Excellent Work!
Stretchy pants at the ready: from Tuesday 2 December, restaurants in Tier 2 are allowed to reopen, and so are pubs and bars – provided they provide a 'substantial meal' with their drinks.
ICYMI: the curfew has been extended to 11pm (yay!) but last orders will still be at 10pm (boo). Which means all the best boozing will still need to take place chez vous.
We've been hitting our home bars and dusting off long-forgotten bottles of spirits – Poire Williams, anyone? – but no matter how good our mixing skills we haven't quite been able to recreate the same vibe ourselves.
So thank heavens for these home cocktail kits that are raising the bar, bringing the drinks to our doors.
From how-to videos to paired snacks to playlists, these kits give you just about everything you need to recreate your favourite serves, as well as a little ambiance and je ne sais quois.
The only thing that's missing is the bartender… And we suppose you could train your significant other/child/pet, if you really wanted to.
£97.50
We've got five words for you: salted, chocolate, orange, espresso, martini. Arguably all our favourite things, and this genius kit brings all of them together in a gluggable cocktail. Two cocktails, in fact, as you also get the ingredients to make a Spiced Cranberry Fizz – including a whole bottle of prosecco. And when you get a little tiddled off all those bubbles, there'll even be some golden mince pie meringue kisses and some boozy chocolate truffles to take the edge off. A complete party in a box.
Margarita kit
£64.99
Photo by Johann Trasch on Unsplash
We've spent many hours and sampled many recipes in our quest to achieve the perfect level of zingy lime acidity, and, to be honest, we usually get it wrong. So it's with a sigh of relief that we've found these margarita kits that come with VIVIR Tequila, Cointreau, Maldon sea salt, plus all the gear you could possibly need. The only thing you need is limes, and loads of 'em. And possibly some tacos.
£55
Photo by Sarah Power on Unsplash
Cocktails aren't just for the evening, you know. In fact, we say they're definitely for breakfast – especially when the cocktail involved is an Irish coffee. Go the whole hog and order yourself the bottle of Jameson – which makes 16 cocktails – sit down and buckle up for the ride.
From £99
Mysterious, magical mezcal: this kit equips you to become a bonafide expert (yes, you can show off all your knowledge to your friends when you've done it). You'll get to try two different types of mezcal, plus some mezcal cocktails. Warning: tipsyness guaranteed.
Pineapple and Rosemary Gin Sour Kit
£37.50
A cute cocktail kit for an evening in with the girls. Send some to you gal pals and all indulge together: you'll get a playlist made by a profesh DJ, all the fresh ingredients you need, plus everything you need to make it look like it was whipped up by someone who knows what they're doing. Makes for an excellent gift, if we do say so ourselves…
FURTHER READING: If all this talk of booze has got you in the party mood, here are a few more stay-home party ideas to try...
Main image: Photo by Olena Sergienko on Unsplash
