Argentinian festive cocktails

Are you thinking of whipping up a Christmas cocktail this year? The festive season is the perfect time to get a bit frivolous with a delicious mixture of aromas and flavours, simple and elegant, with a beautiful decoration – just like the perfect gift-wrapped present… and a little kick to set you up for the fun, laughter and friendship to follow. I’ve been inspired by a fantastic cocktail-making session I went to last December at Gaucho in Dubai. It’s a restaurant oozing with over the top glamour – all black, white and mirrors. The food and atmosphere are always superb, and the wine list really unique…consisting of predominantly Argentinian wines (more about that in another post). But first the cocktails. These are super easy to make and all amazingly sippable. Thanks to the wonderful bartender Amol who made these gorgeous cocktails watched us get sillier and sillier as the class progressed.

Maldemores -Tato Giovannoni

You’ll need 25ml of pear and Torrontés syrup.

To make this take one sliced pear and combine with half a litre of Torrontés wine and 300 g sugar, boiled together make a syrup. Let the wedges of pear infuse in the syrup.

Pour 50 ml of Malamado (this is a fortified Malbec but you could also use port) into a champagne glass

Top up with 50 ml of Champagne
Use the pear from the syrup as a garnish.

Christmas daiquiri (by Amol)

37.5 ml Sailor Jerry spiced rum
25 ml fresh lime juice
37.5 ml mulled wine syrup (see below)
Shake and double strain in martini glass.

Garnish with a strip of orange zest

Mulled wine syrup

• 500 ml of Malbec
• 10 g of cloves
• 10 g of star anise
• 4 cm of cinnamon stick
• one whole orange peel

Make a bouquet garni (tie in muslin cloth) with the spices and drop into the wine. Add  300 g of sugar. Bring to the boil, cover and reduce the syrup to around 300ml on a very slow flame.

Remove the bouquet garni from the syrup when desired flavour is extracted from spices.

Gaucho Espresso martini

• 37.5ml vanilla vodka
• 25ml Khalua
• Shot of espresso

Shake and double strain into a martini glass.

Mixologist’s tip:

Add 12.5ml  Frangelico for more flavour and shake very hard and fast in order to get a very good froth and less dilution.

All these cocktails are simple to make and fantastic for feeling frivolously festive. Try them at home or, if you get the chance, go in and sip one at Gaucho. If you are celebrating, have a wonderful Christmas. Do you have a favourite Christmas cocktail?

Disclosure: I was a guest of Gaucho Dubai for the Christmas cocktail making class but not obliged to write about it or say nice things.