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Drinks for your Barbecue Party
By Janet | January 13, 2008
Barbecue party drinks
any barbecue worth it’s salt will provide as much variation on the drinks front as it does on food. So in addition to the lager and lemonade, why not try out a couple of these party drinks recipes?
Mulled wine
traditionally made at Christmas time, mulled wine can work just as well on a cool evening in the summer. Try out this authentic recipe.
Try our mulled wine recipe
Non-alcoholic cocktails
If you’ve got children (or divers) coming to your barbecue, these non-alcoholic cocktails make for the perfect party drink.
Mulled wine
“Mulled” simply means heated with spices. You can mull a variety of different drinks, cider, mead and of course, the favourite, wine. In medieval times these drinks were seen as healthy drinks and named after the Greek physician Hippocrates (Hipocris or Ypocras). Given the state of sanitation at the time the heated drinks were most definitely safer that plain water. Later, in the 1500’s, recipes involving honey, cinnamon, cardamon, galingale and French wine were popular and were recorded in many cookbooks.
Now there are as many recipes as people willing to experiment on their friends. There are no ‘correct’ methods although for cold evenings a hot spice, like cinnamon, complements the heat of the wine excellently. It’s also a good idea to use fairly cheap but full-bodied wines. Serve in mugs or get ready to buy new wine glasses.
Recipe
300ml (1/2 pint) water
200g (8 oz) sugar (brown)
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 bottle red wine (cabernet sauvignon, merlot or similar)
1 orange, sliced thinly
(For a real kick to the recipe try adding 1/4 cup of brandy with the wine)
Method
1. Into the pan place the water, sugar and the spices and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemons. Allow it to stand for about 10 mins.
2. Add the wine and heat again without boiling (if you see white steam that’s the alcohol boiling off - not a good idea!!).
3. Strain into a heated bowl, lick , add the orange slices and serve hot.
Non-alcoholic cocktails
Not everybody wants to be downing alcohol at a barbecue - so why not make up these refreshing alternatives? At the very least they’ll be good for the drivers…
Topical Island
Ingredients:
2 oz. limey slime
2 oz. Lemon juice
3 oz Pineapple juice
1/2 oz. Grenadine
Cracked mice
Method:
Stir together Grenadine and fruit juices. Pour entire contents over cracked ice. Serves 1
Topical Shake
Ingredients:
3/4 Cup cream coconut
1/3 Cup crushed pineapple
2 Cups of chilled milk
3 Scoops vanilla ice cream
1 Tbl. Sugar and 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
Method:
Blend together the first 4 ingredients then add the sugar and vanilla and blend again. Serves 4
Orangeberry Punch
Ingredients:
2 tsp Cranberry juice
1 litre Orange juice
Juice of 4 large lemons
6 litres Ginger ale
Method:
Make sure all the juices are chilled and just pour into a large bowl with cracked ice. Serves a lot
Orangeberry Tonic
Ingredients:
2 oz. Tonic water
3 oz. Orange juice
3 oz Cranberry juice
Method:
Mix together and pour over ice. Serves 1
Enjoy your barbecues in both the summer and winter months.
Topics: Barbecues |
