Summer is coming..finally. I can smell it. The smoky scent of a BBQ close by, the light fragrance of cucumber diced ready for summer cups and strawberries with fresh cream. I’m sure most of you will have summer BBQ’s and picnics planned as well as maybe some camping or festival trips so I’m here to share with you my favourite drinks so far this season.
Starting with…
Alcoholic:
Marks & Spencer rise to the occasion as always with a great selection of seasonal drinks. Mojito Fizz is an absolutely delicious ready to serve cocktail. Add it a glass of crushed ice and a wedge of lime to take it up a notch. The Summer Cup is a combination of gin, cucumber, melon, spices & lemon peel with a lovely citrus hint of earl grey tea – great served in the same way as Pimms with berries, lemonade and mint of make it a bit different and serve as am iced tea or with ginger ale instead of lemonade. M&S also have some really delicious Farmhouse ciders, some traditional and others a little fruity.
Lindemans Rose – crisp, fruity and perfectly suited to a posh picnic or just lunch al fresco.
King Bloom are a new brand to me but one I will revisit over and over again I think! They make the most stylish ready to serve cocktails in glass jars which are perfectly on trend.. They taste incredibly good too. With flavours like Vodka, Raspberry & Kiwi or Vodka, White Cranberry & Coconut all with added milk thistle – make your party just a little bit cooler with these fashionable drinks.
Alska Fruity Ciders are some of my very favourite drinks. I first tasted them about a year ago in my local Aldi and the price and flavour quickly sucked me in. My favourite is strawberry and lime but they come in a variety such as Nordic Berries and Lemon & Ginger..at a bargain £1.29 for a 500ml bottle you won’t get a better bargain.
On the subject of Aldi they have a great Limoncello which would be great to serve freezing cold at the end of a long summery meal.
Gin ..because who doesn’t need Gin. In a can of course for maximum flexibility when camping and at festivals. Aldi have cans of pre mixed Gin & Tonic ( for your convenience).
Finally if you have a special occasion it definitely calls for some bubbles and I’m a huge fan of Prosecco.. Apparently it’s in short supply 😉 this Casa Defra from Norton Wines promises a beautifully fruity frizzante.
Some delicious recipe from fellow bloggers:
Rhubarb Gin
Gin Melon Slushie
Peach & Basil White Sangria
Polish Style Beer with Raspberry Syrup
Gin Cocktails
Mango Margarita
Summer Vodka Lemon Spritzer
Spiced Apple Cocktail
Strawberry & Elderflower Cocktail
Non Alcoholic:
M&S have a beautiful Rhubarb Presse which is just so so good. Mocktails need never be boring again. You could also turn this into a cocktail with a little vodka or rum 😉
This wine alternative which has been around for years – Shloer, have a great strawberry punch which is perfect for friends who are pregnant or breastfeeding or just don’t like to drink. A great option to serve at a meal.
Heartsease Farm also have a presse – this time an Elderflower one which is light and fragrant and rather delightful to drink. Serve very cold. Perfect with cucumber sandwiches and cupcakes for ladies ( and gents ) who lunch.
Pomegranate Juice from POM, wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice from concentrate! With its unique polyphenol antioxidant profile, which helps protect the body against free radicals*, the delicious ruby-red drink is a good source of potassium and naturally gluten free plus it’s pretty tasty:
Juice from Mello the UK’s first and only range of raw, fresh melon juice and which is set to be the must have drink of summer 2015. It’s so refreshing and it’s always nice to know there are no nasties in your drink. Would make great slushies or smoothies too.
Some alcohol free recipes from fellow bloggers:
Strawberry Watermelon Smoothie
Orange & Raspberry Detox Water
Guava Coconut Mocktail
Sunshine Grapefruit Smoothie
Strawberry and Watermelon Cooler
Now it’s easy enough to buy your own drinks ready made but how about adding them to a fruit concoction made by you in a Bella Extract Pro Blender – we have been trying one out at home and it’s great for crushing ice and extracting the maximum amount of juice out of your fruits. Just think of how good a freshly made strawberry daiquiri would be… The Extract Pro Blender comes with two separate blades: a unique Extraction Blade, designed to extract maximum goodness and nutrients from a multitude of foods; together with a Grinding Blade ideal for nuts, spices, herbs, chocolate, coffee beans. There’s also three lidded tumblers which can be used on the base in place of the jug blender attachment for smaller quantities, or for drinks on the go. If you read onto the end of this post you could even be in the running to win one of your own!
Then you have to decide how to serve it and how amazing would your cocktails look served up on a personalised cocktail paddle? I absolutely love this paddle and glass set I was sent recently from Getting Personal and can’t wait to show it off.
And if you feel like getting creative you could create your own flavoured vodkas using this Vodka Zinger. It’s a really cool product which helps you create flavoured vodka drinks in a short space of time. I’m thinking mango vodka sounds good? What would you try?
Now who wants to win a Bella Extract Pro? Hands up…
Just fill in my easy rafflecopter form below for your chance to win. Good luck!
* Some items in this guide were gifted for the purpose of this feature.