Christmas is a special time of year as we come together with close ones, give and receive and celebrate all that has gone and all that is to come.  It is also a time to indulge – a time to eat and drink like kings and queens! So, to help us all stay ‘Merry and Bright’ we’ve devised a wildly delicious and golden cocktail or mocktail that will inject an extra little bit of sparkle into your festivities.

 

starry night

Makes enough cocktail syrup for four martini sized drinks

 

ingredients: 

For the golden syrup...

• Six sprigs of Mahonia flowers

• 3 springs of Christmas Tree (we used Nordmann Fir)

• 3 Slices of Lemon

• One heaped tablespoons of brown sugar (add more if you prefer a sweeter taste, or swap for local honey)

• 1 Pint of water

 

To complete the drink...

• Sparkling wine or Champagne

• Or for a mocktail, sparkling water or ginger beer

• Half a lemon

• Demerara Sugar

• A sprig of Christmas Tree

• A few individual Mahonia flowers

 

method:

- Place all the ingredients into a pan on the hob and bring to the boil. Then simmer on a high heat until the syrup has reduced by half.

- Leave to cool and then pour into a sterilised air-tight jar or bottle. The syrup will be fine to use for two to three months if kept in a cool, dark place.

- Take a glass of your choice – we like a champagne saucer or martini glass shape for this cocktail – rub the rim with some lemon juice and then dip the rim into some Demerara Sugar. Then pour some of your syrup into the base of the glass – about one finger in height – and top up with sparking wine, sparkling water or ginger beer.

 

The result should be a tasty green lemon and floral cocktail the colour of the golden star adorning your Christmas tree. Cheers!