With summer heating up, we’re finally at one of the best times of the year – the season of sipping cocktails on the patio! While whisky is known for its ability to warm you up after a few sips, after all, we all love a good Christmas whisky, when mixed into a refreshing cocktail, it can actually be the perfect option during the sunnier months of the year.

So, trade in your Old Fashioned for one of these summertime sips and pour yourself a perfect accompaniment for barbeques and alfresco dining!
Bourbon Sweet Tea
It’s sometimes a little too warm to enjoy a hot beverage in the summer months, so this American twist on our beloved hot brew can act as the perfect way to sate your tea cravings – made all the better with a big splash of whiskey, of course!

You Will Need:

750ml of water
250ml of Bourbon
100g of sugar
2 black tea bags
1 lemon, sliced or in small wedges
½ orange, sliced or in small wedges
To Make: 
To Make:

1. Brew the green tea and then leave it to cool.
2. In a tall glass, mix the whisky with 60ml of green tea.
3. Top the drink off with soda water and serve.

Do you love a tipple at Christmas time? I love to indulge in a festive drink with family and friends over Yuletide and have a selection of cocktail recipes I keep going back to. I love hosting Christmas get-togethers and meeting up at my friends' parties too. I also love to attend local Christmas events where I may indulge in a cocktail or two too. Here are some cool cocktails you can try this festive season.

Mulled Wine For A Taste Of Christmas

With Valentine's day just around the corner, you may be thinking of what to cook for your partner and that perfect meal. You may want to make a sophisticated creation washed down with an excellent Sauvignon Blanc or you may go fun and frivolous and complete the meal with a heart dessert and her favourite cocktail like Sex On The Beach.



The first Sex On The Beach cocktail was created in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the 80's when a bartender wanted to create a fun drink for those celebrating Spring Break. If you are wondering why the name, the crazier the name the more likely people will order it in the cocktail game. 



It's one of those cocktails that is super simple, easy to make, and colourful. Perfect for those that like their cocktails sweet with refreshing and dare I say it innocent. It's not sophisticated but it is delicious.

This cocktail is one of those cocktails that will take you back to that fabulous holiday in the sun, you know the one, where you sipped cocktails by the pool, where the food was so fresh and delicious it was amazing and you felt the most relaxed you have ever been.




How To Make A Sex On The Beach

Ingredients

2 measures of Vodka
1/2 measure of black raspberry Liqueur such as Chambord
1/2 measure of butterscotch Schnapps such as Teichenne
1 1/2 measures of freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/2 measure of cranberry juice
orange slice and a cherry to garnish

Method




1. In a tall highball glass, add all the ingredients, stir and top with ice.
2. Decorate with an orange slice and a cherry garnish.
3. Enjoy dreaming of your next holiday.





To buy all the spirits needed for Sex On The Beach,  head over the 31 Dover and buy it all online, with no need to carry heavy bottles home from the supermarket. With quick delivery and a price match promise, you get the best prices on alcohol delivered to your doorstep at one click of a button.



Tell me do you order your drinks online? What's your favourite cocktail?

I'm also a fan of bourbon and specifically Jack Daniel's whiskey. Last March on a tour of the American 'Deep South' we ventured to the Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg, Tennesse. It was interesting to learn the history of the drink and to see how the whiskey was made. The Jack Daniel's distillery has made a range of whiskey from Tennessee spring water for the last 150 years. The classic Jack Daniel's No 7 has an earthy wood flavour, purified by going through a charcoal distillation process and has an edgy warmth as it goes down. It's a great base for whiskey cocktails or is delicious on it's on in a chilled glass with ice.




So when I was thinking of what spirits to buy for Christmas my thought went immediately to whiskey, tequila, and a spirit like a vodka that will take on the flavour of most mixers. A 'Party Starter' pack from 31Dover.com has exactly that in the package and is great for recreating delicious cocktails.

31Dover.com is an award-winning online drinks merchant selling a wide range of alcohol including champagne, wine, spirits, craft beers, cider, and liqueurs. Based at 31 Dover Street in London in 2015 it was named the Best Online Drinks Retailer by the industry's Drinks Business Awards.





The Party Starter pack features Russian standard vodka, Jose Cuervo tequila and Jack Daniel’s whiskey to kick start your house party celebrations. All you need is some orange juice, cola, any other mixers you may like and lashings of ice, and of course, you can always drink neat!

Now a drink I tried recently is a bourbon based cocktail called an Old Fashioned. The name was first coined at the Pendennis Club, a gentlemen's club founded in 1881 in Louisville, Kentucky. It's a simple straight forward cocktail, made with bourbon, sugar, bitters, lots of ice and a twist of orange rind. In my recipe below I am adding a little variation to this with Angostura orange bitters, not normal bitters. These orange bitters available from 31Dover.com adds a lovely flavour to the cocktail.

An Old Fashioned with a Twist



Ingredients

1 sugar cube or 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
2-3 dashes of Angostura orange bitters
2 measures of whiskey or bourbon
plenty of ice
1 orange
cocktail cherry (optional)

Method

1. Put the sugar in a tumbler with a teaspoon of hot water.
2. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then add the bitters.
3. Add the whiskey.
4. Stir well.
5. Add ice, and give it another stir
6. Get an orange and take a strip of orange peel off carefully with a sharp knife
7. It's important not to have any of the white pith on the orange as this can be bitter.
8. Rub the edge of the glass with the peel then twist the peel and pop it into the glass.
9. Add a cocktail cherry on a stick if you have one.
10. Sit back and enjoy like Jon Hamm in Mad Men.



I live in a small seaside town and I can't get many of the most unusual items to make cocktails, such as Angostura orange bitters, so a site like 31Dover.com is really useful to me. I couldn't find this anywhere so I actually bought them from 31Dover.com, yes bloggers do buy things too! Flavoured from the fresh, sun-ripened peels of Trinidad's oranges, these orange bitters really add an orange zesty taste to any drink.

We recently visited New Orleans as part of our road trip around the 'mojo triangle', New Orleans, Memphis, and Nashville - the birthplace of jazz, blues, rock and roll and country music.

New Orleans is known for its food, from simple Po' Boy sandwiches to classic cocktails such as the Pimms Cup and more refined Creole and Cajun cuisine. In simple terms, Creole cuisine is referred to as city food whilst Cajun is more rustic country food.

These are some of the dishes that we tried in New Orleans, and specifically what New Orleans is known for.

Beignet



A beignet is a deep-fried doughnut. Served hot with lots of powdered sugar, they are generally plain with no jam and are well known as the iconic food at Cafe Du Monde and Cafe Beignet in the French Quarter, New Orleans.

Gumbo


Gumbo is a stew that originated in southern Louisiana during the 18th century. It consists of a flavoured stock thickened with a roux, meat such as chicken or andouille sausage, onions, peppers and celery and sometimes seafood. The gumbo above was a simple dish I ate at a cafe, more luxurious dishes are eaten in one of the many restaurants.

Sazerac




A Sazerac is a cocktail invented in New Orleans containing rye whiskey, bitters, and Absinthe. This Sazerac was drunk in the Monteleone hotel, famous for it's rotating carousel bar. Served quite strong you could really taste the whiskey in this cocktail.

Muffuletta



A muffuletta is a popular sandwich made of round flattened bread, similar to focaccia and filled with salami, ham, provolone cheese, and olive salad. Traditionally served cold, although many places will toast it for you, this is a total meal in a sandwich. The one shown above was half a whole muffuletta, so you can see how big they are.

Po' Boy


A Po' Boy is a submarine-type sandwich from Lousiana, served on bread similar to French Bread and consist of roast beef, chicken, ham or fried seafood. A "dressed" Po' boy has lettuce, tomato, pickles, and mayonnaise. It is said this sandwich was invented when the New Orleans streetcar drivers went on strike in 1929 as an inexpensive sandwich of bits of leftover roast beef and gravy.

Shrimp And Grits



Shrimp and grits is a traditional dish from South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. Grits are made by boiling ground maize and is similar to porridge in consistency. A traditional breakfast dish grits are also served well seasoned and accompanied with shrimp as a main course for dinner in some of the finer restaurants. I had this dish in Mr. B's bistro, an excellent New Orleans restaurant known for it's refined Creole food.

Pimms Cup


A Pimms Cup, although invented in London in the 1800s, was brought to New Orleans by a restaurant and bar called the Napoleon House bar in the late 1940s. Consisting of Pimms No 1, lemonade, a lemon-lime soda such as 7 Up, lots of strawberries and topped with ice, it is very refreshing on a warm day garnished with cucumber.

For information on well-priced food when in NOLA check out this post, 10 Cheap Eats In New Orleans by 2foodtrippers and for some more recommendations Where To Eat In New Orleans Now by Lisa from LL World Tour.

These are some of the dishes we ate and drunk in New Orleans. Which would you try?

I do love cocktails! Margaritas, Tequila Sunrises, Cosmopolitans, Mojitos ... all simply delicious. So when I was contacted to review a cocktail bar in Covent Garden I jumped at the chance.


Dirty Martini is one of those little secrets that only the insiders know. Hidden away in a basement on Covent Garden it's a tricky place to find but SOOO worth it. You can find this little gem in Covent Garden itself about 20 yards up from the Transport Museum.





What's especially great about Dirty Martini is that they have a selection of special offers on a weekly basis. Happy hour is Mon-Thurs 5pm -10pm, Fri and Sat 5pm-8pm and Sun all day. Half price martinis, Prosecco cocktails and bottles of wine as well as other offers make this a steal if you are in the area.

If you can't make it to Covent Garden they also have branches at Hanover Square and Bishopsgate, all in London. Let's hope they expand countrywide soon, I know that Cardiff could do with a classy cocktail bar, hope you are listening Dirty Martini!

* I was given complimentary food and drink in exchange for an honest review