There is something about the smells of the Christmas season, when the air is filled with scents from sweet clementines, gingerbread, cinnamon, mulled wine and Christmas pudding. As mulled wine or eggnog might not be everyone’s cup of tea, I’ve decided to share some simple ideas for how to give your G&T a little Christmas make-over.
Llanllyr Source provided me with a range of their mixers to help out with these creations. I’ve previously posted other winter serves using both of their ginger beers – if you missed it you can recap here. All Llanllyr Source mixers are made with natural ingredients and low-mineral water from certified organic land. Their whole range is reasonably low in calories, which definitely comes in handy at the time we eat the most!
1 Christmas Spice G&T
50ml Gin (I used Henstone Gin)
25ml Fresh orange juice
15ml Spiced sugar syrup (adjust to taste)
Llanllyr Source tonic water
Simply combine gin, orange juice and syrup in a glass, add ice and top up with tonic water. Give it a little stir and garnish with an orange slice and cloves.
To make the syrup, simply add sugar, water and your chosen spices (I used a cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves and cardamom pods) to a saucepan. Bring to the boil and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat, cover with a lid and leave to sit for a while. Strain and let it cool.
2 Sloe Gin & Bitter Lemon
50ml Sloe Gin (I used Sipsmith)
15ml Lemon juice
Llanllyr Source bitter lemon
Such a simple serve, but very light and refreshing between all the eating during Christmas! Combine all the ingredients in a glass filled with ice. Garnish with a lemon slice.
3 Cardamom G&T
50ml Gin (I used Colombo)
15ml Spiced sugar syrup (adjust to taste)
25ml Cloudy apple juice (optional)
Llanllyr Source tonic water
Apple slices
Cardamom
Combine gin, syrup and apple juice in a glass. Top up with tonic water and give it a slight stir. Garnish with apple slices and cardamom pods. If you don’t like little bits floating in your drink, you can add more cardamom when making the syrup to adjust the flavour.
4 Cranberry G&T
50ml Gin
25ml Fresh orange juice
25ml Cranberry juice
Llanllyr Source tonic water
Combine gin, orange and cranberry juice in a glass, fill with ice and top up with tonic water. Garnish with cranberries, an orange slice and thyme or rosemary sprig for extra colour.
5 Clementine G&T
50ml Gin (I used Tanqueray)
50ml Fresh clementine juice
15ml Sugar syrup (you can also use spiced syrup)
Llanllyr Source club soda
I combined all the ingredients in the glass, but the fresh clementine juice is quite messy. If you’ve got time, I would recommend straining the fresh juice first before mixing it with the gin and syrup. Add ice, top up with soda and give it a little stir. Garnish with star anise.
6 Sloe Gin Fizz
25ml Gin (I used Tanqueray)
25ml Sloe Gin (I used Sipsmith)
15ml Lemon juice
Dash of sugar syrup (adjust to taste)
Llanllyr Source club soda
Mix all together over ice in a highball and garnish with a lemon slice or a blackberry. Simple, yet refreshing.
With these small tweaks you can experience all the Christmas flavours in one sip. Experiment with various spices and feel free to amend the amounts based on your preferences. There are also many delicious Sloe Gins on the market, which are perfect served on their own (try the aged ones) or with sparkling wine and some sugar syrup.
What is your favourite winter G&T serve? Do you use different gins depending on the season?
Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Llanllyr Source, but, as always, all words and opinions are my own.
