The Sous Vide Christmas Drinks Guide | The Tool Shed

If you’re a serious foodie, you’re probably starting to think about all the treats you’ll be making for the Christmas feast as much as you are thinking about the gifts that you’ll be giving to your family and friends.

One of the great things about cooking Sous Vide is the ease with which you can make some delicious drinks that are perfect to give as gifts or to enjoy with friends. The first part of our gifting guide looks at some of the recipes to make some of these fabulous party drinks and winter warmers.

Sous Vide Mulled Wine

When we think of Christmas winter warming drinks, we instantly think of mulled wine and its aromas of cinnamon and cloves.

Mulled wine is equally suited to being a pre meal aperitif as it is an after dinner drink. 

One of the best things about mulled wine is that it is super simple to make – and even easier by Sous Vide methods. So without further ado, here’s our favourite mulled wine recipe.

You’ll Need

• 1L Red wine
• 2 Cinnamon sticks
• 1 tbsp Cloves
• 1 tbsp All Spice
• 1 Orange rind (remove white pith)
• 1 Lemon rind (remove white pith)
• 6 tbsp Brown sugar
• 1 Nutmeg-grated

The Method

1. Pre-heat your Sous Vide to 85°C.
2. Place the sugar in a pan and start to caramelise, add the rest of the ingredients and allow to bubble until the sugar is dissolved together with the wine and spices.
3. Remove from the heat, allow to cool then place in a pouch and vac-seal. If you have an external vacuum sealer vacuum seal using a zip lock bag.
4. Now, put the pouch in the water bath for between 1 and 2 hours.
5. Remove the liquor from the pouch and strain off.
6. Serve straight away or refrigerate until needed.

Sous Vide Sloe Gin

In the last 18 months, Gin has seen a huge rise in popularity with Gin bars opening in some of our larger cities and towns and artisan Gin distilleries creating a number of quality Gins to tempt us.

Sloe Gin is perfect to blow away those winter blues and also great to give as a gift – if you can  bear to give it away that is.

Sloe berries are available in most quality high street supermarkets, so why not give our Sous Vide sloe gin recipe a try?

You’ll Need

• 750ml of good quality London dry gin
• 500g of sloe berries
• 100g of caster sugar

The Method

1. Preheat the water bath to a temperature of 70⁰
2. Mix together the sloes and the sugar and tip into a vacuum bag. Pour over the gin and vacuum the bag.
3. Place the sealed bag in the water bath and leave to cook for 3 hours.
4. Remove the bag from the bath and allow to cool.
5. Strain through a fine sieve and seal inside a clean bottle. Store in the fridge.

Sous Vide Ginger Brandy

Brandy is the perfect after dinner drink so our Ginger Brandy recipe is sure to be a hit with your dinner guests. 

Ginger adds a spicy warmth and a wonderful rich aroma to any quality brandy.

Our recipe for ginger brandy is possibly one of the simplest  

You’ll Need

• 128 g fresh ginger
• 375 ml brandy
• 144 g sugar
• 240 ml water

The Method

1. Fill and preheat your water bath to 135F/57C.
2. Peel and grate the ginger.
3. Put the ginger and brandy in a zip-closure cooking pouch and, using the displacement method (Archimedes Principle) remove the air and zip the seal closed.
4. Cook sous vide for two hours.
5. In a separate pouch or in a saucepan on the stove, combine water and sugar to make simple sugar.
6. Strain the brandy and ginger mixture into a clean stoppered bottle.
7. Add the simple syrup to taste.

Sous Vide Apple & Cardamom Gin

We couldn’t resist including our second Gin recipe.

Infusing Gin with Apple and Cardamom makes a wonderfully refreshing drink that’s best served ice cold.

To get the apple and cardomom gin down to the perfect temperature, we’d recommend storing it in the freezer and removing it around 20 minutes prior to serving it.

You’ll Need

• 250ml Gin (Go for an export strength gin or at least over 40%)
• 1 Pink Lady apple, cored and sliced into rings
• 1 Green cardamom pod

The Method

1. Heat your water bath to 58C.
2. Place all the ingredients in a bag, fold carefully to remove any air and heat seal.
3. Place in the water bath and ensure it is completely submerged. Leave for 2 hours.
4. Strain the gin and decant into a sterilised bottle. This is kept in the freezer and remove about 20 minutes before serving.

Baileys Infused with Pine

There’s no better time to kick back by the fire with a Baileys than at Christmas time. 

The great thing about this recipe is that you can use your favourite malt or blended whisky to make a drink that’s exactly to your liking.

Why not give your Baileys an extra seasonal twist with our Baileys infused with Pine recipe.

You’ll Need

• 350 mls Vodka
• 150 mls Whisky
• 300 mls condensed milk
• 75 g cocoa nibs
• 4 tbsp. chocolate syrup
• 1 split vanilla pod
• 4 tsp almond extract
• 75 mls cold instant coffee
• 100g foraged pine leaves

The Method

1. Place all the ingredients in a large vacuum pouch and seal.
2. Pre-heat water bath to 75 degrees, infuse the flavours together for 6 hours.
3. Pass through a fine sieve.
4. Chill in ice.
5. Best served over ice.

Espresso Vodka

Espresso coffee gives Vodka an extra kick that’ll make it a real hit at parties. Follow our simple recipe to get the party really started.

You’ll Need

• 750 mls Smirnoff Vodka
• 150 g roasted coffee beans
• 100 mls cold brew coffee
• 75 g soft dark sugar

The Method

1. Place all the ingredients in a vacuum pouch, pre-heat the water bath to 90 degrees.
2. Infuse the flavours together for 5 hours.
3. Chill in ice.
4. Serve on ice.

Hibiscus And Blackberry Vodka

Hibiscus and Blackberry give Vodka a fantastic fresh and fruity taste that make it a superb party drink.

You’ll Need

• 750 MLS Smirnoff Vodka
• Zest 1 orange
• 1 star anise
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 clove
• 1 broken cinnamon stick
• 100g castor sugar
• 65 g dried hibiscus flowers
• 100g fresh blackberries
• 1 stem rosemary

The Method

1. Place all the ingredients in a vacuum pouch, preheat water bath to 80 degree and infuse the flavours together for 8 hours.
2. Chill in ice.
3. Pass through a fine sieve or coffee filter.
4. Serve with soda water and a few fresh blackberries

Festive Clementine and Apricot Gin

With cinnamon, clementines and apricots this infused gin has all the fragrances of Christmas behind the cool crisp gin.

You’ll Need

• 750 mls London gin
• 100 g good quality dried apricot
• Peel off 3 clementine’s
• 1 broken cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaf
• 4 cloves
• 2-star anise
• ¼ bunch fresh thyme
• ¼ tsp grated fresh nutmeg
• 1 tsp all spice berries

The Method

1. Place all the ingredients in a large vacuum pouch and seal.
2. Place in a preheated water bath at 85 degrees for 6 hours.
3. Chill over ice.
4. Pass through a fine mesh sieve or coffee filter paper.

Black Forest Gin

Last but not least in our selection of Christmas cocktails is the wonderful Black Forest Gin.

Sweet Morello cherries provide a contrast to the dry and crisp gin.

Whether served at a party or given as a gift, black forest gin will be very well received. 

You’ll Need

• 750 mls London Gin
• 200 g fresh Morello Cherries
• 75 g cocoa nibs
• 200 mls 50/50 sugar syrup
• 100 g dried cherries

The Method

1. Place all the ingredients in a large vacuum pouch.
2. Place in a pre-heated water bath at 70 degrees for 6 hours.
3. Chill over ice.
4. Serve.