Cocktails are the most creative sector of the liquor industry because of what they’re made with and how they’re served and presented. Throughout this holiday season, I’ve been sampling holiday themed cocktails at home with friends (holiday party tip: DIY cocktail party!) with the help of two attention grabbing sampling kits provided by Fever-Tree, filled with their mixers, recipes, cocktail mixing accoutrements, liquor samples, plus two new and noteworthy cocktail recipe books. Get that cocktail shaker ready and read on.
Fever-Tree’s “Easy Mixing Recipe Book” features 150 cocktails, most made with two-to-three ingredients, along with helpful hints on bar set up, equipment and techniques. Since it was founded in 2005, Fever-Tree’s 15+ premium carbonated mixers, made with the world’s finest ingredients from across the globe, including quinine from Central Africa, ginger from Ivory Coast, India and Nigeria, and lemons from Sicily, are now on bartenders’ shelves around the world. If you're a fan of ginger beer, Fever-Tree's new yummy yuletide flavor, Blood Orange Ginger Beer, is made with Italian blood oranges, Fever-Tree’s blend of three gingers, pairing deliciously with bourbon, a Kentucky Mule, a Dark and Stormy or the well-loved Pimm's Cup.
Are you a whiskey highballer? Use their club soda and a liberal splash (2 ounces) of Busker Triple Cask Triple Smooth Irish whiskey for a classic whiskey and soda thirst quencher. Busker’s golden hue and a hint of tropical fruit aromas is mellow and rich. If you’re a G&T lover, then by all means use the Fever-Tree Indian Tonic Water, made with a dash of Mexican bitter orange, with 2 ounces of Tulchan Tonic, which is a premium small batch Scottish Speyside Gin (you read that correctly, a gin from the land of finest Scotch whiskies) and get your kilt on. A classic Rum & Coke gets fresh with Fever-Tree’s Distillers Coke and Bayou White Rum.
For a non-alcoholic drink, take a glass with a little ice and mix in equal parts apple juice or apple cider and its ginger ale, spiced with essential oils from Fever-Tree’s signature blend of three gingers: the Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cochin in India. In addition, the female-owned beverage company Little Saints has plant magic mocktails (not to be mixed with alcohol or liquor) that give you a slight “buzz” from ingredients like terpenes, adaptogens and CBD.
During the pandemic, many of us were enthralled with the video series “Cocktails with a Curator” offered free and online by The Frick Collection and its superlative curators. This highly acclaimed series, which you can access here, is a collection of lively, informative episodes, each narrated by a specific Frick Collection museum curator at his/her home during the pandemic lockdown, on a particular art work from the greatest artists of our time. The series paired a creative cocktail by the curator that was inspired by the work of art being highlighted in the episode. The book, published by Rizzoli Electra, is the culmination of this exceptional series and is a must for any art history lover and includes the transcription of each lecture with its corresponding cocktail recipe. Here’s to good tidings!
In addition to a career in communications and marketing focused on the luxury lifestyle sector, including co-authoring and lecturing a case study on French heritage jeweler Mauboussin with Harvard Business School, Isabelle continues to share her experiences about fine art, wine, travel, jewelry and culture as a freelance writer for internationally based digital publications.
