There’s a little something for everyone’s booze basket in our December edit, with a sprinkle of festive spice thrown in.
Winter Edition Rock Rose
Winning most coveted bottle is the Winter Edition Rock Rose Gin from craft gin creators Dunnet Bay in Scotland. Porcelain white with a blue-sketched wintery wonderland design, this premium gin is made in the UK's most northerly mainland distillery. It’s a bitter-leaning spirit featuring herby botanicals, the most unique (and festive) being hand-foraged local spruce tips. Suggested serve is with toasted sage and some crisp sliced apple – December vibes eat your heart out. Make sure you add this to your festive drinks cabinet if you want to impress the relatives!
£37.50 from Master of Malt
Bottle Bar & Shop
This seasonal vodka cocktail Christmas In The Bottle does what it says on the tin. Made in South East London’s Catford by husband and wife team Natalie John and Xhulio Sina (who’s former bar head at Sketch, The Royal Opera House and South Bank Centre to name a few). The bottle has a very local indie feel, which we love. Hand labelled and infused for eight weeks with spices including cloves, cinnamon, vanilla syrup, bitters and more, all you need to do is pour over ice, add a slice, and sit back and sip. For more boozy gifting, check out the range of lovely gift sets on their website.
Price: £17
Stambecco Amaro
This one will round off your festive dinner a treat. Italian liqueur Stambecco has been infused with citrus peel and local cherries, produced at the Vergnano family distillery Torino Distillati in Piedmont.
To create this new blend, Master Distiller Beppe Ronco has infused in a whopping 30 botanicals or more, pressed in a traditional basket method and distilled in copper pot stills. Sweet and bitter oranges, coriander seeds, marjoram, oregano, wormwood (also known as artemisia blend), cinnamon, cloves and more, all come together to create this well-rounded fruity amaro with plenty of depth. Stick it in your freezer for a few hours before serving up at the end of a meal.
Price: £25
Celebrate by Noveltea
Don’t want to overdo it on the booze but still fancy a festive tipple? Try this alcoholic tea! Noveltea have a festive blend out aptly named Celebrate. We’ll drink to that. The full-bodied black tea has been cold brewed and infused with winter spices including cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and then blended with Scotch whisky. You can serve it cold on ice or warm it up and drink like tea. It’s 11% ABV so should leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy which ever way you imbibe.
Price:£24.95
English Heritage Victorian Spiced Gin
Finally, this lovely little gin is fancy enough to gift your gran this Xmas. Handcrafted in small batches in traditional copper pot stills, English Heritage Victorian Spiced gin has been created by The British Honey Company (BHC) and inspired by the great 19th-Century gin revival. The festive spiced spirit features ingredients found in celebrated Victorian cook Mrs Crocombe’s original notebook recipes. 16 botanicals have been blended including cayenne pepper, long pepper, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, bitter almond, liquorice and of course honey. The result is a spicy floral fragranced spirit with hints of black tea and warm spice.
Price: £39
[Items in this article may have been gifted to Chatting Food. No financial payment has been made to feature in this article, and entries to the feature are made independently by members of the Editorial Team. This page contains affiliate links and we may receive a small commission for purchases]
READ MORE OF JO'S ARTICLES
Chatting Food Contributor Jo Aspin
Half American / half (born and bred) Londoner, Jo Aspin is a food writer and established freelance food, drink and lifestyle PR. She’ll be reporting on all the latest restaurant openings and news from the capital. When she’s not eating her way around London, she’s planning her next trip abroad.
Follow Jo: