In our humble opinion, we might just have nailed the perfect cooler for a chilled-out Aussie Christmas. Its flavour base is warm and toasty with all the traditional festive gluhwein twists – the mulled apple juice and those glorious spices will make your kitchen smell like a giant gingerbread house. But then – genius, for a summer Christmas – it’s chilled and strained and poured over ice for serving. With as much or as little rum as seems a good idea!
Ingredients:
1 litre best-quality apple juice
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
4 cloves
3 cinnamon sticks, plus extra to garnish if you like
1 large lemon or 2 small
Ground cinnamon
Ice cubes
Dark rum
Pink lady apple, sliced
Method:
Put the apple juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod into the apple juice, and chuck in the pod too. Add the cloves and 3 cinnamon sticks. Simmer gently for 15 minutes to infuse with flavour.
Remove from the heat and leave for 30 minutes until cool. Pop in the fridge for 1 hour, or until it’s completely cold.
Strain through a sieve into a jug or bowl, discarding the vanilla pod, cinnamon and cloves. Mix in some fresh lemon juice, to taste.
To jazz up your glasses with a cinnamon rim, like we’ve done, dip the top of the glass in a little water or lemon juice and then in some ground cinnamon on a plate. Fill the glasses with ice and add rum (however strong you like your drinks!). Top up with the spiced apple juice.
Garnish with a cinnamon stick and a half-moon slice of fresh apple. Et voila! You have yourself a festive, cooling cocktail.
Check out the rest of our festive menu here.