When we hosted the Get Social event, I got asked a lot how you can spruce up a drink to make it look more impressive. I thought I’d share my favourite hacks to make those drinks look snazzy (in under two minutes)
The Right Glass
Picking the right glass for your drink is an important starting point. If you’re drinking a gin and tonic you need a copa de balon glass (you know the ones that look like very wide wine glasses and rounded at the top?) well – think of it as the opposite to a red wine glass; you use it to let the gin breathe, but for gin you want to trap all of the aromas in the glass, hence why they curve back in towards the top.
For gin cocktails, check the glass you want to serve in, something that is creamy and smooth to taste (e.g. a French martini or a white lady) use a martini glass, or champagne saucer. For lighter fizzier cocktails, use a glass tumbler. I’ve featured some of my favourites below that are mainly inexpensive if you’re updating your Christmas glass ware.
Cut Glass Tumbler – £5 per glass
Champagne Saucers – £19.50 for four
Gin glasses – £45 for two
Always use clear glasses, when you start using multi coloured or ones with a lot of details it detracts or can clash with your drink.
Garnish!
Your garnish is going to make a drink look even more exciting, I love cocktail sticks to do this and you can get some pretty cute ones pretty cheap. Here are my two favourites:
Heart Shaped Cocktail Sticks – £5.99 for 100
Japanese Sword Cocktail Sticks – £4.30 for 100
You can slide your garnish (raspberries, cucumber, strawberries etc straight on).
A potato peeler can be one of our best friends. Cucumber tends to go pretty well with a lot of gin, and cucumber ribbon is easy to make – simple peel down a cucumber and folk then slide in on to the cocktail stick. (I always like to stir my drink with the garnishes to add the flavours too)
Ice
Ice can make a drink, you always want to be serving with big ice cubes where you’re using solid (they last longer and have more of an impact on a drink.
I got my ice cube trays from Asda for £2 and they are the perfect size. – Click here to see them.
Crushed ice can also make a drink look fabulous, especially the ones you’re serving in a short tumbler glass. This is my ice crusher from Von Shef – it’s £19.
That’s it. As you start to mix more there are more complex things you can do, but the above quick tips will allow you to spruce up your drinks in under 2 minutes! If you have any tips let me know
I’m making the spiced gin today and will def be making a cocktail to drink whilst I do the roast!!
I will try all these things out over Christmas x Thanks