6 £2.99
O’CLOCK DRINKS Christmas special
Christmas cocktails Step into Christmas at top home-ware store Festive gift guide Interview with fastest growing craft brewery Northampton by night guide John Morgan- Flickr
DECEMBER 2016
CONTENTS
FROM THE EDITOR
Hello and welcome to the very first addition of 6 O'clock Drinks! In this issue we will be going Christmas crazy, full of festive cocktails, gift ideas and a few fun interviews. But first, let me tell you a little bit more about me. I am Emily, and I must confess I do enjoy a good cocktail or 10. But hey, don’t we all? But no, on a serious note, I really enjoy creating a good cocktail and just going out and having a good time with my friends, so I thought why not put that into a magazine and get to share it with other
page 2
page 3
like minded drink enthusiasts. So, the idea of the title, 6 O'clock Drinks, I wanted something that jumped out to the reader straight away and told you instantly what the magazine was about but I always wanted it to be something fun and quirky, I think, 6 o'clock, is a good time to start drinking, so why not? We can be the 6 o'clock drinkers. xxx
1.
ULTIMATE GIFT GUIDE
We have listed the ultimate top 5 presents for any drink lover this Christmas. We've got your back!
4.
NORTHAMPTON BY NIGHT
What is it really like at night? Time to dish the dirt with the top tips for where to go over this festive period!
2.
COCKTAIL RECIPES
5.
CHRISTMAS AT ABRAXAS
Do you like the sound of Sex on a snow-bank, or Cranberry Mojito, well, if you do you are in for a real festive treat with our 2 recipes.
A Christmas themed shop, full of bar-ware, glassware and cocktail kits. Could this be heaven? Find out in a Christmas themed interview.
3.
BREWDOG INTERVIEW
6.
WHAT’S ON?
Have you ever wondered about independent craft breweries and what makes them successful?
What is on this Christmas in and around Northamptonshire, short list on Northampton by night.
ENJOY
The Christmas
GIFT GUIDE
The must haves this Christmas
We wish you a stress free Christmas with a gift guide for those you love. Be it your Grandad, a gin enthusiast? Or your friend Sarah from work, who fancies herself as a cocktail maker. We have some jolly good ideas for you...
RHUBARB GINGER GIN
This classic Scottish gin has been infused with pure rhubarb and ginger to give you a new astonishing taste. This warming liqueur is a sweet dream, with a tart twist. The gin is from the Edinburgh Gin Company, a superior distillery, showcasing how good Scottish gin really is.
John Lewis £18
CHRISTMAS COCKTAILS
GOLD COCKTAIL SET
For the friend that fancies themselves as cocktail wizard. This stainless steel gold cocktail sets comes with all of the essentials to whiz up a wicked drink, not to mention how fancy does it look being in gold? There is also a copper set as well, so which will it be? Gold or copper!
Sex on a Snowbank This cocktail is easy to make. Just plop in a bunch of ice, some alcohol, and some coco-nutty goodness into a blender and you've got yourself an amazing, winter cocktail. Ingredients 1 1/2 ounces Malibu rum 3 tablespoons coconut cream 6 large ice cubes,,, Then place ingredients together in a blender, blend until smooth, pour into a chilled Martini glass. Now you can enjoy your festive drink!
Did you know that he average adult will spend ££75 on alcohol over the Christmas period
MULLED WINE KIT
This mulled wine kit contains four hand tied muslin spiced pouches to create a delicious Mulled Wine. For delicious potent Mulled Wine, add one pouch to a bottle of red wine in a saucepan and heat gently. Add a little brandy and sliced fruit or cranberries. John Lewis £4
Janel - Nellie Bellie blog
Cranberry Mojito A festive sparkling cocktail that's sure to have everyone dancing the night away at your festive party! Ingredients A cup granulated sugar 1 cup loose fresh mint, plus some for garnish 2 limes, sliced and divided 1 cup cranberries, plus some for garnish A cup fresh lime juice 1 cup light rum A cup cranberry juice concentrate, thawed 1 12 oz. can Dasani Sparkling Water Lime Crushed ice.. Add sugar and mint to a pitcher and muddle then add the slices of one lime along with 1 cup of cranberries to the pitcher. Pour in the lime juice and rum, stir to dissolve sugar. Next pour in the cranberry juice and stir. Top off with Dasani Sparkling Water Lime. Now fill your glasses with crushed ice, pour punch over ice and garnish with cranberries, mint, and a fun straw. Thank me later!
t i p e e k t s u j y r s o s a l c d n a l a n o i t i d a Tr
COCKTAIL KIT
Your very own happy hour. Tipplesworth classic Martini Mini Cocktail Kit is a simple yet sophisticated way to making your own classic Martini. The king of cocktails. Tipplesworth kits are filled with the finest ingredients needed to make your desired cocktail, along with a cool recipe card. The added bonus is the stylish keepsake tin, the perfect Christmas gift for any Martini lovers out there. John Lewis £20
page 4
MINI MOET IMPERIAL
A mini bottle of Moët Imperial, beautifully presented in a celebratory cracker. Vibrant, generous and alluring, the fresh crisp palette reveals white-fleshed fruits, apple, pear, white peach, citrus fruits, floral notes and elegant hints of brioche and fresh nuts. Debenhams £20
Janel - Nellie Bellie blog
Rebecca- Sugar & Soul blog
page 5
Rebecca- Sugar & Soul blog
"THE UK'S FASTEST GROWING ALTERNATIVE BEER BRAND" BREWDOG Exclusive interview with Sarah Warman, Projects Manager at Brewdog
Sarah Werman - Twitter
could only wonder how Brewdog have made it to be so successful in this forever growing industry. I was lucky enough to get to interview Sarah Warman, Project Manager at Brew Dog.
Pubs, bars and clubs are part of the British way of life and make up to tens of billions of pounds each year. Yet it has been estimated that each week 20 of them shut their doors for good. Living in a village of 5 pubs myself, I can see the problems that pubs have, pubs are all too similar.
So how can this change, what do the great British pubs need to do to make themselves more quirky, and give the pub an extra edge? Well, there is something. Independent breweries. Right now there are in fact over one thousand in the UK, and that number is rising. This is where Brewdog come in. Brewdog are the UK's number 1 independent beer crafting company. The drinks industry is such a huge competitive place to be, I
page 6
Right, could you tell me a little more about Brewdog itself? BrewDog was started in 2007 by two men and a dog, setting out on a mission to make other people as passionate about great craft beer as they were. We have grown to become one of the fastest growing food & drinks companies in the UK, selling beer to over 60 countries, employing 800 people worldwide, and operating 50 bars across the planet. Why do you think they are so popular right now? People want to buy something they know is made with care and attention, and with a soul and a purpose. They want to drink something they can taste and enjoy, not just neck it and get completely wrecked. Big breweries are buying up little ones because they know they're what people are interested in. But this goes against everything craft beer is about, which is making amazing beer that tastes of something. Not just driving a profit with a mediocre product...
I heard you raised 26 mill by crowd funding for the company, How did this happen? We first launched Equity for Punks in 2009, and since then we have raised more than 26million through 4 rounds of crowd-funding. 50,000 people have invested in our craft beer business, and are with us every step. What are your most popular beers? Punk IPA is the number 1 craft beer in UK supermarkets, and was the flagship beer ever since we first started brewing back in 2007. It's a post modern transatlantic fusion IPA that pairs a brilliant, classic beer style with incredible, new world hop character. Do you have a favourite, and why? My personal favourite is Elvis Juice! It's a grapefruit infused IPA and I adore it! It's so juicy and fruity and just ticks all my boxes! However, my favourite beer is often dependent on the season and I do love a darker beer in the winter as well as something light and zesty during the summer months.
Brewdog website
Brewdog website
What do you see the future looking like for Brewdog? World domination!
page 7
Brewdog website
NORTHAMPTON by night...
THE ZOOM If you remember ice lollies shaped like rockets, you'll love this! Midori layered with orange juice and topped with Eristoff vodka and cranberry juice to remind you of the old days! Perfect festive fun cocktail to spice up your night!
Northampton is hardly known for it's crazy nightlife and fancy bars, but they are there. You've just got to look a little harder. Whether you fancy a crazy night out with your friends, or a few cocktails and a nice chat, there are places to go to do both... In Sixfields, Northampton, there are a selection of restaurants with brilliant bars in them. Firstly I would recommend Coast to Coast, this is a chain based restaurant and bar, they have them all across the UK, but it's fairly new to Northampton. They have really cool cocktails here, like the good old classics such as Cosmo and the famous Bloody Mary to the more funky fun ones like Red Berry Another popular place in Northampton is Revolution bar/ restaurant. It is located just down Bridge Street in Northampton and it is a great place to be. Revs is known for its amazing atmosphere and fantastic bar staff and at the moment they are available to host Christmas parties. The also hold a Cocktail master class for the cocktail fanatic, it features a number of cocktail demonstrations, games, canapĂŠs and then more cocktails, for people who really want to mix it up.
Cheese Cake cocktail. More of a desert! I would recommend the Bananas in Bahamas, this is a tropical cocktail to spice up your winters nights. It is a rum punch that will leave you wanting more, Goslings rum, crème de banana, pineapple & lemon juice and caramel gomme shaken and served long with a caramelised banana slice. Now how good does that sound? Another cool place in Sixfields, Northampton, is Chiquito, a Mexican bar and restaurant. they have crazy cocktails, wonderful wines and currently have a lot of offers on over the festive period. One of their most popular cocktail over Christmas is the Gin Fizz, a classic cocktail for gin lovers. Simple and straight to the point, the Gin Fizz combines gin, sugar, lemon juice and house foam. Lovely classic drink for everyone.
page 8
WHATS ON
Northampton is full of clubs and restaurants here are some of the things happening this Christmas - MK Bierclub - Bedford Food & Drink awards - Revolution our NYE party - Festive fun at Fawsley Hall - Celebrations at Sazerac - Crazy cocktails at the Crossroads - Fever festive give away party - Prezzo meal and drinks offer
page 9
STEP INTO CHRISTMAS ABRAXAS GLASS & CHINA Rugby Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work in a popular home-ware shop over Christmas, that sells top of the range cocktail and drinks goods? Well, if so, then look no further... Abraxas cook shops are an independent home-ware shop situated in and around Northamptonshire. In total there at 4 shops, Northampton, Weedon Bec, Rugby and Banbury. The original Abraxas Cook-shop opened in July 1996 at the beautifully restored and renovated Heart of The Shires Shopping Village, next to Weedon Bec. However in March 2004, Abraxas opened another branch in Regent Street, Rugby just 12 miles from the store in Weedon. However Abraxas decided to open another store, but dedicating it purely to glass and china wear so in November 2004 Abraxas China & Glass opened at 15 Regent Street, Rugby stocking a comprehensive range of cutlery, glassware, dinnerware, table-top accessories and christening presents. Abraxas have won and been nominated for so many awards, back in 2012 they won the Excellence in Housewares award and Excellence in Specialist Retailing. However, I myself went into their glass and china store recently and noticed they had an extensive and excellent supply of bar-ware, glassware and all things drinks related for us drink lovers out there, be it cocktail kits to top of the range wine glasses. Not only that, but the displays in the shop were incredible! I wanted to find out a little bit more about what it's like working in such a popular shop over Christmas, so I met up with Eve Robson who works
page 10
at Glass & China store to find out more... What is it like working in such a popular home-ware store over the Christmas period? I love working in the shop during Christmas, every year we get the most amazing Christmas decorations in. It's really nice helping customers find presents for their loved ones. At this time of the year we have a big Christmas window so that we can display all of the decorations we are stocking this Christmas and it's nice because everyone seems to have a lot of Christmas spirit when they enter the shop. Do you have a lot of stock for the alcohol/ drink loving person? Yes we stock loads! From cocktail shakers to muddlers we have everything to make the perfect drink. The cocktail sets are really popular in the summer because everyone's having BBQ's and wanting to make some tasty summer cocktails. At the moment because it's Christmas a lot of customers are buying them as presents, so we make sure we have a well-stocked cocktail section, not to mention our varied range of glasses. What's your most popular items in that department? The most popular item in the cocktail section is defiantly the cocktail shakers & the single and double shot measures. If you have a good shaker you can make any cocktail. We have a lot of champagne stoppers as-well that people love all year round but they are selling out fast so you be quick with them!
We also have loads of wine gadgets for the wine lovers. During summer a lot of people like to make pims or mojitos. So in the summer the muddlers & cocktail spoons are also big seller, but they are just as popular now as I know there are so many cool and quirky Christmas cocktails you can make. And finally, what do you recommend as the top gifts for us drink lovers out there this Christmas? I would recommend the WMF cocktail shaker, honestly it's the most professional cocktail shaker we stock. It's my favourite & we sell a lot. Also, we currently have offers on a lot of the cocktails sets by BARCRAFT, one set includes a cocktail shaker, a shot measure, an ice bucket & some ice tongs. I would be really happy if I received that as a present for Christmas! Another thing that I would pick would have to be the individual cocktail equipment we stock, one of my favourites is the cocktail strainer. If you've ever made a drink that has a lot of fruit in such as strawberries the strainer is amazing for getting rid of the pips that you don't want in your drink. Finally, the Le Creuset Cooler sleeve, really, it's a sleeve for your bottle of wine to keep it cool. Perfect for the Christmas parties!
page 11