All posts tagged: drinks

Booze and fire

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Last week I learned how to make a fireball from an orange peel. I might not disclose this on my CV but I hope it will come in handy sometime soon. Thanks to Zomato, I attended a cocktail class hosted by Bellini which is the bar at the Hilton on Princes Wharf on Auckland’s waterfront. Yeah, pretty swish. I’d never visited the Hilton before and it’s recent renovations make this a very inviting spot for drink. With over 130 cocktails on the drinks menu, harbour views and open fire features this was a wonderful place to spend a windy Tuesday night. Bellini Jonas the bar supervisor and mixologist had the expected showmanship required of his position. He started us off with bellini, traditionally made with peach puree and prosecco. My drink was made with Deutz, peach and pomegranate and we learned that we can change up the ingredients a little while still being able to call it a bellini.   Mojito The first cocktail was my all time favourite, the mojito. A mojito made properly is a beautiful …

Watermelon Summer

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Today marks the final day of NZ Watermelon Month and to celebrate, here’s a cocktail I whipped up over the weekend. Inspired in part by blogger meet ups where there are several distinct categories of bloggers present, two of which are food bloggers and beauty bloggers. Food bloggers got together and thought up how to bridge that gap and the Cocktail vs Nail Polish post was born. Bri posted her Polynesian Heat over on Instagram last week and here I am following suit with Watermelon Summer paired with Double Breasted Jacket by Essie. This drink is refreshing and isn’t too sweet as there is no added sugar. To make watermelon juice, I sliced some fresh watermelon, poked out and discarded the seeds and blitzed with a stick blended. Chill until required. Watermelon Summer Makes 2 drinks Ingredients 30ml Feijoa vodka 500ml watermelon juice with pulp, chilled A splash of pinot noir Ice Watermelon for garnish Preparation Fill two tall glasses with ice, add half the vodka to each, fill glasses to the top with watermelon juice. Stir to mix and top with …

Lemonade

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A friend brought over a bag of real lemons. Real lemons are large, a deep yellow colour, with bumpy, thick skins. They smell super lemony – nothing like the anemic fake-looking lemons you get from supermarkets these days (what are they?!). Supermarket lemons make me frown. I was thirsty for something sweet and tart, so I made lemonade. I used a little of the J.Friend and Co honey that I received from a goodie bag for covering Out Standing In Their Fields a few weeks ago. The one I got is Vipers Bugloss. Don’t know what the heck that means? Me neither. Luckily, their website fills in all the gaps (it’s an alpine wild flower). It’s pretty awesome. You even get to know who the beekeepers are (Lucy and AJ), the vintage (2009) and where it is made (Clarence Valley, Muzzle Station). I’ve never needed to know that much about my honey, but it’s a nice touch. Especially in an age were ingredients come from all over the place. The first glass no doubt will …

Tofu Tuesday: Sangria

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One of my “To Do” activities this spring was to make white sangria. I first tried it this year at Urbis Design Day and thought it was a lighter, refreshing version of red sangria (which I also love). We had a few friends over in the weekend so I made both red and white. The white was yummy, but the red was even better. I’ve grown out of love with white wine over the last year or so and while I don’t like chardonnay, I picked it because it’s less acidic to me than the other whites. Thanks Mum for this cool blue drink set for my early birthday present! I’ve put it to good use already. I made a simple sugar syrup with 2 cups of sugar dissolved in 2 cups of water. Boiled for 5 minutes (stirring occasionally just for fun) and then cooled and stored in a glass bottle. I used fresh strawberries (sliced) and canned fruit salad with additional canned mixed berries for the red sangria. Tofu the bunny gets the green …