Cocktails as the sun goes down......

Usually when we go camping it is a bit of a rough and ready affair. We like fairly basic sites, we love campfires and toasting marshmallows, we swim in rivers and we wear some truly appalling, mis-matched outfits. But we are happy!

Occasionally, however, it is rather nice to treat yourself to a bit of luxury on your adventure. A few years ago I bought myself a wonderful camping book, The Campervan Cookbook by Martin Dorey. I bought the book long before we had a campervan because it is filled with wonderful, practical recipes and stuff about camping and being outdoors. In his book, Mr Dorey has a small section on camping cocktails. This was something of an epiphany for me because I had never thought about making a cocktail on a campsite. Our tipple of choice had, until then, always been a bottle of wine or a beer.

Over time I have put together a small, portable cocktail kit. I spent a bit of time searching out recipes, trying them out and narrowing them down to a small number of very nice cocktails that only require a few ingredients. However much you like cocktails you do have to be realistic about what you can take with you on a trip. All of the recipes are 'chuck it all together and give it a good shake' recipes. If you have ice, be very smug and add it if you like. If you don't have access to ice, try to make sure the ingredients are chilled when you make your cocktail - after the first one you will forget all about the absence of ice anyway!

My kit comprises:-

• a selection of spirits decanted into small, clean bottles
• a jam jar 'shaker'
• a small medicine measuring cup
• some homemade laminated recipe cards held together with a cable tie
• a tin to put it all in

When we go away, I make sure I also take a lemon and lime and some mixers. Remember, you don't have to take every ingredient for every recipe. We often decide on a couple before we go and just take the stuff we need for them.


Our favourite cocktail recipes are:-


Tequila Sunrise

 



 

With one of these in your hands you'll feel as if you are on a Mexican beach - even if you are on a campsite in North Yorkshire! Miss out the Tequila and the kids can join in too.

 

Ingredients

 

• 3 parts Tequila
• 6 parts Orange Juice
• 1 part Grenadine (add last, don't stir, let it sink to the bottom)*

* Grenadine is basically a pomegranate flavoured sugar syrup. You can buy it in most decent supermarkets or off-licences but it is full of rubbish such as corn syrup and additives/preservatives. It is so easy (and cheap) to make your own at home that it seems crazy not to if you plan to drink a lot of these cocktails (and why wouldn't you?). Just mix equal quantities of sugar and pure pomegranate juice together in a clean air-tight jar and shake for a few days until the sugar has all dissolved. That's it!

 

 

 



Cosmopolitan

 

This cocktail has been around since the 1980's but it didn't really find fame until it featured in 'Sex and the City'

Ingredients

• 1.5 parts Vodka
• 1 part Cointreau
• 1 part Cranberry juice
• Dash lime juice

Just shake together in your jam jar and enjoy!


Woo Woo

This one is very popular, I haven't found anyone who didn't like it yet!

Ingredients

• 1 part Vodka
• 1 part Peach Schnapps
• 4 parts Cranberry Juice

If you are feeling particularly decadent you can add a slice of peach and claim the drink as one of your five-a-day! Drink five of them and pat yourself on the back for meeting Government guidelines! Again, miss out the vodka for the kids!


Bellini

A few years ago, I was lucky enough to spend a short time in Venice. I loved the city very much and it was there that I had my first ever Bellini, swiftly followed by my second, third and fourth.....! I don't think this recipe is totally authentic because the ones I drank had a layer of peach puree in the bottom. For me, on a campsite, that is a step too far!

Ingredients

• 1 part Peach Schnapps
• 1 part sparkling white wine or Prosecco

Mix together - you can jazz it up with a splash of your homemade Grenadine for a stronger colour if you like.

Sea Breeze

 

 This is a lovely long cocktail that makes a very refreshing drink.

 

Ingredients

 

• 1 part Vodka
• 3 parts Cranberry Juice
• 1 part Grapefruit Juice

If you swap the Grapefruit for Pineapple Juice you will have yourself a Hawaiian Sea Breeze instead.

 

 

Mojito

 

This drink originally hails from Cuba. Apparently it was a favourite of Ernest Hemingway. You will fond more complicated recipes but this one is a little more straightforward for us campers.

Ingredients

• 1 part rum
• 3 parts Soda Water
• Squeeze fresh Lime Juice

Mix, recline, sip & enjoy!

Shirley Temple Mocktail

If you find yourself camping with children, pregnant women or teetotallers it is handy to have a mocktail recipe up your sleeve so they don't feel left out of the party. This one should do the trick without you having to take extra ingredients with you.

Ingredients

• 1-2 parts Grenadine
• Can of 7-Up or Ginger Ale (whichever you prefer) 

Sip and be terribly smug that you won't have a headache in the morning!


The table below is my 'at a glance' cocktail planner for quick packing! Fingers crossed for some sun this Summer!

	Tequila Sunrise	Cosmopolitan	Woo Woo	Bellini	Sea Breeze	Mojito
Tequila	Y
Vodka		Y	Y		Y
Cointreau		Y
Peach Schnapps			Y	Y
Rum						Y
Prosecco/Sparkling White Wine				Y
Grenadine	Y			Y
Soda Water						Y
Orange Juice	Y
Cranberry Juice		Y	Y		Y
Grapefruit Juice					Y