Cocktail Kits for Christmas!
We were assembling hot cocoa kits as gifts for some friends—you know, a bag of marshmallows, some homemade hot cocoa mix, and a silly mug with a few candy canes. While the dog ran off with yet another marshmallow, we wondered if we could gift some cocktail mix kits instead…
Still looking for some perfect holiday gifts for friends and family? Consider giving a gift everyone will love: cocktail kits! Make it easy for your friends to have a drink on you by putting everything in one basket, ready to go when they want to unwind after the holiday rush.
Get a small basket and decorate it. In one trip to the store (or a quick curbside pickup), you can grab a few handy 375mL bottles of Northern Oasis Spirits, some lemons and limes, and a few mixers. Maybe add an accessory or two, especially if you know they might not have one. Not everybody has a jigger to measure their shots, but you can solve that easily!
We would also recommend printing out an easy recipe for the cocktail, or for that personal touch, hand-writing a recipe card. What’s an easy enough cocktail recipe for a gift basket, you may ask? Well we might just recommend…
Shorewood Old-Fashioned gift basket
The recipe below builds an old-school Old Fashioned (a sugar cube, orange slice, and cherry muddled in the bottom of the glass). If you want the easiest gift basket possible, we recommend a bottle of Shorewood Whiskey, a bottle of Shifty’s Old Fashioned Mix, a bottle of Sprite, and if you’re feeling the holiday cheer, a couple of cool glasses.
If you want to go that old-school route, your basket would have a bottle of Shorewood Whiskey, a bottle of Angostura Bitters, a bottle of Sprite, a few sugar cubes, an orange, and a jar of maraschino cherries, along with the recipe:
Shorewood Old Fashioned
2 oz. Shorewood Whiskey
1/2 oz. Simple Syrup or 1 sugar cube
2 Dashes of Angostura Bitters
Orange Slice
Cherry
Muddle fruit, bitters, and sugar/syrup in the bottom of a tub glass. Add whiskey and ice.
Top with Sweet, sour, or press.
You can throw in a muddler and those glasses if you want to round out the basket! For more of a dessert or after dinner basket, how about a…
Wisco Coffee gift basket
If the person you’re assembling a gift basket for is a coffee fan, a Wisco Coffee should really hit the spot! The basket for this one can include a bottle of Lone Duck Cinnamon Whiskey, a small bottle of Amaretto, a small bottle of Baileys Irish Cream, a bottle of cold brew Stok cold brew black coffee, a little bag of chocolate chips, and a can of whipped cream. A silly mug is optional, but always appreciated!
Wisco Coffee
2 oz. Lone Duck Cinnamon Whiskey
½ oz. Amaretto
1½ oz. Baileys Irish Cream
Black Coffee
Top with whipped cream
Garnish with mini chocolate chips
Cranberry Mule & Riverbank Hot Toddy gift baskets
If you know someone on your gift list who likes simpler drinks—especially if they’re a mule person—they might really dig a Cranberry Mule cocktail kit. All it takes is a bottle of Lakeview Vodka, a bottle of cranberry juice, a bottle of ginger beer, and a lime. If you want to go all out, copper mugs can be engraved for special occasions. We’re just saying.
Don’t forget to include the recipe:
Cranberry Mule
3 oz. Lakeview Vodka
1½ oz. Cranberry juice
Ginger beer
Twist of lime
Another simple basket would be a bottle of Riverbank Spiced Rum, a jar of local honey, a lemon and a couple cinnamon sticks. Once again, fun mugs would round out this basket along with a printed recipe for…
Riverbank Hot Toddy
1 ½ oz. Riverbank Spiced Rum
1 Tbsp Honey
½ oz. Lemon Juice
1 cup hot water
Lemon wedge & cinnamon stick for garnish
Finally, keep in mind your cocktail gift basket doesn’t need to be a specific drink kit. If you’re buying for someone who enjoys cocktails and experimenting a little, why not get them some of the basics? Put together a basket with some basic bartending tools, a few mixers, and some Northern Oasis Spirits to start with. Print out a few delicious recipes to include in the basket.
We know giving gifts is better than receiving, and your friend will probably need someone to test their new mixing skills on. If you happen to be the first to volunteer, well that’s just you being a good friend, isn’t it?
Have a great holiday season, everyone!