It’s that time of year once again where start to think about Christmas presents, we you do if you learnt from last year!
At CutTheCap we like to give our readers a helping hand by offering our gift guide to the best drinks to get your loved one this season, all to get you into the ‘festive spirit’….get it?
We’ve been busy locked away sampling some of the best Vodkas for you to purchase and have selected our top 4 Vodkas to compliment your turkey this Christmas.
So in no particular order, here are our selection of the best Vodkas around:
Stoli Salted Karamel
Why not sweeten up the festive season with Stoli Salted Karamel, the world’s first salted caramel vodka. Making a great Christmas gift, Stoli Salted Karamel offers the perfect balance of sweet and savoury. Indulge loved ones’ taste buds with flavours of caramelised sugar and soft English toffee, complimented by a light saltiness and a smooth elegant finish. Taste buds tingling yet?
Best enjoyed on the rocks by a warm fire on Christmas day and perfect in a festive cocktail, this vodka offers something versatile for the festive period.
Stoli Salted Karamel is triple distilled, blended with artesian water and four times filtered for an award winning Alpha grade spirit.
Available from specialist retailers for around £21
Żubrówka Vodka
The Original Bison Grass Vodka, has over 500 years of tradition and history. Żubrówka’s exceptional character is emphasized by a single bison grass blade placed in every bottle. Each blade of bison grass is hand-picked and dried under natural conditions, making each bottle of Żubrówka an exceptional gift this Christmas.
For the perfect Christmas cocktail the brand ambassador, Przemyslaw Matuszewski, suggests the legendary Apple Zu, an extraordinarily smooth and aromatic cocktail, with a festive twist.
Glass
Highball
Ingredients
50ml Żubrówka
100ml traditional pressed cloudy apple juice
Squeeze of lime
Method
Fill a highball with ice, add all the ingredients and stir.
Garnish with a few slices of apple and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon to tickle your festive tastebuds.
Available from now, while stocks last at Tesco, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s for £20
Belvedere Red
Polish Vodka Belvedere has been our drink of choice for a while so imagine our excitement when we found out they had introduced a new 2012 Belvedere RED Special Edition bottle (which comes in red funny enough). The bottle still contains the fantastic Belvedere we all know and love however 50% of Belvedere’s profits from the sale of the bottle go directly to the Global Fund fighting against the spread of HIV/Aids.
Meaning you’re giving back by buying a bottle. What more could you ask for?
We’ve even had the chance to catch up with the guys at Belvedere and they recommended drinking Belvedere in a ‘Belvedere Red Berry Cuban’ on Christmas day.
What ingredients do I need to make one of these? Well its simple, all you need is:
45ml (Belvedere) RED
15ml Fresh Lime Juice
Dash Agave
Handful Fresh Mint
6 Raspberries
Fever Tree Soda
All you need to do is simply muddle the raspberries and mint in the bottom of a highball. Place the rest of the ingredients, top with crushed ice and churn. Re-top with crushed ice and top with Fever Tree Soda.
Get your hands on a bottle of Belvedere Red from The Drink Supermarket priced at £31.99 got 70cl.
Grey Goose
Grey Goose offers a great vodka beverage for the festive period and to make the gift extra special they have released a fantastic gift set for discerning vodka drinkers – the Grey Goose Le Fizz Gift Box.
The Grey Goose Le Fizz Gift Box contains a 70cl bottle of Grey Goose vodka, two beautifully designed crystal Grey Goose Le Fizz flutes with a frosted finish and lone goose detail and the recipe for making a Grey Goose Le Fizz, the ultimate celebratory cocktail.
Grey Goose Le Fizz is an elegant and refreshing combination of Grey Goose vodka, fresh lime juice and elderflower, served in a flute topped with chilled soda. A cocktail guaranteed to add a touch of sparkle this Christmas.
Grey Goose Le Fizz Gift Pack is available to buy from Harvey Nichols for £75.00.
Crystal Head Vodka
Crystal Head Vodka has been on our radar for a while now and we have been trying to get our hands on some Crystal Head to sample so as soon as we do, we will post a review. Crystal Head (owned by Dan’ Elwood Blues’ Aykroyd) is the latest Vodka making waves in the spirits scene. Crystal Head is quadruple distilled, then filtered seven times, of which three are through semi-precious crystals known as Herkimer Diamonds. No additives, oils or sugars are used in the making of Crystal Head Vodka, meaning its actually good for you!
The bottles have been crafted to reflect the archaeological mystery of the 13 crystal heads that have been found in regions around the world, so you can feel like Indiana Jones on Christmas day.
If its cocktails you are after, we recommend the Bare Bones Pomegranate.
All you need is:
1.5 oz Crystal Head Vodka
0.5 oz pomegranate juice
0.5 oz fresh lemon juice
Combine all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake well, then strain into a martini glass. and garnish with Fresh berries, that is it!
Grab yourself a bottle of Crystal Head Vodka from The Whiskey Exchange for £42 for a 70cl bottle.
And to complete these and give your gifting the edge this Christmas we offer to you the pièce de résistance from Smith & Sinclair…
These alcohol Innovators will bring a touch of playful indulgence to the dinner table this Christmas, with its eclectic selection of cocktail confectionery. Infused with real alcohol and made by hand with fresh fruit and real spices, Smith & Sinclair offer delectable cocktail flavours in a range of naturally coloured pastilles. Boxes are available in rum, gin, whisky and now vodka and are perfect for friends, loved ones, family (or even yourself!) this Christmas. It’s a festive treat guaranteed to get you merry!
Available at Harvey Nichols nationwide and SmithandSinclair.co.uk for £9.95
Happy gifting!