Christmas Spirits
During December, I’m going to have a go at a few of the recipes from the Coles Christmas Mag, just to give my reports on how they taste and to compare how terrible my versions look to the professional ones shot in the magazine. I figure it might be a good idea to start with a liquid one.
Though I’ve never spent a Christmas overseas, I like the fact that our festive season is in the summer. Snow is overrated in my opinion. The warmer days give good reason to put those new alcoholic gifts from Christmas morning to their intended use – responsibly, of course.
My drinking habits have changed dramatically over the last 10 years, as I journey to the end of my 20’s. At the beginning of this decade, I was still a university student who was prepared to live on Cheese Singles sandwiches for a few days to accommodate Thursday night $2 drinks at the local.
As I was flicking through the Coles Christmas mag, I noticed a couple of alcoholic suggestions that I thought I would give a try.
Ginger Peach Fizz
Make it a mocktail if you want to - and I didn't.
Page 93
• MAKES 8 • PREPARATION 5 MINS
4 peaches, peeled, chopped
ice cubes
2 cups ginger beer
2 cups soda water
8 nips white rum (1 nip = 30ml)Step 1 - Puree peaches in a blender.
Step 2 - Half fill 8 x 150ml long glasses with ice. Top each with peach puree, ginger beer and soda water. Finish each glass with a nip of rum. Stir gently and serve.
A fairly good likeness I say.
It was as light and refreshing as it looks. I would have liked a stronger peach flavour though, so an extra couple of peaches in the mix wouldn’t go astray for mine (and our peaches were on the small side). Otherwise, everyone seemed pretty happy with this one. Getting the right amount of ginger beer and soda water took a little experimenting, but that is expected and would probably vary according to individual taste. As for the look – not too bad I think, pretty close. A nice drink for this time of year, and quick to make for a group.
Mint Julep
A Southern US favourite
Page 23
• SERVES 8 • PREPARATION 5 MINS • COOKING 5 MINS
GLUTEN FREE
1 cup caster sugar
¼ cup roughly chopped mint leaves
1 cup water
750ml soda water
ice cubes and mint sprigs, to serveStep 1 – Combine sugar, mint leaves and water in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat without boiling, until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 mins.
Step 2 – Pour into a small jug and place in the fridge until chilled. Strain through a sieve into a large serving jug. Add soda water, ice cubes and mint leaves and stir before serving.
A good cocktail but not a good mint soup
My drink of choice is usually bourbon (I grew up in a country town, leave me alone!). I was a little sceptical as to how this would turn out. The mint smell was really strong during the cooking phase. The taste is very sweet, but pretty good. Ours didn’t have enough soda water at first, so was even thicker and sweeter than it should be, but that was easily remedied. Do make sure you strain it well though, because the drink is lovely until you get a big bit of boiled mint floating through.
Easy sipping at the boondocks
It’s a gentle sipping kind of drink – something to have on hand at the end of the meal when you are sitting around and telling lies. It was a nice finish.
I’d rather snow to be honest. The last few years around my neck of the woods christmas has been spent with high fire danger and smoke from bushfires (and backburning) and me with one ear on the radio “just in case”. Snow would be a welcome distraction!
That said, I love the sound of these recipes. I’ve always wanted to try a Mint Julep and that Peach Fizz sounds yummy too. I think I will make the (rumless) peach one for our seasonal meal!
Ok – bush fires do put a different spin on the hot summer, and snow would probably be the preference there.
I admit I was surprised by the mint julep, and to be honest I don’t think the peach fizz needs the Bacardi in it. It would taste pretty similar anyway. Definitely a summer drink.