10 Simple Cocktails to Make With the Most Popular Lockdown Tipples

Bored Brits in lockdown have been pining for their favourite alcohol brands more than ever before, a new report by the personal finance experts at money.co.uk has revealed.

The new Brand-a-Lust Report takes 375 of the UK’s top brands from YouGov’s Consumer Popularity Ratings* and applies Google Trends** and Google Search Volume*** data, to reveal the UK most lusted-after brands during lockdown.

This includes the top 10 tipples that have been getting us through the lockdown blues.

The 45 alcohol brands within the report saw an average increase of 102% and a whopping 591,030 searches per month. Bristol made the most searches, followed by Belfast and London.

The top brand was Pimm’s with 1,700% more searches as the summer sunshine reached UK shores, with Bristol topping the list for this particular tipple. 

Here’s how the top 10 alcohol brands stacked up: 

 

• Pimm’s +1,700% lockdown search increase 

 

1. WKD +422%
2. Bollinger +355%
3. Blossom Hill +245%
4. Johnnie Walker +182%
5. Echo Falls +167%
6. Lambrini +159%
7. Cointreau +136%
8. Yellow Tail +133%
9. Grey Goose +132%

So, the team at money.co.uk has put together a list of deliciously refreshing cocktails you can make with the UK’s top searching lockdown tipples.

1. Pimm’s Spritz

This cocktail is inspired by and combines elements of both the classic Spritz and the classic Pimm’s cup. The result is a lightly sparkling and very refreshing aperitif cocktail.

Ingredients:

• 50ml Pimm’s No. 1
• 75ml lemonade
• 25ml sparkling wine
• Sliced cucumber
• 1 spring mint

Method:

Fill a large wine glass with ice cubes. Pour in Pimm’s No. 1. Pour in lemonade and stir. Top with sparkling wine. For garnish, add a few slices of cucumber and sprig of mint.

2. WKD: Cheeky Vimto

This simple cocktail tastes just like ‘Vimto’ soft drink we know and love, mixing port and fizzy blue WKD to give this blackcurrant and berry flavoured drink its purple colour.

Ingredients: 

• 60ml Ruby Port
• 1 Bottle WKD Original blue

Method: 

This cocktail couldn’t get any simpler, just pour the port into a glass and top with the WKD, as easy as that!

3.Bollinger: French 75

Gin and Champagne make a bubbly wonderful duo, which is why this simple but classic cocktail is always a good idea.

Ingredients: 

• 2 oz Champagne
• 1/2 oz Lemon juice
• 1 oz Gin
• 2 dashes sugar syrup (this is just sugar mixed with warm water in equal measures)

Method: 

Combine gin, lemon juice, and your sugar syrup into a cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker with ice, cover, and shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker is very cold, about 20 seconds.

Strain cocktail through a strainer or a slotted spoon into a large champagne flute. Top with Champagne; and garnish with a lemon twist for decoration.

4. Blossom Hill: White Wine Spritzer

The White Wine Spritzer is a classic drink and one of the easiest cocktails you can make. It requires just two ingredients and is a fantastic way to dress up and add sparkle to any still white wine.

Ingredients: 

• 3/4 glass super-chilled white wine (very, very cold)
• 1/4 glass super-chilled soda (again very cold)
• Slice of lime (optional)

Method:

Fill a wine glass halfway with the super-chilled wine – the glass should frost – that’s when you know your wine is cool enough.

Then splash in the soda until the glass is around three-quarters full. You can also use ginger ale or lemon and lime soda as alternatives.

For decoration you can take a slice of lime and put it on the rim of the glass.

5.Johnnie Walker: Whisky Sour

Dust off that cocktail shaker and mix yourself a classic whiskey sour. You can make it without egg white, but it won’t be as silky.

Ingredients: 

• 50ml Johnnie Walker
• 35ml lemon juice
• ½ part sugar syrup
• ½ fresh egg white
• Ice

For the garnish: optional 

• slice of orange

Method: 

Put ice and all of the ingredients into a shaker and shake hard for about 20 seconds to chill the liquid. Strain the mix into a glass filled with ice and to garnish the cocktail you can the orange slice.

6. Echo Falls: Rosé Frosé (Frozen Rosé Winé)

Make the coolest drink of the summer: frosé (frozen rosé). This cocktail will make for a very grown-up slushie and is best enjoyed sitting in the garden.

Ingredients:

• 25ml Echo Falls Summer Berries Vodka
• 100ml Echo Falls White Zinfandel
• 250 ml frozen mixed berries
• 1 Rosemary sprig (optional)

Method:

In a blender, whizz up the Echo Falls Summer Berries Vodka, Echo Falls White Zinfandel and berries until slushy. Then pour into a glass and garnish with the rosemary sprig.

7.Lambrini: Strawberry Sparkle

Strawberry lovers rejoice, this cocktail is for you! This cocktail is light and fruity and the strawberry puree gives this drink an extra sweet kick.

Ingredients:

• 2tbsp Strawberry puree
• Lambrini
• Sliced strawberries for garnish (optional)

Method: 

Simply take a champagne or wine glass and add your lambrini and add 2tbsp of strawberry puree which adds a delightful strawberry sweetness to the cocktail. You can then add some sliced strawberries for garnish.

8. Cointreau: Classic Margarita

Stir up this classic tequila cocktail using the orange flavoured triple sec Cointreau liqueur and lime juice. Don’t forget to serve in a salt-rimmed martini glass for the ultimate Margarita experience.

Here’s what you’ll need for your original Margarita:

• 30 ml Cointreau
• 50 ml tequila blanco
• 20 ml fresh lime juice
• Salt
• and lime!

Method: 

Put a little salt on a saucer, then wipe the rim of your glass with lime juice. Turn the glass upside down in the salt and twist to coat. This gives you the classic I’m on holiday drinking margarita’s experience!

Then stir the ingredients and a little ice together or put them in a cocktail shaker to combine. Strain into a chilled martini glass (or any glass you have available) and serve with a slice of lime.

9. Yellow Tail: Sangria

Embrace lockdown days with a jug of sangria. With red wine, Spanish brandy, sparkling water, cinnamon and chopped fruit. This one makes for a perfect sharing cocktail.

Ingredients: 

• 2 oranges, chopped
• 2 pears, chopped
• 2 lemons, 1 chopped, 1 juiced
• 200g red berries, chopped (we used strawberries and cherries)
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Ice
• 750ml bottle light red wine
• 100ml Spanish brandy
• 300ml sparkling water

Method:

Put the chopped fruit in a bowl and sprinkle over the sugar and cinnamon, then stir to coat. Cover and leave to soften and breakdown the sugar in the fridge for at least 1 hr, or ideally overnight.

Fill a large jug with ice. Stir the fruit mixture to ensure the sugar is dissolved, then tip into the jug with the wine and brandy. Stir, then top up with the sparkling water and serve.

10. Grey Goose: Espresso Martini

This classic coffee cocktail is a good one to know and this easy recipe uses freshly brewed espresso, a dash of coffee liqueur and a simple sugar syrup.

Ingredients: 

• Ice
• 100ml vodka
• 50ml freshly brewed espresso coffee
• 50ml coffee liqueur (like Kahlua)
• 25ml Sugar syrup

Method: 

The first step is to make the sugar syrup. To do this put the caster sugar in a small pan over a medium heat and pour in 50ml water. Stir, and bring to the boil. Then turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool. Put 2 martini glasses (or any glasses you have available) in the fridge to chill.

The next step, once the sugar syrup is cold, is to pour 1 tbsp into a cocktail shaker along with a handful of ice, the vodka, espresso and coffee liqueur. Shake until the outside of the cocktail shaker feels icy cold.

Then strain into the chilled glasses and garnish each one with coffee beans if you like.

All credit to money.co.uk: https://www.money.co.uk/guides/top-lockdown-brands-uk