Classic Cocktail Recipes reimagined with Botanical Spirits

These refreshing takes will have you swapping our various ingredients to reimagine the classics. You’ll have a lot of fun doing this, you’ll get to try lots of new cocktails and try our quality range of spirits and liqueurs as well! What's not to love. 

What you'll need: 

• Cocktail shaker 
• Various glasses - martini, collins, tumbler and wine glass 
• Ice 
• Various garnishes - lemon, lime, orange, cherries 
• Highland Boundary spirits or liqueur

History of the cocktail 

We’ve been taking all things cocktail on our blog recently - as well as sharing all of our favourite cocktails on our social channels. We love nothing more than creating unique concoctions with flavours and botanicals that send your tastebuds wild. 

We’ve recently been diving into the history of various drinking traditions like shot taking. As well as taking a deep dive into the long and exciting history of the cocktail, its conception, and epistemology.  

"In the early days of alcohol consumption, a cocktail was originally created as a blend of alcohol, sugar, water, and bitters - before that using ginger or pepper. However over the years, cocktails have grown into the classics we know and love including; Mojitos, Margaritas, Manhattans, Spritz, and Old Fashioned to name a few. Step into any bar in the UK and most likely they will have their own creations, there’s no end to the cocktails you can now consume."

Classic Margarita

Classic, tangy sweetness with a complex origin, the Margarita is one of the most well-known cocktails globally. Opt for a high-quality Blanco tequila to ensure this cocktail tastes just right. Try to always use fresh lime juice in the margarita rather than a mix, and you can opt to use the orange liqueur if you want. 

Mix into a cocktail shaker: 

• 50ml Blanco tequila
• 20ml ounce orange liqueur (triple sec, cointreau) 
• 25ml lime juice, freshly squeezed
• Dash of agave syrup
• Garnish: lime wheel
• Garnish: kosher salt (optional)

For the perfect salted glass, pour your salt on a clean surface or on a plate. Cover the rip of your margarita glass with lime juice and then dip it into the salt. After straining, pour the mix into the glass and enjoy with a lime garnish. 

Highland Margarita 

Fresh, tasty and zesty - everything you want in a margarita. 

Use a cocktail shaker to mix: 

• 50ml Birch and Elderflower Wild Scottish Spirit
• 25ml Cointreau
• 50ml lime juice
• Ice

Shake well and strain. Salt the rim of the martini glass and pour the mix in, sit back and enjoy. 

Wild Margarita 

Mix in a cocktail shaker: 

• 50ml Larch and Honeysuckle Wild Scottish Spirit
• 25ml Cointreau
• 50ml lime juice
• Ice

Strain and pour into a margarita glass with its rim salted. Full wild margarita recipe here. 

Classic Negroni 

The classic Negroni is said to have been invented in Florence, in the early 20th century by Count Camillo Negroni. A refreshing and bitter cocktail which was a variation of Bond’s Americano, with the soda water replaced with gin and the lemon replaced with orange peel. 

The Negroni is a classic one-to-one-to-one cocktail, equal parts Gin, Campari and Vermouth. This has led to its popularity among mixologists as it is the perfect base for experimentation. You can switch out the gin with rum, mezcal or bourbon which creates a wholly different, but each in their own right, very exciting cocktail. 

Equal parts:

• Gin 
• Campari 
• Sweet Vermouth 

Garnish: Orange peel 

Glass: Short tumbler

Magical Negroni 

Another Highland boundary take on the classic Negroni. 

In a cocktail shaker mix: 

• 25ml Birch and Sloe Wild Scottish Liqueur
• 25ml Birch and Elderflower Spirit
• 25ml sweet vermouth
• Ice

Garnish with: Slice of orange

Classic Martini 

Shaken or stirred, baby? Originally this cocktail was sweet, however, as bartenders began to play with dry spirits it became what we know and love it today. For a classic dry martini ensure you use a dry London gin and dry vermouth. Regardless of what our Jame's Bond demanded, the classic Martini is meant to be stirred, and not shaken. 

In your cocktail mixer add: 

• 60ml gin 
• 20ml dry vermouth 
• Dash of orange bitters 

Stir well and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with an olive or a lemon peel. Sit back, relax and enjoy 007! 

Forest Dry Martini 

Our forest dry martini is the perfect companion on a warm summers day. Switch out the gin for our Birch & elderflower wild Scottish Spirit. 

In your cocktail shaker add:

• 50ml Birch and Elderflower Wild Scottish Spirit
• 25 ml dry vermouth
• Ice

For our version, you will need to shake well, strain and then garnish with thyme or an olive. 

Tom Collins

Dating back to bars in London in the 19th century, this gin classic serves up all the sweet refreshment you need in a cocktail. Set out your best Collins glass and fill it with ice. You can add various twists to the Tom Collins, for example, Elderflower, Brandy or Raspberry Collins.

Add: 

• 50ml gin 
• 25ml lemon juice - fresh
• 25ml sugar syrup 
• 125ml soda water - chilled 

Garnish: Slice of lemon (cherry optional) 

Lang Tam Collins 

You can still stay cool and refreshed with a Lang Tam Collins - our take on the classic spirit using our botanical spirit. Start much the same at the classic with a topped up Collins glass filled with ice.

Pour over:

• 50ml Birch and Elderflower Wild Scottish Spirit
• 25ml Lemon juice
• 25mls Elderflower syrup
• Ice
• Soda Water

Garnish: Lemon or lime 
 
A fresh and lang alternative to the classic Tom Collins, full recipe on our how to serve section.

The Cosmo 

Also known as a cosmopolitan. The classiest of cocktails to sip and came to fame in the 1990s during the peak of ‘Sex and the City’.  Served in a Martini glass. Use Vodka as the spirit, with many bartenders historically opting for a citrus-based vodka.  Mix with Cointreau or triple sec, cranberry juice, lime juice and ice. There are several variations of this cocktail, however, this is it in its most classic form. 

Highland Cosmo 

Our take on the classic Cosmo adds a highland twist. 

Use a cocktail shaker to mix: 

• 50mls Larch and Honeysuckle Spirit
• 50mls Cranberry Juice
• 25mls Cointreau or orange liqueur
• 25mls Lemon Juice
• 25mls Elderflower Syrup
• Ice

Shake well, strain into a martini glass. Garnish with orange zest, after removing the oils with a flame. Find the full recipe for this cocktail on our how to serve botanical spirits section. 

The Spritz (Aperol Spritz, Campari Spritz) 

The Spritz comes in all shapes and sizes. It generally takes the form of liqueur-based alcohol mixed with prosecco, champagne or sparkling wine and topped up with soda. Generally, a spritz is made with a bitter liqueur for example; Aperol or Campari. 

Spritz’ are served in wine glasses and garnished with oranges. The Aperol Spritz is one of the most well-known of the family, the Italian aperitivo is a refreshing and thirst-quenching cocktail designed to be enjoyed before dinner after a long hard day's work. You’ll find no cocktail that screams summer more than the spritz. 

• 150 ml prosecco / sparkling wine 
• 100 ml Aperol 
• 50 ml soda
• Orange garnish 

Elderflower Spritz 

Pour into a champagne flute:

• 150ml champagne or sparkling wine
• 100ml soda water
• 50ml Birch and Elderflower Liqueur
• Ice

Garnish: Slice of lemon 

Stir lightly and sip this beautiful sparkling drink. Full recipe here. 

Sloe Spritz 

• 150ml champagne or sparkling wine
• 100ml soda water
• 50ml Birch and Sloe Liqueur
• Ice

Garnish: Slice of lemon

Stir lightly and sip this sparkling variation of the classic spritz.