Summer is here, and there are few things better than eating delectable New Zealand-grown fruits on a hot afternoon.
But still hanging over our heads is the high cost of living - although don't let that deter you from still enjoying a refreshing summer cocktail.
One of the easiest ways to enjoy a cheap and cheerful drink is to use ingredients which are in season, and in this case, New Zealand has a wonderful range of summer fruits that can go in your New Year's Eve cocktail.
Here are four drinks using the best of local fruits. Each recipe makes one serving.
A fizzy apricot and rum
Ingredients:
- Ice
- 60ml rum
- 30ml apricot nectar
- 15ml freshly squeezed lime juice
- 100ml ginger beer.
Add a couple of ice cubes to a glass. Pour in your rum, apricot nectar (here's an easy recipe to make your own), and lime juice, then top with ginger beer. Stir and enjoy.
Cherry vodka sour
Ingredients:
- Six cherries pitted and stemmed
- 30ml simple syrup
- 60ml vodka
- 30ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
- One egg white
- Ice
- Lemons for garnish.
Add the cherries and simple syrup to a cocktail and muddle until the cherries break down. Add vodka, lemon juice, and egg white and shake for about 30 seconds. Then add your ice and shake for about another minute. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with a squeeze of lemon.
Raspberry Mojito
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups of raspberries
- 1 cup of water
- ¾ cup sugar
- Two mint leaves
- Ice
- 60ml white rum
- 60ml raspberry puree
- Can of soda water
- Lemon slices.
For the puree, add one cup of the raspberries, as well as water and sugar to a small saucepan. Cook for five to six minutes until it's thickened, and then strain with a sieve. This makes about two cups of puree - so you can store what you don't use in a jar.
Then for the mojitos, crush three raspberries and some mint leaves together in a highball glass. Add ice and some whole raspberries, then the rum and 60ml of your raspberry puree. Top it up with soda water and stir.
Blueberry vodka soda
Ingredients:
- Blueberries
- One lemon
- 200ml soda water
- 50ml vodka.
Muddle a small handful of blueberries and juice from a quarter of a lemon in a cocktail shaker. Then add vodka, soda water, and a few ice cubes. Shake until the cocktail shaker is visibly frosted and strain into a highball glass over fresh ice. Garnish with blueberries and a squeeze of lemon.
Enjoy!
