Summer’s here and it’s about the time where I start getting rather excited about drinking on roofs, things cooked on a grill, quinoa (probably the only time you’ll hear me say that one) and things like that. Somehow everything tastes better outside and there’s nothing like a few gnats in your potato salad for extra seasoning.
Mine got kicked off in style recently at the Chivas Brothers Cocktails and Canapes party on the Hixter terrace in the city. Chivas Brothers own luxury drinks brands including Beefeater Gin and Chivas Regal Scotch and Ballantines whisky – and it was these three that I spent this very happy night quaffing. I’ll admit, at first the thought of drinking whisky in the heat of a steamy city evening wasn’t the most titillating; in the past whisky has seemed more of a winter thing to me. However, the incredible mixologists behind each brand have come up with a spread of summer inspired cocktails and paired these with food by hot London chef Mark Hix.
Mine got kicked off in style recently at the Chivas Brothers Cocktails and Canapes party on the Hixter terrace in the city. Chivas Brothers own luxury drinks brands including Beefeater Gin and Chivas Regal Scotch and Ballantines whisky – and it was these three that I spent this very happy night quaffing. I’ll admit, at first the thought of drinking whisky in the heat of a steamy city evening wasn’t the most titillating; in the past whisky has seemed more of a winter thing to me. However, the incredible mixologists behind each brand have come up with a spread of summer inspired cocktails and paired these with food by hot London chef Mark Hix.
First up, the ‘Escocia’ – a raisin infused Chivas Regal and sherry cocktail, layered with grape juice, apricot and pear, charged with CO2 to give it a lift and served from a champagne bottle. I was impressed with this; the raisins worked exceptionally with the whisky and the fruit juices provided a sweet and mellow roundness to the drink. This was paired with a smoked potted salmon and chive slice that I could have eaten hundreds of (and managed about 10). Next up ‘the Apple of my Eye’ – Beefeater Gin shaken with lemon, thyme and salt (!), with an earthy beetroot and goat’s curd galette.
| The final summery cocktail dished up was the ‘Ballantine’s Cobbler’; a tall, fruity number with raspberry and maraschino cherries that simultaneously managed to give me both my five-a-day and a hangover. Delicious stuff, made more so by a sirloin slider with scrumpy onions.  |  |
| Other highlights from the evening were one of the most delicious scotch eggs I’ve ever tried, served randomly with tartare sauce (which actually worked pretty well!), and ‘exploding’ lemon meringue pies. I say exploding because when bit into it it squirted liquid lemon curd across the terrace and down my chin. Glamorous hey.  |  |
If you fancy giving any of these cocktails a whirl yourself and jazzing up your next Summer BBQ, recipes for each can be found here.
Recipes:
Ballantine’s Cobbler
Apple of my Eye
Escocia
www.hixter.co.uk/
www.chivasbrothers.com
Recipes:
Ballantine’s Cobbler
Apple of my Eye
Escocia
www.hixter.co.uk/
www.chivasbrothers.com
