ISSUE 19 - February 2019 - £4.95
FE EL G O OD FEB
Glow-up cocktails with Tipple Box
IN FEBRUARY’S C O C K TA I L B O X
M UDDL E
Issue 19 - Fe b r u ar y 20 1 9
We can make you feel good... In February’s edition of Muddle Magazine, we’re here to brighten up your month. Another day, another cocktail to try! February is a month that flows with National Drink Days giving you an excuse to expand your cocktail drinking horizons - including the perfect time to try a Pisco Sour.
Editor: Claire White Photography: Stephen Spiers For all editorial and advertising enquiries, please contact: info@tipplebox.co.uk
To help you get in the feel-good spirit, we’ve shared our top cocktails that are full of fun and flavour and delved into the Drinkstagram trend with some of our favourite at-home mixologists who’ve shared the secrets to their favourite uplifting cocktails. This month, our featured cocktails are also set to brighten up your February paying homage to the Martini with a fruity twist as we introduce you to the irresistibly fresh and punchy Breakfast Martini and the silkily smooth French Martini.
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We’ll also share the story of our featured spirit Edinburgh Gin, as featured in our February Cocktail Club box.
CONTENTS
Edinburgh Gin Edinburgh Gin’s crisp and zesty taste perfectly complements the flavours of our feel-good cocktails.
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Orange Liqueur A cocktail essential, orange liqueur is made by the maceration and distillation of bitter and sweet oranges or tangerines, adding a fruity alcoholic kick to our Breakfast Martini.
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Raspberry Liqueur The addition of raspberry liqueur to the French Martini was the reason behind the name of the cocktail, adding an element of sweetness to the drink. Heron Valley Lemon Juice Using ripe, juicy Sicilian lemons, Heron Valley’s Lemon Juice is a refreshing drink that reinvigorates our Breakfast Martini. Frobishers Pineapple Juice Our French Martini has a sweet and creamy taste thanks to Frobishers Pineapple Juice, with pineapples sourced from top quality growers in the plantations of Costa Rica. Tiptree Marmalade Adding texture and tang to the Breakfast Martini, Tiptree marmalade is made using medium cut tender peel oranges.
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WELCOME
Ed itor’s letter Ins id e this m o nth’s box
TIPPLER’S TRENDS
Drink Dates fo r y our d iar y Bottles & bars
T I P P L E R ’ S TA L E S
Feb ruar y ’s co cktails
TIPPLER’S TIME
Ed inb urgh Gin
T I P P L E R ’ S T R E AT S
Feel-goo d co cktails
TIPPLER’S TRENDS
#Drinks tagram
TIPPLER’S TOAST
Co m p etition #TagMyTipp le
Monin Grenadine A common ingredient used in classic bar mixology, grenadine adds sweetness and a pink-tinge to the French Martini.
It’s the perfect post-party season pick-me-up!
Cheers, Claire 2
TIPPLER’S TRENDS
TIPPLER’S TRENDS
BOTTLES & BARS
D R I N K D AT E S F O R Y O U R D I A R Y
N AT I O N A L P I S C O S O U R D AY
MANCHESTER GIN DISTILLERY
2nd February
Manchester
Established as a public holiday in Peru in 2003, National Pisco Sour Day (Dia Nacional del Pisco Sour) celebrates the pisco-based cocktail. Believed to have been created in the 1920s in Lima, the Pisco Sour cocktail takes its name from the grape brandy ‘Pisco’ and ‘sour’ in reference to the cocktail term for sour citrus juice and sweetener components.
M A R G A R I TA D AY
22nd February
With a simple three-part recipe, combining tequila, orange liqueur and lime juice, the Margarita is undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous cocktails. Despite its history dating back to 1938, it was not until 15 years later that the tequila-based cocktail picked up popularity when it featured in the December 1953 edition of Esquire Magazine as ‘Drink of the Month’. 3
N AT I O N A L K A H L U A D AY
27th February
A rich, creamy alcoholic liqueur from Mexico, Kahlua is made with rum, Mexican coffee, sugar and vanilla. Known as the ‘original ‘ coffee liqueur, it was first produced in 1936 in Veracruz with the word ‘Kah-lua’ meaning ‘heart of the Veracruz people’. Most commonly used in cocktails including the Espresso Martini and White Russian, Kahlua can also be enjoyed straight up or on the rocks.
Manchester Gin has announced plans to open a city centre distillery. Situated in the Grade-II listed railway arches beneath Manchester Central convention centre, passers-by will be able to see the distillery in action and stop by for food and drink at the distillery bar and restaurant. Pending current planning approval, the distillery is set to launch this summer.
LIND & LIME GIN
Port of Leith distillery
Set to open Scotland’s first ever vertical distillery in 2020, Port of Leith distillery has unveiled the first spirits from the Tower Street Stillhouse, near its planned site in Edinburgh. The new gin is named after Dr James Lind, who discovered that citrus fruits prevented scurvy in the world’s first recorded clinical trial. The Port of Leith Lind & Lime gin combines flavours of lime and pink peppercorn, with a seven botanical base.
LONEWOLF ICE BAR
The Stack , Newcastle
LoneWolf have opened a pop-up ice bar at Newcastle’s The Stack for three months. With entry from £12, a standard ticket includes a shot of LoneWolf vodka, or a non-alcoholic alternative, when inside the bar and a hot chocolate to heat up post-visit. Guests will also be given a jacket and gloves to keep cosy during their visit. Alongside the standard ticket, a variety of packages are available with drinks served in real ice glasses.
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T I P P L E R ’ S TA L E S
F E B R U A R Y ’ S C O C K TA I L S
Martini glasses at the ready... This month’s cocktails are here to brighten up your February with two feel-good, fruit infused gin cocktails to enjoy!
F R E N C H (G I N ) M A R T I N I A delightfully sweet yet tart cocktail with a smooth and silky texture, the French Martini has won the hearts of cocktail lovers. Despite its name, the cocktail is neither of a French origin or, infact, a Martini. First created by bartender Allen Katz at famous restaurateur Keith McNally’s Pravda in the 1980s, the French Martini is a simple three-part-recipe combining spirit, pineapple juice and raspberry liqueur.
B R E A K FA S T M A R T I N I
The cocktail first appeared on the menu in 1996 at French brasserie Balthazar in New York’s SoHo, helping kick off the Martini craze of the 90s.
The Breakfast Martini is one of few cocktails that has a clear history, with its creation cited to a single story.
Launching in a French brasserie with its prime ingredient as French raspberry liqueur Chambord, the cocktail was given its ‘French’ name and served in a Martini glass.
One morning in 1996, bartender Salvatore Calabrese’s wife insisted he sat down to enjoy breakfast, rather than quickly sipping an espresso before dashing out the door.
The traditional French Martini recipe calls for vodka as the main spirit, however we’ve twisted the traditional and swapped the spirit for gin to bring the cocktail on-trend.
Serving him toast and marmalade, the idea came to Salvatore while tucking into breakfast and he took the jar of marmalade to work with him. Not quite the breakfast revelation his wife intended! Later that day, at the Lanesborough Hotel in Mayfair, he created the signature cocktail marking one of the earliest and most famous examples of using a preserve as an ingredient in cocktail making. While morning cocktails, until this point, were traditionally made with vodka or Champagne, Salvatore opted for a gin, orange liqueur and lemon juice mix, including the tangy marmalade to add texture and a sweet flavour. Inspiring bartenders around the world to use preserves in cocktails, Salvatore had invented a contemporary trend with his cocktail, combining elements of the past, the present and the future. It is believed that the quality of a Breakfast Martini is down to the marmalade used, which is why our Breakfast Martini includes Tiptree marmalade that’s full flavour. We’ve selected Edinburgh Gin for February’s featured spirit as the gin used in a Breakfast Martini is key to the perfect serve, with a juniper-heavy gin unbalancing the flavours.
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DISTILLING AN ARTFORM
TIPPLER’S TIME
EDINBURGH GIN
Inspired by Edinburgh’s gin making heritage, Edinburgh Gin launched in 2010. It was the district of Leith in Edinburgh that was responsible for igniting Scotland’s love of gin when the first bottles of jenever were traded into the Port of Leith in exchange for materials including wool and coal.
E S TA B L I S H E D 2010
L O C AT I O N
Edinburgh, Scotland
TA S T I N G N O T E S
Hints of soft spice and aromatic citrus with a smooth finish E D I N B U R G H G I N .C O M @EdinburghGin
The district was a prime spot for the drink’s industry as tradespeople in the area specialised in glass making, coopering and warehousing thanks to wine and spirit merchants operating in the area. By 1777, there were eight licensed distilleries in Edinburgh, alongside almost 400 unregistered stills. Alongside Scotland’s strong link to importing and distilling, it was also a Scotsman who invented a method of continuous distillation. When laws were relaxed in 1826, Robert Stein’s invention allowed an increase in the production of spirits in larger volumes, and from cheaper grains. In the last ten years, the latest gin resurgence began and the family-run Spencerfield Spirit Co began creating a namesake gin to celebrate Edinburgh’s distilling past.
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First distilled outwith the city at Langley Distillery, using a 200-year-old Scottish copper pot still, Edinburgh Gin combined Scottish grain spirit with botanicals including juniper, coriander, citrus peel, angelica and orris root. Following distillation, the spirit was then returned to Edinburgh to add locally source and grown botanicals including milk thistle, pine and heather, which were macerated ahead of reduction to bottling strength creating the original Edinburgh Gin. In 2014, production moved to the capital with the launch of the Edinburgh Gin distillery in the heart of the West End before a commercial distillery opened in Leith’s The Biscuit Factory. Alongside utilising Scottish botanicals in each recipe, each detail down to the bottle is inspired by Scotland, with the decoration inspired by the Scottish Art Deco movement. Now, the Edinburgh Gin collection consists of no less than 12 editions, including its popularity fruity liqueurs and newly launched RTD cocktails in a can, featuring their rhubarb and ginger gin liqueur with ginger ale and an Edinburgh Gin G&T. At Tipple Box HQ, we reckon Edinburgh Gin’s crisp and zesty taste perfectly complements the flavours of our feel-good cocktails as featured in February’s Cocktail Club box!
TIPPLER’S TIME
F E E L- G O O D C O C K TA I L S
December was full of Christmas cheer. You eased into January with the New Year and post-holiday afterglow yet the month seemed to last a lifetime. February is finally here and you’re back into the swing of normality and routines, as the Christmas break seems a distant memory. This month can often be seen as one of the dullest, and coldest, months of the year. But there’s no need to wish the days away as you countdown to summer!
MARTIN MILLERS GIN & TONIC SET
RUBY BLUE VODKA C O C K TA I L S E T
Looking for something simple, with no shaking required? Our Martin Miller Gin and Tonic Set may just have the answer. Just pop open the bottles and pour! Whether you’re looking to try a new gin or are an avid Martin Miller fan, it’s time to take a gin journey. Our G&T set contains four miniature bottles - that’s enough to enjoy up to eight G&Ts! Alongside the gin, we’re giving you two of the distillery’s selected tonics so you can create perfect serves in your kitchen. Just make sure you grab some strawberries and black pepper for a G&T Martin Miller himself would be proud of!
Enliven your senses with our twists on classic vodka cocktails. Featuring Ireland’s RubyBlue spirits, their unique liqueurs are taste sensations that you need to try. Their chilli pepper liqueur adds a kick to our aptly named Fiery Martini and we leave the traditional Cosmo recipe behind, swapping the orange liqueur for their blueberry liqueur, for our twisted flavourful Blue Cosmo. Two cocktails that add a new lease of life to retro sips with simple swaps.
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If you’re looking to enjoy a cocktail, but feel it’s too cold to head out to a bar, let us do the work for you. We’ll deliver any cocktail box of your choice direct to your door, without requiring a trip to the shops. To help you get back on track and make the most out of February, we’ve rounded up our top feel-good cocktails for February, from tropical treats to silky, smooth and sweet infusions!
D A I Q U I R I C O C K TA I L S E T
G I N C O C K TA I L S E T
The Daiquiri cocktail takes its name from a beach near Santiago de Cuba, where temperatures are set to average at a scorching 30 degrees this month. As we grab our scarves, they’ll grab their sunglasses, but there’s nothing stopping you joining them in a sunkissed sip as you imagine the sand between your toes. Our Daiquiri Cocktail Set features an original and strawberry Daiquiri, with two glasses of each cocktail, so there’s even enough to share - or treat yourself to a Daiquiri discovery night!
The Sour and Fizz are two of the first types of cocktail categories to be created and mastered by bartenders across the globe. We reckon that makes our Gin Cocktail Set the perfect excuse to treat yourself to a private classic cocktail masterclass at home. Our easy-to-follow recipes for the Plum Gin Sour and Raspberry Gin Fizz cocktails will have you believing you’re the best bartender around as you enjoy your cocktail creations that wouldn’t look out of place at any bar. Featuring Edinburgh Gin, these cocktails are refreshing sips to quench your thirst and brighten up any nights in. 10
3 0 E T 40 D A I Q U I R I
TIPPLER’S TRENDS
# D R I N K S TA G R A M When it comes to cocktail culture, the latest trending tipples are no longer bar-kept secrets that remain underwraps. Thanks to social media, if a drink is good enough to share, all it takes is a quick snap and in seconds it’ll be posted online and shouted about. With the rise of cocktail drinking at home, there’s a community on Instagram brimming with home cocktail enthusiasts, with feeds devoted to their cocktail creations.
NORDIC COFFEE NEGRONI
M O R T E N K R A G @TheCocktailBlog12 - 25ml Akvavit - 25ml Red Vermouth - 25ml Chilled Freshly Brewed Espresso
Method: Stir ingredients with plenty of ice. Strain into a chilled
Coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon zest.
N I C K S H O P L A N D @MixologyBrothers
Known as ‘Drinkstagrammers’, the at-home mixologists share recipes, hints and tips to demystify the difficulties around cocktail making. They encourage anyone to pick up their shaker and get started, without the need for any fancy equipment or training. To celebrate the rising trend of Drinkstagrammers and feel-good February, we’ve asked some of our favourite Instagrammers to share their top feel good cocktails!
- 50ml 30et40 - 25ml Fresh Lime Juice - 12.5ml Sugar Syrup Method: Fill the shaker 2/3 with large ice cubes and shake
vigorously for approx 10 seconds. Strain the liquid in to a chilled Martini glass. Remember to pour from a height to help aeration! Garnish your drink with a slice of apple. Top Tip: Our ‘Mr. Potato Head’ method of mixology means you can swap the 30et40 for anything you have in your home bar and will end up with a tasty drink!
AV E N A
J O S U E R O M E R O @the_garnishguy - 64g Quaker Oatmeal - 50ml Water - 50ml Milk - 1 Cinnamon Stick - 3 Cloves - 1/8 tsp Grated Nutmeg - 25ml Popcorn Syrup - 8 Drops Cherry Bark Vanilla Bitters - 75ml Santa Teresa Rum Method: Mix water, milk, ans oatmeal in a blender until the
oatmeal is nearly dissolved. In a pot, mix with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and popcorn syrup. Heat over medium heat, stir constantly. Once breaks the boil, lower heat and simmer until volume has reduced to 3/4 of the original. Add rum and bitters and serve cold!
S E V I L L E S A FA R I
M AT T L O O K E R @TheCocktailChap - 60ml Tanqueray Flor De Sevilla Gin - 22.5ml Lemon Juice - 22.5ml Honey Syrup - 1 dash Orange Bitters - 1 sprig Rosemary - Egg white Method: In a shaker, muddle the rosemary. Add all the other ingredients apart from the egg white and shake with ice. Strain out the ice, add the egg white and shake again. Double strain into a chilled Coupe glass and garnish with more rosemary.
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CLOVER CLUB
A M Y T R AY N O R @MoodyMixologist - 30ml Gin - 15ml Pink Gin - 15ml Dry Vermouth - 15ml Lime Juice - 15ml Simple Syrup - 1 Egg White - 4 Raspberries - 2 Strawberries Method: Muddle fruit in a cocktail shaker. Add remaining
ingredients and ice and shake hard until chilled. If you’re feeling fancy, reverse dry shake to build foam. Fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with berries. 12
TIPPLER’S TOAST
TIPPLER’S TOAST
S H A R E Y O U R C O C K TA I L S T O W I N !
COMPETITION
Each month, we team up with our featured distillery to give you the chance to win a bottle to enjoy at home!
Before you enjoy your cocktails, make sure you share a snap with us on social media. Each month, we’ll pick one lucky winner to receive an exclusive prize, alongside publishing their photo in Muddle Magazine.
This month, the spotlight is shining on Edinburgh Gin and to celebrate Valentine’s Day we’re giving you the chance to win a bottle of their exclusive Valentine’s Gin!
To enter, simply post your photo on social media using #TagMyTipple for your chance to win!
The Valentine’s Gin is a pink gin with a sweet, floral aroma and delicate citrus notes. A versatile spirit, it can be enjoyed with tonic, soda or rose lemonade or even shaken into their signature First Kiss Cocktail with raspberry liqueur and pineapple juice. For your chance to win, simply visit Tipple Box on Facebook and enter via our Competition section in February!
Congratulations to our latest winner Robert Kirwan who shared his wedding present cocktails!
THIS MONTH’S WINNER: ROBERT KIRWAN
For some cocktail inspiration, make sure you check out #TagMyTipple on social media to see the latest photos from our cocktail lovers who have been enjoying a tipple or two across the UK!
@TIPPLEBOX
T&Cs apply.
#TAGMYTIPPLE
NEXT MONTH’S BOX M A R C H 201 9
There’s a reason classic cocktails have stood the test of time. To celebrate their reign and the recent resurgence of these classics, our Cocktail Club members will be enjoying two timeless tipples in March’s club box with the Martini and Tom Collins, featuring Martin Miller’s Gin. In Muddle, we’ll share the tale of how one G&T in a Notting Hill bar helped change the UK’s gin scene with our featured spirit Martin Miller. We’ll uncover the myths of mixology by giving you the breakdown between shaken and stirred when it comes to cocktail making and we’ll share our top picks of classic cocktails from bars across the UK. 13
L E AV E U S A R E V I E W We’d love to hear from you! We’re always looking for feedback on our boxes and service to help us deliver the best cocktail experience. Let us know what you thought of your box by leaving us a short review. It takes just a few clicks and there’s no sign-up required! Simply visit Reviews.co.uk and search for ‘Tipple Box’ 4.63 Rating on Reviews.co.uk 14
MARTINIS MADE FOR MUM E X C L U S I V E M O T H E R ’ S D AY C O L L E C T I O N J U S T L A U N C H E D AT T I P P L E B O X .C O M U S E C O D E ‘M A R T I N I ’ F O R £5 O F F A L L B O X E S