Five Trends For Cocktails In 2015

2015 trends predicted by the leading fruit-infused syrups brand Re’al Cocktail Ingredients –

1) Some like it hot:

Warming, soothing, and bang on trend – hot cocktails are set to be even more popular in the colder months of 2015.  And what could be better than using a local, craft cider as the base (local, British-made drinks are of course hugely sought after these days)?  The rich flavour of the Pumpkin Re’al is utterly delicious with apples and spice.

Glowing Pumpkin

20ml Pumpkin Re’al
200ml good quality, dry, bottled English cider
1 teaspoon fine-cut marmalade
Cinnamon stick
Slice of fresh apple

Heat the cider gently then thoroughly stir in the Pumpkin Re’al and the marmalade. Pour into a thick, stubby glass tumbler, pop in the apple slice and stir well with a cinnamon stick, leaving it in the glass to stir and sip while it’s steaming hot.

2) Time for Tea…

Tea is set to follow coffee as the next big trend in caffeine drinks, with serious tea sippers turning to a wider range of styles and flavours, and drinking various brews at different times of the day. And in the evening, elegant tea cocktails! Green tea makes a delicate, exquisitely refreshing cocktail, here combined with ginger and lemongrass for an Eastern take. This is a warm, clean-tasting, non-alcoholic cocktail:

Ginger Tea Garden

20ml Ginger Re’al
200ml freshly made green tea
One stalk lemongrass, outer leaves discarded
Fresh wedge of lemon
Honey to taste (optional)

Put the hot tea in a bowl, cut the lemongrass into four pieces and add, together with the Ginger Re’al, and stir well, bruising the lemongrass lightly with a spoon. Strain into a tumbler, and squeeze the lemon briefly before adding the wedge in. Stir in a little honey for a slightly sweeter drink.

3) Herbal heaven…

Using fresh herbs – homegrown, organic, straight from the kitchen garden, ideally! – in cocktails is a new trend that follows hot on the heels of the new craze for herby vermouth. Vermouth is fortified wine flavoured with herbs and spices, and premium examples from Italy and France, as well as homemade versions, are going to be everywhere in 2015. Here’s a sparkling cocktail that uses Blueberry Re’al, fresh herbs and herby vermouth, a delicious combination of dry and herbal with sweeter, fruity depths. Using prosecco simply references another big trend for this currently hugely popular Italian sparkling wine.

Blueberry Herbal Fizz:

15ml Blueberry Re’al
15ml dry vermouth
100ml chilled prosecco
Long stalk of fresh thyme

Pour the Blueberry Re’al into the bottom of a Champagne flute, and add the vermouth. Gently bruise the sprig of thyme and use it to stir the mix, then stand it upright in the glass. Top right up with cold Prosecco.

4) Whisky galore!

Whisky is set to be the big spirit trend for 2015. All the top bars now stock a magnificent wide range of whiskies, not only from Scotland, but America, Ireland and Japan too, and whisky cocktails are big news. Raspberries and whisky is a particularly lovely, Scottish combination, so Scotch whisky really should be used here!

Raspberry Ginger Re’al:

10ml Raspberry Re’al
30ml Scotch whisky
20ml chilled dry ginger ale
Fresh raspberry to garnish

Pour the whisky into a tumbler with a couple of ice cubes, then add the Raspberry Re’al. Stir with a spoon, and top up with ginger ale. Pop a raspberry in the drink to garnish.

5) Coming up Rosés

No one can have failed to notice wine lists turning bright pink over the past few years as sales of rosé – French, Spanish, Italian, New World – went through the roof. This Spring/Summer expect more rosé cocktails to appear; refreshing, pretty, mouthwatering. Here’s one which combines the margarita with Blue Agave Nectar Re’al and dry rosé to create a vivacious, colourful, hot weather cocktail!

15ml Blue Agave Nectar Re’al
15ml tequila
10ml orange liqueur
60ml dry rosé wine
15ml fresh lime juice
Strand of lime zest

Shake all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into a cocktail glass, twist the lime strand and add to the cocktail.

The new Re’al line boasts favourites such as Blueberry, Mango, Peach, Strawberry and Raspberry, as well as more unusual flavours including Pumpkin, Ginger and Agave Nectar.  The product benefits for Re’al Cocktail Ingredients are simple but compelling:

·         Flavourful: premium fruit purée sweetened with 100% cane sugar delivers impactful flavour with a clean finish

·         Mixable:  dissolves easily in hundreds of beverage applications

·         Squeezable:  proprietary wide-mouth bottle/closure combination features a built-in oxygen barrier and a unique volcano-shaped spout to ensure no wastage

·         Long-lasting: lasts for four weeks in the fridge once opened

 

Price and Availability:

Prices start at £4.35 for Coco Re’al, increasing to £6.80 for Agave.  Available from UDAL Ltd. www.syrupsandstuff.co.uk