Christmas Tipples: Some Life Hacks

Christmas is just over a week away (arrghh!) and there’s food shopping to do, presents to wrap and last-minute gifts to buy. But let’s not gloss over the most important part: your favourite festive tipples.

In this week’s My Appliances blog, we’re looking at some of the best-loved festive drinks and some accompanying life hacks – because we could all do with a nudge in the right direction when it comes to the things that make our lives that bit easier, eh? Read on and be prepared to be amazed!

Champagne

Do you crack open the Champagne at the mere mention of Christmas? Perhaps you wait until the Queen’s speech to enjoy a clink or two with family? Either way,  you’ll be glad you stumbled upon our blog today.

 

If you have a bottle or two chilling in your fridge, did you know you can use it for more than just drinking? Over on the Cosmopolitan site, we gleaned a few tips and tricks you can put into action over Christmas and beyond. The first is this: make a Champagne sorbet float. All you need to do is pour the wine over a scoop of fruity sorbet for extra fizz and an adult version of a root beer float – how’s about that for added festive sparkle, eh?

And here’s another tip to add oomph to your Champagne: place a handful of pomegranate arils in your flute. It’s a favourite of Nigella Lawson, who calls them jewels. She reckons they look like tiny rubies floating in your glass – and she’d be right! They taste great too.

Wine

If Champagne’s a little out of your budget this Christmas, you’ll probably have a few bottles of wine in instead – and here’s how you can make the most of the festive table drink! Click the link, as The Daily Mail has more than a few suggestions you’ll love, from removing the cork with a piece of ribbon, to transforming the wine itself into ice cubes.

Brandy

 

Oooh, there’s always one who starts on the brandy before lunch, isn’t there? But did you know there’s more than one way to drink it? Head over here to find out how else you can enjoy the tipple this Christmas. The article suggests that, in place of brandy, you could try Armagnac. It’s “a grape brandy named for the region of Armagnac in the southwest of France. It is made from a blend of Colombard and Ugni Blanc grapes and distilled once in column stills. Then it is aged for at least two years in French oak, resulting in a more rustic brandy than Cognac. After aging different aged brandies are blended to make a consistent product.” So, if you like your brandies and you like them strong, give this tip a go this Christmas.

And for the Non-drinkers…

Try something unique with coffee this December! It looks like someone’s added a drop of food colouring to their cappuccino to take their favourite Christmas morning drink from nought to 60 on the festive scale. But there are other hacks you’ll enjoy, too. You can make your own latte to rival the high street coffee chains, for example – find out how by clicking the link.

Enjoy this Christmas tipples blog? Don’t forget to keep a close eye on our Facebook page over the festive season for more of the same. You can also find us on Twitter by clicking here.

Until next time…