As April continues to invite warmer weather and the greenery of our gardens makes way for various vibrant colours marking the change in season, we feel this natural turn is a great opportunity to experiment with some seasonal cocktails to bring some life back to your menu. Embrace the flavours associated with Spring and lighten up the tastes your customers will experience.
Maytime Mojito
We first come to a cocktail staple; the mojito. This white rum Cuban classic can be found on most menus all over the world. The sweetness, citrus tones and sharpness of the mint compliment the rum well and we certainly recommend this beverage. But with the arrival of Spring, why not try something a little different. Enter the Strawberry Mojito.
The benefit to this is recipe is that is does not differ from the original but rather adds to it. When muddling your mint with syrup (one-part sugar, one-part water) add three strawberries and ensure it is all well crushed. Once this has been done simply stir in the lime juice and rum, fill with ice then top up with soda water. For the final touches garnish with mint leaves and halved strawberries.
Ingredients (serves one drink):
- 1 ounce (30 ml) simple syrup
- 5 fresh strawberries (3 for muddling, 2 for garnish)
- 3-4 fresh spearmint sprigs (3 for muddling, 1 for garnish)
- 1 ounce (30 ml) fresh lime juice
- 2 ounces (60 ml) light rum
- 3-4 ounces (90-120 ml) soda water
Daylight Savings Daiquiri
Another ubiquitous option on any cocktail menu is a daiquiri. The whiskey-based beverage is a classic and readily enjoyed by many. Much like the previously mentioned mojito, strawberry is a regular flavour so we wanted to mix it up and would instead suggest trying a peach variant. The lightness and flavoursome tones are great for spring additions to any offering.
Before we begin you will need a blender for this recipe. So, firstly you will need to fill your blender with ice, a bag of frozen peaches and two cups of ocean spray wave mango pineapple. Then add your rum (either two or three shots) and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass and add more ice should you want the drink to have a thicker constitution and add frozen strawberries for garnish.
Ingredients (serves two drinks):
- 1 bag of frozen peaches
- 2 cups of Ocean Spray Wave Mango
- 2 – 3 shots of white rum
- 2 cups of ice
- Frozen strawberries (1 – 3 for garnish)
Springtide Sunrise
The tequila sunrise, a firm favourite of cocktail menus everywhere. This drink from the sunshine state of America is widely known and enjoyed by all and quintessentially embodies warm weather. The simplicity of this drink means you can experiment with the recipe making way for great variants with bold flavours and eye-catching colours. Traditionally served as an unmixed drink comprised of orange juice, tequila and grenadine syrup, let us give you another option to spice up your offering.
So, for this recipe we are using all the same ingredients, but we are adding in a strawberry punch to bring a fruitier flavour to your taste buds. Much in a similar fashion to a normal sunrise add your orange juice to a glass (rocks, hiball, champagne flute are all acceptable). Then add both your tequila shot and strawberry puree into a shot glass. Pour the contents of the shot glass into the previous glass and garnish. Then serve and let your patrons enjoy.
Ingredients (serves one drink):
- 2/3 cup orange juice very cold
- 1 1/4 ounce 1 shot good quality tequila
- 1/2 ounce grenadine
- 1/2 ounce strawberry puree (about 2 large strawberries)
- 2 Orange slices (for garnish)
- 2 Fresh strawberries (for garnish)
Spring on the Beach
Last but by no means least is the is the Sex on the Beach, a true cocktail classic. The drink is one that can be found in most bars all over the world and is normally made up of vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice and cranberry juice. Now there are many variants for this recipe, and most are delicious such as the electric blue curacao and white rum based “Sex on the Driveway” version which has swept the bar scene in the past few years. However, being the cocktail purest we are, we would suggest a more subtle change.
As the sex on the beach is all about bringing the feel-good flavour of a holiday to your customers glass, why not add a palm beach inspired ingredient: coconut. When preparing a sex on the beach all ingredients are placed in a blender and mixed until smooth. As such when adding your ingredients (we would suggest the below servings to account for the coconut inclusion) add half a teaspoon of coconut cream with a full cup of ice. Serve in the classic hurricane glass and watch the smiles spread.
(We would also note that as this version has slightly larger alcoholic portions than a standard sex on the beach it may be worth noting so patrons are aware.)
Ingredients (serves one drink):
- 2 ounces vodka
- 1 1/2 ounce peach schnapps
- 3 ounces cranberry juice
- 4 ounces orange juice
- 1/2 teaspoon coconut cream
- 1 cup ice cubes
So there you have it, four spring recipes to try on your cocktail menu for 2021. Here at Alliance Online we understand the pressure pubs and bars have been under this year along with the extended hospitality industry. Should you need to stock up your bar with essentials, glassware, disposables, equipment or any other products just take a look and see what we can offer you. Equally, we have a wide variety of products that can help make outdoor dining a little easier for you too.
