Cocktail Creations: Drinking on a budget

16/02/2021

Our MUSE editors show us their favourite cocktails for you to try at home.

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Image by Daniel Swift

By Daniel Swift , Emily Harvie and Charlotte Lear

Living room drinking in lockdown really gives off that energy of being at your first house party with mates, getting sloshed off Smirnoff Ice. Indefinitely there’s now more scope for a bit of experimentation drinks-wise. After all, you’re only a stumble away from your bedroom if things end up going a bit West. Here we’ve laid out some of our favourite cocktail creations to spice up your lockdown living room antics.

Sc-RUM-ptious – Daniel Swift, Food and Drink Editor

4725

  • 25 ml of dark spiced rum
  • 50 ml of orange juice
  • 50 ml of cranberry and raspberry juice
  • Slice of lemon for garnish

Fill your glass of choice with ice and fill with all the measurements above. Give it a little mix, add a slice of lemon to the side of the glass or in the drink and you’re good to go. This is a pretty simple cocktail, but it tastes really nice and is a perfect quick tipple during the summer months.

Irish Coffee – Emily Harvie, Deputy MUSE Editor

  • 2 oz of coffee
  • 1 oz of Irish whiskey
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • ¾ oz of heavy cream

Heat the coffee, whisky and sugar, but don’t boil. Pour the mixture into a glass and tip with the cream by gently pouring it over the back of a spoon that is suspended over the top of the drink. Best served hot.

G&T with a twist – Daniel Swift, Food and Drink Editor

4726

  • The juice of half a lemon
  • 25 ml of gin
  • 50 ml of the tonic of your choice (I went with classic tonic)
  • 50 ml of sparkling elderflower pressé

Fill your glass with ice and add the juice from half a lemon. Mix together all the measurements of gin, tonic and elderflower pressé and give it a little mix. Top the drink with a slice of lemon and voilà! This is a simple take on the classic G&T but feels a little bit more elevated with the elderflower pressé, which is a really nice addition.

Melonbomb – Emily Harvie, Deputy MUSE Editor

  • 1 oz of Midori melon liqueur
  • 1 oz of Green Apple Carabao

Pour the Midori into a shot glass. Place the shot glass onto a larger tumbler and fill it with the Green Apple Carabao, making sure that it doesn’t overflow into the shot glass.

Pink-ish gin– Daniel Swift, Food and Drink Editor

4727

  • The juice of half a lemon
  • 25 ml of gin
  • 50 ml of the tonic of your choice (I went with classic tonic)
  • 50 ml of sparkling elderflower pressé
  • a splash of cranberry and raspberry juice (or any berry juice that you can get your hands on)
  • a sprig of rosemary

Sticking to the recipe of the first gin cocktail, this take on the popular pink gin and lemonade has the addition of cranberry and raspberry juice, as well as a garnish of rosemary. This one really reminds me of springtime and the whiff of rosemary that you get with every sip evokes a sense of nostalgia for me, taking me back to my childhood when I picked rosemary from the garden for my mum for the roast dinner. I promise that the rosemary is a welcome addition and doesn’t make it smell like a herb garden!



Easy Jamaican Rum Punch – Emily Harvie, Deputy MUSE Editor

  • 250 ml of white rum
  • 150 ml of dark or coconut rum
  • 200 ml of strawberry-flavoured syrup or grenadine
  • 250 ml of pineapple juice
  • 250 ml of orange juice
  • The juice of four limes (about 100 ml)
  • A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • A dash of Angostura bitters (optional)
  • Orange, lemon and lime slices to serve
  • 750 ml of water

Pour all of the ingredients into a large pitcher and stir. Before serving, add the water and plenty of crushed ice, finishing it off with the fruit slices to serve.

Boozy Capri-Sun– Charlotte Lear, Food and Drink Editor

4728- A Pack of Capri Suns (However many you please, they’re four for £1 in Iceland currently)

  • 50ml Vodka per Capri-Sun (less or more depending on preference)
  • Lilt, or any other sort of tropical soft drink to finish.

You’re going to need a measuring jug or some sort of pitcher for this one. Cut the top off your Capri-Sun (keeping the straw hole intact) and decant the Capri-Sun into the pitcher; there’s about 200ml per pouch. Add two shots of vodka, more or less. You can then top it off with as much tropical drink as you like, I like to fill it up to about the 400ml mark as you can then re-fill your pouch when you’re done with the first round. Put your straw through the pouch as you normally would and you’re good to go!

Cheats Blue Shit – Charlotte Lear, Food and Drink Editor

  • 75ml Vodka (triple shot)
  • 200ml Blue Raspberry lemonade, or however much to fill your glass.
  • Optional to finish: Blue VK or WKD – this makes it lethal.

With both Stone Roses and Lowther shut to the public, many York students have been left without a personality trait. This is one you can quite easily throw together in a ‘what the hell am I going to drink tonight?’ kind of situation. The crucial aspect is the triple shot… absolute killer. I was using blue VK as a mixer instead of blue raspberry lemonade during second year, but we won’t talk about that.