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Hot Buttered Whiskey

by | May 21, 2020 | Cocktails, Vineyard Cottges

Sticking with the warming Whiskey theme, our hot buttered Whiskey is a wonderful winter warmer. Forget the calories and just enjoy the naughtiness. I didn’t have a bottle to hand, but this would be marvellous with the Thomsons Manuka smoke whisky which is distilled locally. 

30g unsalted butter
Pinch of ground allspice
Pinch of ground cloves
Pinch of ground cinnamon
Small grating of fresh nutmeg
20g soft light brown sugar
225ml whiskey

1. Mix the unsalted butter with a small pinch each of grond allspice, ground cloves and ground cinnamon and a small grating of nutmeg.

2. Beat in the light brown sugar, then chill until ready to use.

3. Heat the whisky with 350ml water until hot but not boiling and pour into 4 mugs. Dollop a small teaspoon of the spiced butter into each mug and serve immediately.

Whiskey Apple Sour

by | May 1, 2020 | Cocktails

There is pip fruit on trees all around the area and when you pop into places like Boric or Kumeu Produce, lots of the display is full of local apples, persimmons, pears and grapes. My parents headed back to the UK this week on the first day of Level Three and Dad left a bottle of Jamesons behind! With a bowl of limes on the table and some bitey apple juice in the fridge, this sour was a great refreshing drink before dinner that night. 

  • 50mls Whiskey – We used Jameson
  • 1tbs Stams Tart Apple Syrup
  • 1 freshly squeezed lime
  • 1/2 cup apple juice
In a shaker, squeeze the lime until all the juice is out. Add the other ingredients. Shake well. Serve on ice in a tumbler 

Roast Lemon and Bay Leaf Spiked Lemonade

by | May 1, 2020 | Cocktails, Vineyard Cottges

So in times of lockdown while we had a resident mixologist we decided to fling some cocktails around to keep our spirits up. We do love a good Vineyard Cottages cocktail and with a huge bay tree and lots of lemons this is a favourite!

It’s lemon season here at VC so we pulled some perfectly ripe lemons off the tree and created this delicious spiked lemonade! Perfect for a day hanging the laundry out in the sunshine and chopping up firewood for the cottage fireplaces!

  • 3 lemons, quartered lengthwise, plus 6 wheels for garnish
  •  3 fresh bay leaves, plus 6 more for garnish
  •  1 cup caster sugar
  •  3 cups water
  •  1 ½ cups vodka
  •  Ice
  • One cup Club Soda
Preheat the oven to 200 and in a small roasting pan or dish add the lemons and bay leaves.  Roast them in the oven for 20-25 mins until they have softened. If they have started to brown a little that is perfect. Scrape the contents of the pan with all the juices into a large jug and add the caster sugar, water, ice and vodka. Leave in the fridge to cool for a while.  Strain through a sieve into a pitcher after one hour. Serve in high balls with ice and club soda.