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Adding warmth to your beverage menu during the cold season has more to do with it than just the addition of something with a high temperature. Warm colours such as reds, oranges and yellows invoke feelings of happiness, optimism and passion. These are the bright colours of warming winter drinks including gluhwein and turmeric spiced milk.
Warming ingredients in cold beverages include spirits, wines and spices like chilli, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. This list of warming ingredients surprisingly also includes flavours of beetroot, carrots, chocolate and savoury umami tastes that include mushrooms, ginger and soy sauce.
Winter drinks popular among South Africans consist of many of these warming colours, spices and ingredients. Take for instance the remedial yellow-coloured, hot Med-Lemon, the malt-flavoured Horlicks drink, the revitalising, lemon- and whisky-fuelled hot toddy, or the relaxing glass of locally made Pinotage.
As Head Mixologist at Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront, Melrick Harrisson comments “The idea of a beverage giving warmth has to do more than whether it is heated or not. Cold drinks containing ginger or even coffee can give us the feeling of being warmed from the inside out.
“What’s more, plenty of these ingredients are locally made and farmed and readily available to those wanting to try something new and delicious,” he adds
As our intake of juices and water decreases in comparison to summer, the focus should be on consuming as much liquid as possible to stay hydrated. “The added value of thinking of the warmth of colours, scents and spices is that enjoying a wintery beverage can become a multi- sensory experience where the senses of sight, smell and taste are all used,” ends Harrison
Whichever way you choose to add warmth to your beverage menu this winter, make sure to remember that variety will go a long way in inspiring you to stay hydrated in the cold.
Here are Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront Head Mixologist, Melrick Harrison’s warming winter drink recipes.
Biscotti Martini
Serves: 1
Ingredients:
50ml Musgrave pink gin
20ml Amaretto liqueur
35ml Espresso
10ml Lucky Byrd Ginger Syrup
5ml Simple Syrup
Mint sprigs
Method:
Add all ingredients to a shaker. Add ice and give it a good shake. Strain into a martini glass and serve garnished with three to four coffee beans and a sprig of mint.
White Sage Gluhwein
Serves: 5
Ingredients:
6-8 mint leaves
5 sprigs of sage
125 local chenin blanc
25 ml of pineapple, vanilla and orange syrup – made by boiling 100 ml pineapple juice, 1 vanilla pod and until syrup consistency
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp allspice
4 cloves
25ml any orange liqueur
Method:
Mix all ingredients besides the pineapple syrup in a pot on the stove. Bring to a boil. Garnish with pineapple syrup. Serve warm.