Honey, I love Tequila - New Cocktails to Try!

I have recently been handed a challenge by Proof Drinks to come up with some tasty recipes using four different products: Cazcabel Honey, Cazcabel Coffee, Cazcabel Blanco and Sloane’s Gin. I have previously raved about the Cazcabel Honey, but now I am even more excited as there are so many (easy) ways to make delicious cocktails using this sweet pure honey piece of heaven.

Whilst I played with different combinations, my personal tasting panel helped to choose the winners. Forest cocktail, for example, was rated ‘the best’ and ‘uniquely refreshing’. There are also several ways to use Cazcabel Honey with fizz – easy, delicious and different. I am keen to hear your thoughts, so please don’t hesitate to comment.

Honey Cazcabel Tequila & Cazcabel Blanco:

Three ways to use herbs with fizz:

1 FRESH SAGE

25ml Cazcabel Honey

1 leaf of sage

2 blackberries

Prosecco

Add Cazcabel Honey, sage and blackberries into a champagne flute, stir to release the flavours, top up with prosecco.

2 BASIL

25 ml Cazcabel Honey

3 leaves of basil

Prosecco

Add Cazcabel Honey, crush the basil leaves in your hands before adding into the champagne flute, and top up with prosecco.

3 SAGE

0.5l water

2 pears, peeled and sliced

Piece of ginger peeled and sliced

2tbsp brown sugar

2tsp dried sage

Mix all ingredients in a pot, heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for another ten minutes. Strain and store in the fridge.

25ml Cazcabel Honey

25ml sage/pear/ginger mix

Champagne

Take a slice of pear from the sage mix and add into a champagne flute. Add Cazcabel Honey and sage/pear/ginger mix, stir and top up with champagne.

HONEY PALOMA

Slices of pink grapefruit

Dash of gomme

20ml fresh lime juice

65ml pink grapefruit juice

35ml Cazcabel Honey

15ml Cazcabel Blanco

Soda

Fill a large rocks glass (or highball) with ice and a slice of grapefruit. Combine juices, gomme and tequilas in the glass and stir. Top up with soda.

FOREST – tastes as fresh as a Sunday stroll in the pine forest in Finland

25ml Green Chartreuse

25ml Cazcabel Honey

15ml Cazcabel Blanco

20ml fresh lemon juice

Fresh mint

Chill a coupe glass. Add mint in the Boston shaker with the rest of the ingredients. Shake well and strain into the coupe glass. Garnish with mint leaf.

SPIKED CHAI

1.5l water 6 black tea bags

4 cinnamon sticks

12 cloves

12 cardamom seeds

10 slices of fresh ginger

Honey (go easy on the honey if you are planning to use the honey tequila later)

Add all into a slow cooker for 4hrs on low heat, strain, cool down and store in the fridge.

To build the actual spiked drink, add 25ml of Cazcabel Honey in the glass or mug of your choice, heat milk (I used soy) and chai together and pour over the shot. Stir before serving.

WINTER MARGARITA

20ml fresh lemon juice

Dash of fresh orange juice

Dash of elderflower cordial

25ml triple sec

50ml Cazcabel Blanco

Half a teaspoon of ground ginger

Cinnamon stick

Dry apple cider (I used Rekorderlig Dry Apple)

Have a rocks glass ready filled with ice. In a Boston shaker combine all ingredients except the apple cider, shake and double strain. Top up with cider.

Cazcabel Coffee Tequila:

BLACK FOREST – Liquid dessert

50ml orange juice

50ml Cazcabel Coffee

5 blackberries

Chill a coupe glass. Muddle four blackberries in the glass part of a Boston shaker, add the rest of the ingredients with ice and shake. Double strain in the coupe glass and garnish with remaining blackberry.

COCONUT COFFEE

25ml coconut milk (from the can)

35ml Cazcabel Coffee Tequila

15ml Cazcabel Blanco

Double shot espresso

Fill a rocks glass with ice. Shake all ingredients with ice in a Boston shaker and strain over the ice. The best iced coffee ever!

COFFEE BEAN

Double shot espresso

25ml Maraschino liqueur

25ml Cazcabel Coffee

Shake well with ice in a Boston shaker, strain into a champagne flute.

CREAM OF COFFEE

25ml Cazcabel Coffee

100ml hot strong coffee

Dash of gomme

25ml heavy (double) cream

Pinch of vanilla sugar

Pinch of grated nutmeg

Combine Cazcabel Coffee with the coffee in a rocks glass, add gomme. Mix the cream with vanilla and nutmeg, pour over the coffee and give it a gentle stir. Add a bit more nutmeg on the top and serve.

Sloane’s Gin:

CITRUS SLOANE’S

50ml orange juice

50ml Sloane’s Gin

3 slices of pink grapefruit

Dash of gomme

Pomegranate seeds

4 drops of Angostura bitters

Fill a Collins glass with ice and pomegranate seeds. In the glass part of a Boston shaker, muddle the pink grapefruit with gomme. Add gin and orange juice. Shake well with ice and strain.