve with a candy cane. The combination of the mint flavour from the cane, the alcohol and the smooth lemonade was the perfect mix. I think this would also taste great alongside gin. I wanted to drink this all day long!

When I saw the Premium Indian Tonic Water, I knew I had to keep it classic with a Gin & Tonic. This premium version from Fentimans has a hint of Lemongrass with kaffir lime leaves meaning it is perfectly accompanied with citrus flavoured gins. I decided to use 25ml of Gin, a squeeze of lime plus extra for garnish then topped the glass up with the Premium Indian Tonic Water and a couple of kaffir lime leaves. I think this cocktail would also taste great with the Pink Grapefruit Tonic mixer which is really zesty. The balance of sweet and sour is spot on and the drink is really refreshing on its own.

The Naturally Light Tonic Water served with 25ml Gin and garnished with a slice of lemon is great for those slimmers this season. If you want to control those calories then this drink is light and refreshing.

Will you be making any of these cocktails? For more information and recipes visit  the Fentimans website, you can also find your nearest stockist.

*I received these drinks in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.

Blogger Cocktail Masterclass - Warwick Street Social

A couple of weeks ago now I attended a blogger cocktail masterclass at Warwick Street Social in Norwich. Having never been to Warwick Street Social I was curious as to what it would be like, but looked forward to it all the same. The Norwich Bloggers who planned this event offered some spaces on a ticketed basis, I decided to buy a ticket and go along to have a fun night of socialising with likeminded people. 

I arrived at 7pm and met up with other bloggers Courteney, Kate, Amy, Amy, Lindsay, Sammi, Laura, Laura, and Shelley. The aim of the evening was to choose a cocktail that we could have at the Christmas Meal so we got to have a go at making 6 different drinks with the help of Scott. The first drink was a classic Mojito which was probably the simplest cocktail we made. This was ruled out early on as it just didn’t have that festive feel to it, although it did taste lovely. We then made a ‘bramble’ which is something I have never heard of before but it was lovely. The main part of this drink was gin, added with freshly squeezed lemon juice, sugar syrup and a fruit cordial, this was really nice. Me and Kate had a go at making this one and we both thought it was lovely, but again this did not have a Christmas feel to it.

Thirdly we made Pina Coladas, I love a creamy Pina Colada but this didn’t go down too well with the rest of the group. I think Pina Coladas are best served on the beach in a hot country, perhaps not alongside your turkey dinner. We then made a Smashing Pumpkin Fizz. This had pumpkin pureé and Prosecco in so I couldn’t wait to try this. This would have been the perfect Halloween/autumn drink I think, it tasted great but just didn’t have that festive feel to it.

The final 2 cocktails were the most festive of the lot. Firstly the spiced gingerbread one, complete with gingerbread man. This just tasted of Christmas, it was delicious and perfectly spiced. The final cocktail was called Candy Cane, this had peppermint syrup, cranberry juice and strawberry vodka. It was so refreshing and will be served with a crushed candy cane sugar rimmed glass!

If you’d like to keep up to date with future Norwich Blogging events, follow the twitter page and keep an eye out for future events.

Cocktail Masterclass - All Bar One Norwich*

I was recently invited along to All Bar One in Norwich for an Exclusive Blogger Cocktail Masterclass which I was really excited about attending. All Bar One is located on Tombland in Norwich and is the perfect place to start your night out. It has recently reopened after being renovated from fire damage and it’s better than ever before. When I arrived I was surprised to see that no other bloggers had turned up, I checked twitter and saw that Hannah was on her way and I was pleased it wasn’t just going to be me! Hannah then arrived and the manager said we were waiting for 6 more bloggers, despite it already being 20 minutes after the start time. The manager then decided to wait until 7 to start the event and apologised by means of a glass of bubbly for us both – we were happy. No one else arrived in the end which I think was quite rude as they hadn’t called to cancel or anything. All Bar One had set the table up for 8 of us and I did feel bad no one had bothered showing up, I am sure there were plenty of Norwich bloggers who would have loved to attend so we were both a bit disappointed.

We sat at our table and got ourselves comfortable and started on the nibbles that had been laid out. We met Sam who was taking the masterclass. He was very knowledgeable about the cocktails we were making and knew all of the recipes off by heart. He also answered any questions we had along the way. We got to make 3 cocktails, and of course drink them! As no one else had turned up we got a more personal experience and me and Hannah got a chance to use the proper Boston Glass and Shaker which is usually just used by the host!

The first cocktail we made was a Cosmopolitan which tasted the strongest of the three, but I still had no problem in knocking it back! Firstly we filled our glasses with ice to chill them then added 50ml of cranberry juice and 12.5ml of lime juice. Sam told us that by adding the fruit juice first, at least if you mess the cocktail up then you haven’t wasted any alcohol and can start again! We then added 12.5ml of Cointreau which has a very orangey taste, then we added 37.5ml of Absolut Citron Vodka, added ice and then it was time to shake! Sam taught us how to correctly place the shaker onto the glass, how to hold it and then how to remove it at the end. We had great fun doing this but it was hard work! We then double strained the drink into the glass and added garnish of orange peel and straws. This cocktail was very fruity and you could really taste the vodka. After just half a glass I already started to feel a bit woozy!

We then made a Strawberry Daiquiri which was my favourite of the three we made. This cocktail consisted of 12.5ml of lime juice, 12.5ml sugar syrup, 50ml strawberry puree and 50ml of Bacardi rum. Once again we then mixed this up in the shaker and double strained it to get rid of any excess crushed ice. Sam told us they do a skinny version of the sugar syrup (the calories were a bit shocking!) and skinny versions of some of the cocktails were also available. This cocktail didn’t taste alcoholic and went down far too easily. We garnished this with half a strawberry pressed onto the side of the glass. Things were definitely getting more blurry at this point and despite there only being 2 of us we had a really good laugh!

Lastly we made a Sun Rise which had the most components to it. When we were adding the ingredients, I didn’t think I was going to like it but it was absolutely delicious! This cocktail was served in what I can only describe as a noodle pot, which after 3 drinks me and Hannah found hilarious. This cocktail consisted of 12.5ml of lemon juice, 12.5ml of Bottlegreen Ginger And Lemon Grass drink, 50ml mango juice, 50ml Riesling white wine and 50ml Opihr Spiced Gin. Hannah did mention it smelled a bit like a curry – but it didn’t taste this way thankfully! The mixture of all of these flavours combined really well and we really enjoyed it. This one was served with plenty of ice too.

As there was only two of us, we had the added bonus of sampling Sam’s Creamy Christmas Martini he has designed for Christmas. I can’t remember exactly what went in it but it was absolutely delicious and considering it contained the most alcohol of all of the drinks we tried, it didn’t taste that way! We did suggest he add Holly and Candy Canes to garnish this so watch this space haha! Overall I had a really nice time at All Bar One and really enjoyed the cocktail making experience. I would love to return again with a group of friends. Would you attend something like this?

*I attended this masterclass free of charge. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.