Cocktail time

Last year I was chosen by Aldi to be on their Taste Panel to review their wines; it was a real privilege to be asked to review Chardonnay Pays d'Oc, Prosecco Superiore and two lovely Pinot Noirs.

Chardonay IGP Languedoc

Prosecco Spumante Superiore

Estevez Chilean Pinot Noir
Exquisite New Zealand Pinot Noir

I have applied again to be on Aldi's Taste Panel but in the meantime they asked me to make and review some of their Cocktails. Our son works in the bar trade and cocktails are his speciality so I was very keen to make and try some.

A very large box arrived and to my surprised contained three bottles of spirits; whisky, gin and amaretto.

Oliver Cromwell London Gin
Highland Black Scotch Whisky 
Bellucci Amaretto

Aldi have a lovely range of cocktail recipes - have a look here for some great ideas.

I had a look through and chose three cocktails - one for each spirit.  Although a had a few of the ingredients in our cupboards I had a quick trip to Aldi to buy the fresh ingredients, replacing peaches with nectarines.

The few ingredients I needed to buy 

My cocktail equipment

And so the fun begins (apologies for the yellow photos, electric light is not camera friendly) - the first cocktail I decided to try was The Bellucci Job as this did not need as much preparation as the others. The only change I made was to use a branded vodka as we already had one. I didn't check the freezer and could have done with a little more ice - I made sure it was well stocked for my other two cocktails.

The Bellucci Job ingredients

Muddling the strawberries and sugar

Shake shake shake 

A really easy drink to make, lovely with the sweet strawberries and sharpness from the cranberry. I think this will be a popular summer patio drink in our house. 

Delicious Bellucci Job 

The other two cocktails needed a little pre-preparation; blackberries in sugar syrup and puree nectarines (peaches). I made both of these ready to use the following day for my next two cocktails Grilled Peach Julep and Blackberry Smash 

I'm not a whisky fan but I do like peach which is why I chose the Grilled Peach Julep - and I'm very glad I did. It was delicious with  background kick from the whisky, the fruitiness from the nectarines and the added touch of mint made this a really delicious drink. I did strain it into the glass as I'm not keen on fruit bits. 

Grilled Peach Julep ingredients

Muddling the Highland Black Whisky and mint

Sophisticated Peach Julep with heart ice cubes  

The final cocktail was my favourite and one that I will be making again, and again, and again. It was easy to make the blackberry sugar syrup; it made quite a large quantity so it's in the fridge and will probably be used tonight  to make another Blackberry Smash (I don't think it would keep for more than a few days)

Blackberry Smash ingredients

The fruitiness and sugary syrup were delicious with the citrus kick from the lemon and the subtle mint. Gin was a great spirit to use in this cocktail with it's sharp kick and crispness. 

My favourite cocktail - Blackberry Smash 

Aldi have 15 cocktail recipes which all look easy to make, great for the summer. Thank you Aldi for asking me to try such lovely cocktails - I'll definitely be trying the Cramaretto Pine Sour, Gin Lime & Cucumber Sour, and Mac Daddy - roll on summer.