Gin Summer Cocktails… Classic British Cocktails

10. GINger juice cocktail

50ml Plymouth Gin

25ml Ginger Liqueur

15ml Lemon Juice (fresh)

15ml Sugar Syrup

2 Long thin slices of Ginger (optional garnish)

1 lemon wedge (optional garnish)

Combine in a shaker over ice, and shake until the tin ices over on the outside. Then strain into a small glass filled with crushed ice. Gently position the ginger slices around the outside of the inner glass (between the ice and the glass). Then top up with ginger ale and drop in a lemon wedge for garnish…

9. Beefeater Almond Iced Tea

60ml Beefeater 24 Gin

90ml Sencha Tea (chilled)

20ml Almond Syrup (Orgeat)

10ml Sugar Syrup

10ml Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

Build all the ingredients in a tall ice-filled glass and then stir well before serving…  Garnish with a lemon wheel.

Beefeater Almond Iced-Tea

8. Gin Fizz

45ml Gin

20ml Lemon Juice

15ml Sugar Syrup

Top up Soda Water

Shake the Gin, Lemon & syrup and strain into an ice filled glass. Top up with the Soda water and garnish with a wedge of lemon.

 

7. Citrus Crush

60ml Gin

30ml Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

1 dash sugar syrup

Add all the ingredients to a glass filled with crushed ice and stir. Serve immediately. For a longer version; top up with the soda of your choice.

6. Damascan Punch

60ml Gin

60ml Pomegranate Juice (Use POM Juice)

30ml Lemon Juice (FS)

30ml Sugar Syrup

60ml Bitter Lemon(ade)

1 dash Angostura Bitters

Mix all of the ingredients by adding them to an ice-filled glass and stirring well. Garnish with a sprig of mint, fresh pomegranate & a wedge of lemon (all of these are optional).

Damascan Punch

5. Classic G&T

60ml Gin

90ml Tonic water

Build over ice in a tall glass, garnishing with a lemon/lime wedge.

4. Tom Collins

45ml Gin

20ml Lemon Juice (FS)

15ml Sugar Syrup

60ml Soda Water

Add all the ingredients into an empty glass and stir. Add ice and then top up with the soda water, Garnishing with a lemon wheel.

3. Summer Breeze Punch (will serve 2-4)

60ml Beefeater Gin

30ml Lemon Juice (FS)

30ml Lillet Blanc

15ml Curacao (triple sec)

15ml Grenadine Syrup

120ml Vervain Tea (chilled) – Mint Tea also works well here!

Mix all of these ingredients over a large slab of ice in the serving bowl. For the fruit: Add Mint sprigs, lemon & lime wheels and your preferred selection of soft berries (I strongly suggest using strawberries).

2. Singapore Sling

40ml Gin

20ml cherry heering (cherry Brandy will suffice)

5ml Cointreau

5ml Benedictine

10ml Grenadine

80ml Pineapple Juice

30ml Lemon Juice

1-2 dashes angostura bitters

This drink is a bit of a legend. The above recipe is, as far as I know, the original. Any Singapore sling recipe without Benedictine is wrong. With that in mind, you can (if you do not have any at home) substitute it with 5ml of any other orange liqueur; Grand Marnier is a good call, so is mandarin napoleon, but adding another 5ml of Cointreau is acceptable.

Shake all the ingredients and strain into an ice-filled hurricane glass. Garnish with a pineapple chunk and maraschino cherry.

Singapore Sling

1.Vesper

60ml Gordons Gin

20ml Stolichnaya Vodka

10ml Lillet Blanc

Stir* all the ingredients over ice and strain into a martini glass, garnishing with a lemon-peel twirl.

*for a more 007-esque experience you can shake this cocktail, but as most bartenders know; shaking a drink like this will dilute it and thus weaken the drink’s flavours… Stirring the drink cools the alcohol just the same, but does not dilute the drink as much…

Inspiration for these cocktails, including the pictures where taken from these websites (as well as my own mind in the case of recipes i created):

http://www.gintime.com/tag/summer-cocktails/

http://www.beefeatergin.com/

Tropical Fruit sangria – A perfect pitcher for the summer nights…

Tropical Fruit Sangria: Less Wine… MORE RUM!

I’m sitting here right now, sipping on some fragrant tropical sangria, and I’m about to tell you all how to make it…

This sangria recipe is a little different as it’s a little more ‘punchy’ than traditional sangria and it goes down much better with those not too keen on the wine.

Using less wine and a tad more liqueur than your regular sangria, this recipe packs an alcoholic kick but also plenty of flavour from both the liqueurs and the fresh fruit used.

I find that the best method to good sangria is to mix the alcohol, then add the sugar, then mix in the non-alcoholic (fruit juices) components and finally the addition of fresh fruit. I then like to refrigerate the mix for a few hours before serving (alternatively you could just add some ice if you’re pressed for time – although this will dilute the mix over time)…

A wonderful collection of ingredients, meant for one thing only: SANGRIA!

The recipe I used for Todays sangria punch and how to make it:

Recipe:

• Kumala Colombard Chardonnay Wine – 150ml
• Brugal Anejo Rum – 75ml
• Crème d Mure – 30ml
• Orange Liqueur – 30ml
• Innocent Tropical Juice – 550ml
• Selection of exotic/soft berry fruits/ citrus
  • Strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, melon, pineapple, citrus fruits.
• 2 teaspoons caster sugar

Method:

1)      Prepare the fruit:

1. Citrus: sliced
2. Soft fruit/orchard fruits: wedges/halved/quartered
3. Berries: hulled & halved
4. Other (Melon, pineapple etc): Chunks

2)      Pour into the mixing bowl the alcohol, juice and sugar…

3)      Stir until the sugar dissolves in the mixture.

4)      Drop in the fruit and refrigerate for between 2-12 hours (the longer you leave it the more alcohol the fruit takes up).

This recipe is rather fruity, more so than I expected, which is mostly due to the use of tropical juice (I was originally going to go for an Orange base juice – but chose this to better match the wines flavours). The best fruit is usually whatever is in season. I added some melon chunks (ready prepared) to add both texture and a little more exotic flavour.

This is best enjoyed on a warm summers evening, with large ice cubes (slower dilution) or in a well-chilled glass. It’s easy to make and provides a nice little drink to end your day with.

Vodka Summer Cocktails… Top 10

Vodka – Historically a stereotypical part of the Russian diet, this ‘neutral’ grain alcohol can be mixed to create some of the best flavoured cocktails in the world…

Here over the next 10 drinks, you will see some of, what I think to be, the best vodka summer cocktails in the world…

10. Vodka Sea Breeze

2m Vodka

2m Cranberry Juice

2m Pineapple Juice

Lime wedge (garnish)

9. Voodoo

50ml Russian Vodka

50ml Mango Nectar

2 lime wedges

3 mint leaves

Top up soda water

Mint sprig (for garnish)

8. Classic Caipiroska

50ml High grade vodka (Green Mark/42 Below)

½ lime (cut into wedges

2 tablespoons Muscovado sugar.

Squeeze then muddle the lime and sugar (use Agave Nectar for a smoother drink), then top up with crushed ice and pour over vodka. Stir and serve before the drink has time to dilute.

Top Tip: Use any citrus fruit you prefer here. I recommend any orange citrus fruit (oranges, mandarins, satsumas, tangerines & clems are all perfect choices as they offer slightly different flavours).

7.Mint & Cucumber Vodka Fizz

50ml Vodka

12.5ml Cointreau

1 teaspoon Sugar syrup

12 mint leaves

½ cucumber, sliced

25ml fresh squeezed lime juice

Cucumber Spear & Mint sprig (for garnish).

Muddle the cucumber slices and mint with the sugar syrup and top up with the alcohol and lime. Shake well and strain over crushed ice. Top up with Soda Water/Ginger ale and garnish with the cucumber spear and mint sprig.

Top tip: for added flavour (and a Mexican feel) use Agave Nectar and Agave Sec instead of Sugar Syrup and Cointreau respectively…

6. Lemon Drop

1 measure Vodka

½ measure Lemon Juice

1tsp Sugar syrup (1 tsp for every 1 measure of vodka)

Lemon twist for garnish

Shake, then strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist. This is a sour drink so is best kept as more of a desert cocktail… You have been warned!

A sour but satisfying cocktail…

5. Acapulco Zombie

20ml Vodka

20ml Tequila

20ml Gold Rum

40ml Orange juice

40ml Grapefruit Juice

1 small dash Crème de Menthe

Serving over ice in a tall glass, build this cocktail working your way down the list… Drop the crème de menthe in last and allow it to rest on top (after stirring the other ingredients first).

4. Cucumber Cooler

50ml Russian Vodka

15ml Sugar Syrup

12” Thin slice (long-side) cucumber

1 small slice (wheel – for garnish)

1/8 teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves.

Muddle the cucumber and thyme in a shaker; add the sugar syrup and vodka. Shake gently and pour over ice in a small goblet. Garnish with the cucumber wheel and a splash of soda water.

 

3. Cucumber & Ginger Fizz (up to 8 servings)

135ml Vodka

80ml ginger liqueur

top up Ginger Ale/Beer

2 limes (wedges – you should be able to get 8 per lime)

2 cucumbers (1 roughly chopped; 1 thinly sliced length-ways)

This is a two stage recipe and does require some prior preparation…

Stage one: Skin one of the cucumbers and dice loosely. Put the cucumber and all of the vodka into a glass container and refridgerate for 1-3 hours. When you’re happy with the strength of the ‘infusion’ stain and sieve the vodka into a separate container and refridgerate for a further 2 days, discard the cucumber.

Stage two: Peel the other cucumber length-ways and put 3 slices in each of the 8 glasses. Add to this 3 tablespoons (45ml) of the vodka to each glass and squeeze two of the lime wedges into the mixture (drop in the lime wedges for garnish also). Top up with crushed ice and add 10ml of the ginger liqueur (10ml per glass). Stir gently before topping up with Ginger Ale/Beer.

Serve with a straw and a cocktail stirrer.

2. Wallbanger 43

50ml High grade vodka

20ml Licor 43

75ml freshly squeezed Orange Juice

1. Classic Screwdriver

50ml Green Mark Vodka

100ml freshly squeezed Orange Juice

Orange Wedge (for garnish).

So there you go, 10 of the best vodka cocktails you can drink this summer. The screwdriver is my number one by a country mile, and that is not flattering (done right it genuinely is that good!).

I hope you enjoy them all as much as I do! Next up… Top 10 Gin Summer Cocktails…

Licor 43 Summer Cocktails

Cuarenta Y Tres, a golden liqueur from a golden country…

So I did wrote a post way back at the beginning of my blogging life, and ever since then it has gone from strength to strength. It’s by far my most viewed post (around 100-150 views ahead of my other posts). So to celebrate this, I thought I’d celebrate by putting together my top ten (10) Licor 43 cocktails, but here’s the thing: They’re summer cocktails. They’re all perfect for any time of the day, but superb for those chilled summer evenings…

Here’s a little tip before we start: Licor 43 (Cuarenta Y Tres) is a viscous, sweet, Orange & Vanilla* flavoured liqueur. Thus it can be substituted for other ‘similar’ liqueurs on the market. For example; the cocktail at no.8 shows Licor 43 replacing Cointreau, offering an alternative to those who are not fans of the famous French liqueur…

*Although Licor 43’s flavour is a combination of 43 different ingredients, the Orange and Vanilla flavours are arguably the most predominant.

Let’s Begin with a Brazilian Classic made the Spanish way;

10. Caipirinha 43

50ml Licor 43

½ Lemon squeezed

Top up sparkling water

Served over crushed ice (build it, don’t shake it)

 

9. Pascal

3m Licor 43

3m Midori (Melon Liqueur)

Top up fresh milk

 

8. Spanish Margarita

2m licor 43

4m tequila

6m Sweet & Sour Mix (lemon sugar syrup)

7. Dreamsicle

1m Licor 43

2m Fresh Milk

2m Fresh Orange Juice

6. Aquavit 43

3m Licor 43

2m Aquavit

2m Noilly Prat

1m Fresh Lime Juice

Top up Ginger Ale*

* I like to add a little splash of something at this point. Although Licor43 sugest the cocktail as is, I prefer a little fizz. Try adding either Soda water or ginger ale/beer (my personal preference). 

5. The Power of Cuarenta Y Tres

7m Licor 43

1m fresh Lime juice

8m Fresh cranberry juice

4m Passion Fruit Nectar

1m Caramel syrup

 

4. Key Lime Pie

1m Licor 43

1m Vodka

1m Fresh Lime Juice

3. Spanish Armada

2m Licor 43

1m Southern Comfort

3m Cranberry Juice

Top up ginger ale

 

2. Pile 43 (Long)

50ml Licor 43

50ml ginger ale

…

Now, I’m trying to be different with this list, I have tried and tested many a cocktail (licor 43 or none) but one I keep coming back to is the Cuba Libre… This next cocktail is my number one for 2 reasons: It combines a fantastic classic cocktail (conveniently my favourite one) with one of the best liqueurs in the world. The flavours work wonders and the simplicity of the drink means anyone can enjoy one if they wish to…

1. Cuba Libre 43

3m Licor 43

2m Dark Rum

12m Cola

Lemon Wedge

A few drops of fresh lime juice

Bonus cocktail:

When I went to Almeria (Southern Spain – the regional home of Licor 43), as part of my University course, they didn’t need to suggest this liqueur to me… I asked for it. The look of approval from the staff member serving me said it all. I asked for a simple mixture: 43 & Pepsi.

It’s not only simple, but superbly refreshing. I let my Uni friends all try it, and they all went and ordered one. This cocktail is a testament to not only the quality of the liqueur, but also its growing market here in the U.K.

Recipe:

50ml Licor 43

Top up Pepsi (original only)

for picture of most of these cocktails (so you know what they’re meant to look like please visit the cocktail section of licor 43: http://licor43.com/#/cocteles/)

Licor 43 Summer Cocktails: So I hope you enjoy this instalment! They are all fantastic cocktails, and all of them are perfect for the warm/british summer nights ahead. For the warmer nights, go for the fruitier/stonger drinks. For the ‘British Summer’ nights (aka Cold) go for the milky cocktails.

Next up: Vodka Summer Cocktails…

www.thedrinkshop.com offer! – All Rum up to 25% off…

I dont know how long this offer is on for but dear lord it’s a good offer!

Up to 25% of all the rum on the list this link will take you too!!!

http://www.thedrinkshop.com/products/productlist.php?catid=39

Where has all the rum gone? – Oh yeah thedrinkshop has it…

Cointreau Summer cocktails

So summer is on its way, albeit in the traditional British ‘stealth mode’ way. As I write this it’s a slightly overcast but overall sunny day. The trees are rustling and yet my hand is cold… It’s because I have a fantastic “Cointreau fizz” cocktail (see below) in it! That’s right ladies and gentlemen, summer is here and that can mean only one thing: Cointreau cocktails rule supreme!

The following are what I consider to be the best Cointreau cocktails you can order:

10. Kamikaze

20ml Cointreau

10ml Lemon Juice

40ml Vodka

Strong and volatile in the wrong hands, this cocktail should be feared as well as enjoyed. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.

 

9. Daiquiri

15ml Cointreau

15ml Lime

45ml Mount Gay Rum

10ml Agave Nectar

A slight tweak on the classic recipe. The Mount gay rum lends its golden hue to this delicious drink. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass for the best results.

 

8. Cointreau Cobbler

50ml Cointreau

80ml Chardonnay White Wine

2 orange slices

1 lemon slices

Shake all the ingredients and strain into a wine glass. Top up with a bit of Prosecco if you fancy a touch of class.

Combining Cointreau & Chardonnay; this cocktail is a little more refined…

 

7. Sidecar

30ml Cointreau

30ml Lemon Juice

30ml Remy Martin VSOP cognac

Pure class in a glass; Shake and strain the ingredients into a martini glass and enjoy thoroughly.

 

6. Cosmopolitan

Classic Comso:

20ml Cointreau

10ml Lime Juice

20ml Cranberry Juice

40ml Vodka

Cointreau special: Cointreaupolitan

50ml Cointreau

30ml Cranberry Juice

20ml Lemon Juice

Whichever recipe you choose one thing is certain: Enjoyment. Shake and strain the ingredients into a cocktail glass. Add ice if you wish.

 

5. Margarita

20ml Cointreau

20ml Lime Juice

40ml Silver Tequila

A classic cocktail for a classic liqueur; Shake and strain the ingredients into a coupette glass and garnish with a lime wheel.

 

4. Cointreau Caipirinha

50ml Cointreau

Half a lime (quartered)

Crushed ice

A slightly sweeter take on a Brazilian classic; shake and strain all the ingredients into a small ice filled rocks glass and drop in a couple of lime wedges for garnish.

 

3. White Lady

20ml Cointreau

20ml Lemon Juice

40ml Gin

This classy little cocktail is extremely simple: shake and strain into a cocktail glass. For added class garnish with an edible flower (Try some different coloured rose petals)

mixing gin with cointreau, this cocktail is strong but fragrant…

2. Sunkiss

40ml Cointreau

50ml Pineapple Juice

30ml Yellow Grapefruit Juice

A deliciously sweet Caribbean cocktail; perfect for those summer evenings. Shake all the ingredients and strain into a long glass filled with crushed ice.

1. Cointreau Fizz

The reason this is my number one is for the pure versatility of the drink. If you head over to the Cointreau website, you’ll find a list of cocktails both famous and lesser known. If you look carefully you’ll find 9 different recipes for ‘Fizz’ cocktails. The only difference (generally at least) is the garnish. As many of you know the garnish is extremely important to the taste of some cocktails, and none more so than with the Cointreau Fizz.

With recipes such as; Strawberry & Mint, Mint Tea, Cucumber & Basil and Passion & Pepper, the Cointreau fizz is, literally, a cocktail for all tastes.

Here are my 3 favourite recipes:

 

Cointreau Fizz – Simple but stunning… 

50ml Cointreau

½ fresh Lime Juice

100ml Soda Water

 

Cointreau Fizz, Passion & Pepper – Spicy, with a splash of passion…

50ml Cointreau

15ml fresh lime juice

 2 fresh passion fruits

1 thin slice of thai chilli pepper

50ml soda water

Method: add all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker (only use the juice of the passion fruits). Shake until the metal is frosted and then strain over ice into a glass. Top up with soda water.

 

Cointreau Fizz, Strawberry & Mint

50ml Cointreau

15ml Lime Juice

4-5 fresh strawberries

3 fresh mint leaves

50ml soda water

Method: Muddle the strawberries and mint leaves in a Boston shaker. Add in the Cointreau and lime juice and shake until the metal becomes frosted. Strain into a glass, over ice and garnish with a strawberry slice and a fresh mint sprig.

A refreshing combination of mint and strawberry. This drink will be one of the most refreshing drinks you’ll ever try…

All the recipes in this post, among others, can be found under the ‘creative cocktails’ section of the Cointreau website: www.cointreau.com/cocktails/creative-cocktails -19.html

All pictures/recipes are from www.cointreau.com

Mexican Sangria – Wine, Tequila and baskets of fresh fruit…

Sangria is not an unknown sensation, especially across Latin parts of the world. Whether you find yourself in South America, Mexico or across Southern Europe you will find sangria in one form or another. The basics are as follows:

Wine,

Fruit juice,

Fresh fruit pieces,

Mixer

Classic sangria’s also primarily use red wines; however I prefer the lighter white wine sangrias that are becoming more and more popular. Whether it’s because you can add other spirits, or whether it’s because white wine doesn’t produce an unattractive colour when mixed with different juices; white wine sangrias are just becoming more and more popular…

You might think that this is a bad thing, but in fact it’s a great move. The use of white wines opens the door for the addition of spirits. Rum, Tequila, Vodka & all sorts of fruit liqueurs all have something to add to the world of sangria (just look at how many punches/pitcher cocktails there are!).

This post is a continuation of my previous Sangria blog, and will be aiming to show you how to use Tequila in sangria recipes…

So then, let’s get started…

We begin by taking the white wine sangria from my previous sangria blog:

750ml White wine

1 ½ cups white rum

1 ½ cups orange juice

½ cup white sugar

1 lemon, lime & orange (diced/sliced)

Optional: Selection of orchard fruits (apples, pears, plums etc.) to taste

Top up with lemonade (or sparkling wine for an added kick)

This recipe is very basic, but it covers all the basics already mentioned above. For a very simple Mexican Sangria, you could just switch out the rum for silver tequila. But I like my sangria a little more refined. And below are some recipes and tips that show why these sangria’s work.

Recipe 1: Especial Heaven

750ml Casillero Del Diablo Chardonnay*

500ml Jose Cuervo Especial Gold Tequila**

500ml Orange Juice

500ml Grapefruit Juice

250ml Cranberry Juice

½ cup Muscovado Sugar

2L Grapefruit soda to top

Lemon, Lime, Orange & Pink grapefruit slices (1 of each fruit sliced up)

Selection of preferred hard fruits: Apples, Pears, peaches, apricots etc…

Add the alcohol, juice and sugar into a bowl and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Then add the fruit and leave to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Then, just before serving add the Grapefruit soda.

*Casillero Del Diablo Chardonnay 75cl (750ml): £7.99 from www.Tesco.com.

**Jose Cuervo Especial Gold Tequila 50cl (500ml): £14.00 from www.tesco.com.

This Chardonnay wine from Chile will work perfectly with the fragrant Especial tequila in this sangria. Its flavours blend in well with the fruits used and the nature of the tequila (agave, and other fruity notes) also lending themselves to the sangria’s overall taste.

Top Tip: Try to match the fruit to both the wine and the tequila. Look online (or on the bottle) for the fruity notes of both and try to use those fruits (as well as the basic citrus and orchard fruits).

Recipe 1: Reposado Royale

750ml Artesano De Argento Pinot Grigio

500ml El Jimador Reposado Tequila

½ cup Muscovado Sugar

500ml orange juice

500ml pineapple juice

250ml mango juice

250ml guava juice

Top up: Mateus Sparkling Rose

Orange, lemon, lime slices

Pineapple slices/chunks

Mango chunks

Blending exotic tropical flavours from the Argentinian Pinot Grigio blend well with the El Jimador Reposado and are topped off nicely with the creamy Mateus Rose’s apricot & strawberry flavours.

Top tip: Just because main flavours are tropical, don’t be afraid of using the creamier, softer berried flavours the rose wine supplied. It adds an extra layer, and greater depth in flavour to the sangria.

* Artesano De Argento Pinot Grigio 75Cl (750ml) £7.99 from www.Tesco.com.

**El Jimador Reposado 70Cl (700ml) £19.99 from www.sainsburys.co.uk (or almost any store).

***Mateus Sparkling Rose 75Cl (750ml) £8.29 from www.morrisonscellar.com.

So topping your sangria off with sparkling rose adds a little class, not to mention a great taste! 

Final Recipe – Silver Key Sauvignon Blanc:

750ml Sauvignon Blanc*

500ml Sierra Silver Tequila**

250ml Triple Sec***

½ cup Muscovado Sugar

500ml Orange Juice

500ml Grapefruit Juice

250ml Cranberry & Raspberry Juice

150ml Passoa (optional)

150ml Grenadine Syrup****

Top up: Any clear soda you like.

Lime, Lemon, Orange slices.

Soft berries: Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, Apricots, Peaches, Greengages as well as a selection of citrus fruits (mandarin’s, satsuma’s and clementine’s work particularly well).

*Brancott Estate Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 75cl (750ml) £9.29 from www.sainsburys.co.uk

**Sierra Silver Tequila 50cl (500ml) £15.49 from www.sainsburys.co.uk

***Any triple sec you can find will suffice, I think for this De Kuyper/Bols work perfectly fine. Don’t waste your Cointreau on something like this!

****Try to be a little experimental with your choice of syrup. Grenadine works fine if you cannot get anything else, but try exotic flavours like Hibiscus & Kiwi (among others), check out this website for the hibiscus syrup: http://www.creamsupplies.co.uk/rosella-wild-hibiscus-syrup-300ml/prod_5491.html?category=

Citrus fruit make the sangria. But always feel free to brighten this picture up with some ideas of your own…

So that concludes the recipes… Now for some top tips:

1)      Feel free to experiment, that’s how half of these recipes came about after all!

2)      The use of fruit is essential, but it must be to you, and your guests’ tastes. If someone is allergic to Banana’s then don’t use them. (I know this one is a no-brainer but it happens!).

3)      When making Mexican sangria remember: Tequila is king. Always use top quality tequila.

4)      While tequila is king, you need fruity flavours. To accomplish this, use fruit liqueurs – don’t be afraid to add small amounts in. Stick to a 1-5 rule (for every 500ml of tequila use 100-150ml of the fruit liqueur).

5)      Read the labels. Read the wine and tequila labels to work out what fruit to use in the mix. Also – always use the freshest fruit.

In summary I suppose I just want to say that the idea behind this post is that if you have the ingredients for great Mexican sangria’s (like those above) then fantastic – enjoy yourself, but for those that don’t; make sure you have the wine and tequila’s available and just use whatever else you can afford/have at hand!

Please feel free to leave comments as to what you thought of these recipes, or even just general feedback! I am enjoying some tequila nights here at home this week, so I’ll have some more Mexican themed posts on their way to you soon! Thanks for reading and keep a weather eye out!

Oh, and please remember to drink responsibly!