The World’s First Peated Tomato Juice

Yep, that’s right. This is the first tomato juice to have been infused with Islay peat smoke. The result? A totally unique flavour that screams “Bloody Mary!”. Not only is it richer and deeper in taste than your standard tomato juice, it’s hand-crafted in Scotland itself by a small team of gastronomic food innovators. 

Quite exciting, given how much we love a bloody mary. Now, they recommend you mix it up with vodka (recipe below), but I would argue for those who love peat as much as we do, drop a wee dram of whisky in there instead for a double whammy peat punch. Don’t forget that mandatory slice of shortbread on the side too.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with peat – it’s an organic material that has decomposed over millions of years. On Islay, it absorbs all of the sea salt from the atmosphere given you’re never far away from the coast, in doing so infusing all of that rich goodness when smoked.

A local smokery is used to extract maximum flavour, with the dried peat being infused into the fresh, seasonal tomatoes. What you get is a super rich batch of sweet, smoky and salty tomatoes and in turn, their juice. Damn. 

Okay, enough talk, let’s get to the good stuff. 

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Tongue In Peat’s Smoky Mary Recipe 

Ingredients: 

50ml vodka (or a peaty whisky!)
6 drops Tabasco
8 drops Worcestershire sauce 1 pinch celery salt
1 tsp horseradish
2 tsp fresh lime juice 

Method: 

Rub a wedge of lemon along the rim of your glass, then coat with black pepper. Add the vodka, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, salt, horseradish and lime juice before topping up with Tongue in Peat Smoked Tomato Juice. Fill the glass with ice then stir, and garnish with a wedge of lemon and celery stick. 

Tongue in Peat is now available in 250ml or 500ml glass bottles from selected online retailers including directly from Tongueinpeat.com as well as Paisley Drinks Company and Craft56.co.uk 

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Cocktail Squad - Cocktails in a can

There is a long history of companies trying to make cocktails in a can and, up to now, there have been varying results. But there is now a company that has managed to create something really tasty. Cocktail Squad was created by Lauren and John Maggio. Lauren was born and raised in New Orleans, so it’s fair to say that the Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler attitude runs deep in her soul. 

A few years ago, Lauren was immersed in the world of raising four young children.  Actively trying to find a balance between her old and new life, she rarely had babysitter back-up and dinners out were not a frequent affair.  Frequently, Lauren and John were passing ships but when they could, they would steal away to catch up.

On one such occasion, the couple met at the bar of a new restaurant in Boulder and had a great cocktail. Having returned to the bar for more, they realised they couldn’t do this all the time and asked the barman for the recipe. He kindly obliged. Having made the cocktail for themselves, they thought: wouldn’t others like a cocktail that was ready to drink? And wouldn’t it be even better if it was in a can and therefore portable? With John’s experience of guiding companies in the food and beverage arena, Lauren knew she had the beginnings of something special.

They have six cocktails in the range which are all different and all very good. They are: the Greyhound, Gin and Tonic, Margarita, Vodka Soda, a Whisky Sour and a Bourbon Smash. If you have any of these cocktails made for you in a bar, they will vary in flavour and quality. I’ve had incredibly simple cocktails in one bar and then the same in another bar, only a few streets away, and it’s been terrible. The great advantage of the Cocktail Squad cocktails is the consistency. They will always taste great, and the next one will taste just as good as the last one! All are 10% ABV, gluten free and should retail at $4.99 – $5.99 per can and $20 – $24 per four pack.

The cocktails in their range have won many awards. Launched in 2018, they boast fifteen to date with some gold awards in the mix too. The Whisky Smash took gold in the Sunset International Spirits Competition in 2019 and the Greyhound won gold in the New York Spirits Competition in the same year.

People might say that it’s easy enough to make some of these cocktails at home. Whilst I can agree with that, it’s pretty tricky taking your perfectly-made cocktail out with you. The can is hugely convenient and no other mixers are needed. Perfect for any excursion, picnic, BBQ, rock concert or any situation where you’d like quick and easy access to a delicious drink.

My only complaint is that having enjoyed these in the USA, I can’t get them at home in the UK. So I’ll be booking my ticket back as soon as I can.

One drink, three ways - Mad Bean Mocha Iced Coffee

One Drink, Three Ways is the signature feature by The Three Drinkers. Join The Three Drinkers’ Helena, Aidy and Colin as they take one bottle and create a trio of phenomenal serves which you can enjoy anytime, anywhere. From rums and whiskies to gins and wine styles, the three help you get the most out of your glass. It’s time to get liquid on lips.

If you pair the flavours of coffee, chocolate and a balanced but good dose of alcohol, what do you get? The Mad Bean Mocha Iced Coffee: a twist on a traditional Irish coffee. Containing only naturally occurring caffeine (30mg, or about 1/3 of a cup of coffee), and made from 100% Arabica beans, this drink has a very clean mouthfeel and very little bitterness. The stabilised and pasteurised cream needs no refrigeration and there are only 16 calories per ounce. This drink can be enjoyed in more than one way and we’ve got three to suggest as well as simply enjoying it out of the can. Whilst that is perfectly delicious, you can make more of this drink with a little imagination. 

Helena’s choice: Chocolate Espresso Margarita

Ingredients

Cocoa powder for the rim

2oz heavy cream (aka double cream)

½ oz Coffee Tequila

1oz Silver Tequila

½ oz orange liqueur

2oz Mad Bean Mocha Iced Coffee

Wet the rim of a cocktail glass and dip it into the cocoa powder. Place the heavy cream in a bowl and whisk until it has thickened to the consistency of whipped cream. Place the tequilas, orange liqueur, Mad Bean Mocha Iced Coffee and ice in a mixing glass and stir until chilled. Strain into the glass, float the cream on top and garnish with chocolate shavings and an orange twist.

The Chocolate Espresso Margarita is perfect for those late night chocolate cravings and when a proper drink is still wanted. By using the Mad Bean Mocha Iced Coffee, the cocktail is super-smooth and super-easy.

Colin’s Choice – Choco Peat

Ingredients

1oz of Mad Bean Mocha Iced Coffee

¾ oz Kahlua

1 ¼ oz Spicy vodka (Stolichnaya hot vodka)

¾ oz very peaty whisky, e.g. Peat Monster

Place all the ingredients in a mixing glass filled with ice, stir and strain into a cocktail glass. 

Being a big whisky fan, I had to try this with whisky. This is simple to make and I particularly like the combination as peated whisky is a favourite of mine. Along with the peaty whisky the Mad Bean Mocha Iced Coffee gives a smooth mouthfeel, creamy texture and still keeps the alcohol levels in perfect balance. Perfect on a hot lazy afternoon for a pick-me-up.

Aidy’s choice – the experiment!

Ingredients

Mad Bean Mocha Iced Coffee

Whatever you want to mix with it

Aidy likes to try drinks with lots of variation, and he’s been mixing traditional coffee syrups with the Mad Bean Mocha Iced Coffee to suite the mood he’s in. This morning, he was in a salted caramel mood and this afternoon he preferred vanilla. He thought both of these variations worked very well. He then went on to try the Mad Bean Mocha Iced Coffee with different spirits. First of all he tried vodka, then Tequila and finally he even tried some crème de menthe which he said tasted a little like dark mint chocolate and coffee. 

He came to the conclusion that the Mad Bean Mocha Iced Coffee is very versatile and can be mixed with lots of different things. His suggestion is to think of a drink, alcoholic or not, and try mixing it with Mad Bean Mocha Iced Coffee. Have a go for yourself. 

Mad Bean Vanilla Iced Coffee

Iced coffee made well is a fabulous thing, especially as a cocktail with cream liqueur and using the finest ingredients. These drinks are typically found in the best bars and restaurants and, because of the ingredients employed, are very difficult to make at home. They also have to be kept chilled as dairy products don’t do well out of a fridge.

This has changed, however, with the introduction of the Mad Bean Iced Coffees and, in particular, the Mad Bean Vanilla Iced Coffee. Mad Bean wanted to create an iced coffee that can be consumed anywhere at any time. Made from 100% Arabica beans, this naturally occurring caffeinated beverage is a unique twist on the traditional Irish coffee. Mad Bean Hard Coffee provides a great blend of popular coffee flavours with an alcohol kick. It can be drunk hot or cold.

Mad Bean Vanilla Hard Coffee does exactly what it says on the tin. The vanilla flavours are natural and very well-balanced with the coffee, and it has a little kick of alcohol. It can be put over ice but also stands alone. It’s very good straight from the can.

The Mad Bean Vanilla Iced Coffee can also be used as an extra ingredient in cocktails. An espresso martini can be made smoother and sweeter by adding Mad Bean Vanilla Iced Coffee to the glass before the other ingredients, or by pouring it into the shaker.

Espresso Martini with Mad Bean Iced Vanilla Coffee:

Ingredients

3 parts vodka

1 part Kahlua

2 parts espresso (cooled)

2 parts Mad Bean Vanilla Iced Coffee

Place the all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously, strain mixture into a cocktail glass and garnish with a few espresso beans.

From a can in your bag to a sophisticated cocktail, the Mad Bean Vanilla Iced Coffee really is all things to all coffee-loving folk!

One Drink, Three Ways: Noilly Prat Original Dry Vermouth

One Drink, Three Ways is the signature feature by The Three Drinkers. Join The Three Drinkers’ Helena, Aidy and Colin as they take one bottle and create a trio of phenomenal serves which you can enjoy anytime, anywhere. From rums and whiskies to gins and wine styles, the three help you get the most out of your glass. It’s time to get liquid on lips.

Originally used as a tonic for medical purposes, a vermouth is wine that has been infused by botanicals and fortified with spirit. It can be dry or sweet, red or white and currently, most vermouth comes from France and Italy, though we are starting to see other brands appear globally. Noilly Prat is the original French vermouth and their dry white is the benchmark. Created in the fishing village of Marseillan in the south of France using local grapes high in acidity such as Picpoul, grape juice is part-fermented, then fortified to 18% to keep the sweetness. After that, some of the liquid is aged in casks inside and some outside in the elements, allowing a slow oxidation to take place. The two are blended, then macerated with a herbs and spices for several weeks before resting and bottling.

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Helena’s Choice: The Original Apéro

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The Original Apéro

Ingredients

Tumbler or wine glass

50ml Noilly Prat Original Dry Vermouth

Lemon or lime slice and /or rosemary sprig

Ice

Perrier water to taste

In the heat of the south of France, simplicity is king and it's easy to forget that with Noilly Prat Original Dry, you don’t actually need anything at all other than a large chunk of ice, a twist of lemon and if you can rustle one up, a lovely view. If you’re particularly thirsty, you could spritz it up with some Perrier water. Serve as an aperitif before any meal or more drinks and it’s the ideal way to cleanse the palate. I like mine with a sprig of rosemary too for that extra southern French je ne sais quoi.

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Aidy’s Choice: The Vodka Martini

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The Vodka Martini

Ingredients

Martini Glass

25ml Noilly Prat Original Dry Vermouth

25ml Grey Goose Vodka

Dash of orange bitters

Twist of lemon

No vermouth, no Martini. It really is such a key player in this classic cocktail and Noilly Prat is the go-to. My recommendation is to have 50% vodka (I like Grey Goose) to 50% vermouth, stirred together simply in a mixing glass over ice, then poured into a cool glass. Add a dash of orange bitters if you’re feeling a bit crazy and garnish with lemon. It’s simple and super elegant.

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Colin’s Choice: The Pink Daisy

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The Yellow Daisy

Ingredients

Nick & Nora glass

30ml Noilly Prat Original Dry Vermouth

30ml Gin

5ml Triple Sec

5ml Pastis

Maraschino cherry or Rosemary to garnish

Ice cubes

Going a little left-field with the vermouth cocktail here, there’s a surprising combination we discovered recently that just works and will appease those Martini drinkers who prefer gin to vodka. The Pink Daisy is an explosion of French flavours from the vermouth to the pastis and the triple sec and it looks rather glamorous too. Combine the wet ingredients in a mixing glass over ice, stir, strain and pour. The cherry gives it extra retro pizazz though if you’re not into that, rosemary works too!

If you like this, check out our other One Drink, Three Ways pieces on Macallan Whisky, Tanqueray Gin or Rémy Martin Cognac.

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The Best Cocktails To Make With Macallan

Macallan have an extensive range and sitting at the core of the range are three twelve year old whiskies which all have a different twist on the core flavour that makes up Macallan. With these different flavours, it makes them ideal to compliment the three most made whisky cocktails. Not everyone is well versed in making cocktails and it’s easy to forget the simplest of ingredients if you are not using them regularly. Here we lay out the ingredients and method for making three classics which, once mastered, will give you and your friends endless, delicious pleasure.

The Old Fashioned

Old Fashioned

Ingredients

Pinch of brown sugar

1 strip of orange peel

Splash of water

2 drops of bitters

50ml of Macallan 12 year old sherry cask

For this classic cocktail we would suggest the Macallan 12 year old Sherry cask. Classic cocktails, plus classic Macallan is the perfect mix. This cocktail lets the whisky shine, with little other ingredients to get in the way of all that Christmas cake flavour, this cocktail is brilliant, especially if you like soft spices and sweetness all balanced and warming.

Method: Place the sugar, orange peel, water and bitters in a tumbler and muddle (crush gently with the back of a spoon). Fill the glass with ice and add the whisky. Stir, and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Tip: If you pour in the bourbon bit by bit allowing it to chill slowly and soak up the flavours of the bitters and sugar without diluting quickly, the experience will be more intense.

Whisky Sour

Whisky Sour

Ingredients

50ml of Macallan 12 year old Triple Cask

25ml of lemon juice

Splash of water

Pinch of sugar

The whisky sour is probably the simplest of the whisky cocktails beyond a highball. To balance the lemon you need a whisky which isn’t going to let the lemon take over and also helps with some complexity. We think the Macallan 12 year old triple cask does the trick. With its mix of European and American oak ex sherry casks and American ex bourbon casks, there is plenty of complexity and smoothness to balance the bitterness of the lemon.

Method: Simply place the ingredients in a tumbler filled with ice, stir, and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Tip: Put the sugar in bit by bit after the other ingredients and taste as you do so to get the cocktail to just the right level of sour sweet balance for you.

Rusty Nail

Rusty Nail

Ingredients:

3 parts Macallan

1 part Drambuie

This cocktail is one of Colin’s favourites. It’s the simplest to make and is like an iron fist in a velvet glove. It is all alcohol so be careful with this one, but it is also a real sweety. If you like sugar and spice and all things nice, then this is definitely for you. We like the Macallan double cask for this one as the mix of ex sherry casks and ex bourbon casks can really shine through with just one other ingredient in the glass.

Method: Combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake vigorously, and pour.

Tip: Make sure to fill the cocktail shaker with ice. The more ice will actually create less dilution, and chill the cocktail more quickly. 

Macallan 12 Triple Cask: UK £125 // US $74.99

We hope this article helps clear the memory blank and keeps your cocktail enjoyment ticking along. For more Macallan check out Helena’s ‘Mac-Hattan’ for a great twist on the American cocktail.

The Best Whisky For Sunny Weather

Words by Colin Hampden-White

Over the last few weeks the sun has come out to play. I find that my tastes in whisky change a little with the seasons. I don’t want a big rich smoky whisky quite so often, or a cask strength sherried whisky whilst walking in the snow. I’m drinking more long drinks to while away the summer evenings, or having a little light cocktail at the weekend, and with the sun staying higher in the sky as the days go on, I’m still looking for whiskies with complexity to sip as I sit on my balcony, and perhaps whisky which is a little lighter in style. If you are similar in your changes of tastes as the seasons change, then here are a few suggestions to help you transition into summer.

For the Highball

Johnnie Walker Red label

Made for mixing. Johnnie walker red label is literally designed for mixing, within the mix of casks used to create the whisky the blenders choose some which have been rejuvenated. This is a process where an exhausted cask has a few millimetres shaven off the inside to expose fresh wood to bring the cask back to life. The wood which lies slightly deeper is exposed to new spirit and has a slightly spicier flavour profile. This spicy flavour profile goes particularly well in long drinks, like a whisky and ginger or a whisky and soda with a herbal garnish like Rosemary. Or it even livens up a good old whisky and coke. 

J&B 

J&B is a blend which is designed to be lighter than other blends, making it perfect for a slightly fruitier and sweeter highball. Whether that be with soda water, coke or a number of different new sparking flavoured waters which are on the market, J&B makes a good addition. It is gentle enough not to overpower a highball so you can experiment with your mixer. Try blending mixers or creating your own. Leave citrus fruits or herbs marinating in a jar of water for a few days and mix with your whisky and add a little soda for some fizz.

For the cocktail

Glenfiddich 12

During winter I really get into cocktails which use big sherry style whiskies like a Glenfiddich 15 year old, but as summer gets nearer and nearer, I start to look at lighter cocktails with more acidity like a whisky sour for example. I still want lots of fruit flavours from the whisky, but a little less sherry and weight, so I tend to stick with Glenfiddich but go to the 12 year old which is full of fresh orchard fruits and touches of apricot and vanilla which balances out the lemon in a whisky sour perfectly. 

Glenmorangie Original

The Glenmorangie Original is my all time favourite summer whisky, with light orange blossom and vanilla flavours it simply tastes of summer. I love making Rob Roys and Mint Juleps with this whisky. There is lots of sweetness to the drink as the whisky only uses ex bourbon casks twice in its production keeping the classic American flavours. It’s great for only a for a ten year old whisky. A simple cocktail to make at home involves steeping orange peel in water for 48 hours, and mixing that with Glenmorangie Original, if you like it a little sweeter a touch of sugar syrup can be added.

For sipping

Jura Seven Wood

As you can tell from the name, this whisky uses seven types of oak in its maturation. There's American white oak, and six other French oaks, Limousin, Tronçais, Allier, Vosges, Jupilles, and Les Bertranges. This gives lots of complexity, but with most of the oak being French, there is an elegant light touch to the whisky which is perfect for summer. Think, sipping away in the Tuscan sun or on the Algarve having found yourself at the 19th hole. Smooth, delicious and screams summer to me.

Balvenie 14 Carabbean Cask

When I think of the sun, and although I spent may years in Africa as a child, my mind wanders to the Caribbean, and even in the UK, when the sun comes out and I close my eyes, this is what I think of, and it is made all the easier with a Balvenie 14 year old Caribbean Cask in my hand. With lots of tropical fruit flavours of pineapple and banana running though both the aroma and palate, it is the perfect whisky to dream about summer climates.

If you fancy a little bit of Caribbean fun, and want to try something other than whisky, head over to my article all about the best luxury rums.  

Rosé and Grapefruit Sparkle

Words by Aidy Smith

I always try to look on he bright side of things which is why during the past 2 months of lockdown my mixology skills have been tested like never before. I’m no stranger to the cocktail, in fact I spend quite a lot of time experimenting, some stuff works, other stuff… not so much, but at the end of the day it’s the exploration.

It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Mirabeau, which is why I was extra delighted to discover a cocktail using their signature gin and sparkling rosé La Folie. All you need is a bottle of these Provençal gems a grapefruit and some ice and you’re good to go.

Ingredients (serves 2)

60ml Mirabeau Rosé gin (or equivalent)
60ml freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
120ml sparkling rosé La Folie (or equivalent)
Sugar (optional - for rimming the glass)
Sprig of lavender or rosemary (optional garnish)
Ice cubes

Method:

1. In a shaker, shake together gin, grapefruit juice and a handful of ice cubes.

2. Rim the cocktail glasses with sugar (optional). Pour the grapefruit mixture through a sieve directly in the glasses.

3. Top up the glasses with La Folie.

4. Serve right away with a a sprig of lavender or rosemary!