BRAND NEW - TGI Fridays Cocktails*

I absolutely love cocktails and as the festive season starts to near, I love the thought of going out on a cold crisp evening after work and having a cocktail or two in a warm bar or restaurant. After all, it’s all about having that Friday feeling. Now you can have that Friday feeling all day with the new range of TGI Fridays’ brand new bottled cocktails.

The bottles come in 500ml sizes and contain 10% alcohol content. 

I was lucky enough to receive all three and had great pleasure in testing them all out for you. First up was the Long Island Iced Tea, this was blended wit fruit alcohol and vodka and had a nice tangy lemon flavour to it, like most previous Iced teas I have had in the past. I am not usually a fan of iced tea but this cocktail was sweet and had a really nice flavour.

The next cocktail I received was probably my favourite, the Pink Punk Mojito. I loved the vibrant colour of the cocktail too, perfect for a girls night in. The cocktail contains pineapple juice, cranberry juice, lime juice blended with fruit alcohol and vodka.It has a slight minty flavour which makes this the perfect festive drink, you could even serve it with a candy cane.

Finally, I received the Passion Fruit Martini, which was also equally delicious. Serve with a side of prosecco for that extra special feel. Bring TGI's into your own home and feel like an amazing host this Christmas. Your guests will be spoiled for choice.

With these cocktails it always feels like Friday. Find TGIF Cocktails at the following social links: @TGIFCocktailsUK and @TGIF Cocktails UK

*I received these items free of charge in exchange for an honest review. 

Blogger Cocktail Masterclass - Warwick Street Social

A couple of weeks ago now I attended a blogger cocktail masterclass at Warwick Street Social in Norwich. Having never been to Warwick Street Social I was curious as to what it would be like, but looked forward to it all the same. The Norwich Bloggers who planned this event offered some spaces on a ticketed basis, I decided to buy a ticket and go along to have a fun night of socialising with likeminded people. 

I arrived at 7pm and met up with other bloggers Courteney, Kate, Amy, Amy, Lindsay, Sammi, Laura, Laura, and Shelley. The aim of the evening was to choose a cocktail that we could have at the Christmas Meal so we got to have a go at making 6 different drinks with the help of Scott. The first drink was a classic Mojito which was probably the simplest cocktail we made. This was ruled out early on as it just didn’t have that festive feel to it, although it did taste lovely. We then made a ‘bramble’ which is something I have never heard of before but it was lovely. The main part of this drink was gin, added with freshly squeezed lemon juice, sugar syrup and a fruit cordial, this was really nice. Me and Kate had a go at making this one and we both thought it was lovely, but again this did not have a Christmas feel to it.

Thirdly we made Pina Coladas, I love a creamy Pina Colada but this didn’t go down too well with the rest of the group. I think Pina Coladas are best served on the beach in a hot country, perhaps not alongside your turkey dinner. We then made a Smashing Pumpkin Fizz. This had pumpkin pureé and Prosecco in so I couldn’t wait to try this. This would have been the perfect Halloween/autumn drink I think, it tasted great but just didn’t have that festive feel to it.

The final 2 cocktails were the most festive of the lot. Firstly the spiced gingerbread one, complete with gingerbread man. This just tasted of Christmas, it was delicious and perfectly spiced. The final cocktail was called Candy Cane, this had peppermint syrup, cranberry juice and strawberry vodka. It was so refreshing and will be served with a crushed candy cane sugar rimmed glass!

If you’d like to keep up to date with future Norwich Blogging events, follow the twitter page and keep an eye out for future events.

The Perfect Festive Cocktails With Echo Falls Fruit Fusion*

I love cocktails especially around Christmas and New Year when I feel that I can really let my hair down. I have never thought about using wine in cocktails before so when Echo Falls contacted me about trying some of their cocktail recipes featuring the Fruit Fusion range I couldn’t wait to try them out. These recipes were provided to me from Echo Fall’s and I am going to show you how to create them yourself. They are super easy and absolutely delicious. I even converted someone who doesn’t like wine into drinking them and they said they were really tasty.

Echo Falls is currently the third largest wine brand in the UK and my personal favourite. The Echo Falls Fruit Fusion range was introduced a year ago and consists of Cocoa & Orange, Orange & Cranberry, Winter Spice, Strawberry & Lime and Passion Fruit & Peach. I received the Strawberry & Lime and the Passion Fruit & Peach bottles which are both absolutely delicious. I am not a drinker of strong wines and these flavours are so nice and not strong at all. They slide down almost too easily.. The Strawberry & Lime Echo Falls Fruit Fusion is available at Tesco for £5.99. The taste is sweet and you can pick up the strawberry flavours but it also has a nice citrus kick from the lime – it’s the perfect combination. The Passion Fruit & Peach Echo Falls Fruit Fusion is also available from Tesco for £5.99. This was my favourite and the combination of the passion fruit and the peach is absolutely delicious. When these wines are combined with other ingredients to make the below cocktails, it’s a taste sensation. Read on for the recipes..

Partridge in a Passion Fruit Tree 
Ingredients:
50ml Passion Fruit & Peach Echo Falls Fruit Fusion
15ml pineapple juice
15ml lemon juice
15ml vanilla syrup
Garnish with half passion fruit

Method:
Pour 50ml Passion Fruit & Peach Echo Falls Fruit Fusion into a shaker, add 15ml pineapple juice, 15ml lemon juice, 15ml vanilla syrup and shake well. Strain and serve in a martini glass. Garnish with half a fresh passion fruit.

These recipes are just a guide. I chose to serve mine in a wine glass instead of a martini glass so feel free to adapt them to suit what you have at home.

Mistletoe Mojito
Ingredients:
70ml Strawberry & Lime Echo Falls Fruit Fusion
10 mint leaves
5ml lime
5ml sugar
Crushed Ice
Garnish with a sprig of mint and some black pepper

Method:
Pour 70ml Strawberry & Lime Echo Falls Fruit Fusion into a julep tin or hi-ball glass, add 5ml lime juice and 5ml sugar syrup. Stir and top with crushed ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint and a sprinkle of black pepper.

These drinks are perfect for the festive season and over the New Year. I definitely recommend trying these Echo Falls Fruit Fusion wines out. They are available in most leading supermarkets so pop them on your shopping list – you won’t regret it!

*I was provided with these Echo Falls Wine’s free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.