The holiday season is just around the corner and when you’re hosting year-end get-togethers and parties, why not play bartender to your loved ones and try out these cocktail recipes put together by William Grant & Sons? If cocktails don’t tickle your fancy, Glenfiddich Regional Brand Ambassador for Southeast Asia, Matthew Fergusson-Stewart shares some simple whisky pairing tips for you to try this Christmas. Let’s raise a toast to this holiday season! 😀
Monkey Shoulder – Monkey Jam Sour
What you’ll need
- 50ml Monkey Shoulder
- 5ml Sugar syrup
- 2 Tsp Jam
- 20ml Fresh lemon juice
- Optional Soda water
- Dash Orange nitters
How to
- Add all ingredients to shaker
- Add fresh ice and shake
- Strain into ice filled glass
- Top up with soda water if you fancy
Reyka Vodka – Icelandic Mule
What you’ll need
- 2 Parts Reyka Vodka
- ¾ Parts Ginger syrup
- ½ Part Lime juice
How to
- Shake and strain into iced Collins glass
- Top with soda water
- Garnish with a lime wedge
To make the ginger syrup
- Combine 4 parts freshly pressed ginger juice with 3 parts sugar
- Shake until sugar is dissolved
Sailor Jerry Spiced – South Seas
What you’ll need
- 2 parts Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum
- 2 parts red wine
- ½ part fresh lemon juice
- Lemon-lime soda
How to
- Build Sailor Jerry, wine and juice in a rocks-filled mixing glass
- Shake vigorously. Pour into a rocks-filled highball or pint glass. Top with soda and garnish with a lemon wedge
Here are some single malt whisky food pairing tips to elevate your guests’ dining experience, brought to you by Matthew Fergusson-Stewart, Glenfiddich Regional Brand Ambassador for Southeast Asia.
- 1 + 1 = 3: Create a match where the food brings out something new in the whisky, or vice versa. Instead of matching flavours, try a pairing where a component of the dish complements a note in the whisky.
- Avoid dishes that have overly strong flavours as these flavours can stick to the tongue and reduce your ability to appreciate the subtleties in your dram.
- Food cooked with fat generally pair quite well with any whisky. When you take a sip of whisky, the flavours that have dissolved into the fat will be rapidly released into the mouth.
- Pair whisky and food with complementary flavours. For example, a whisky with a note of apple will go very well with pork or strawberries, but not with apples.
- Try sipping on whisky after eating a dish that has a little bit of chilli and olive oil. We promise you an explosion of flavours.
- Our experience of food and drink is far more than just the flavours that we experience on our tongue. Think about pairing based on aromas.
Check out the official website for William Grant & Sons, and all the best with your cocktails as well as food pairings! 😉
