Toast the season: 5 Festive winter cocktails you must try

Edited by Paulina Björk Kapsalis

Elevate your holiday gatherings with these essential cocktails and embrace the spirit of warmth and hospitality that the festive season brings with it while welcoming your guests and make your celebrations memorable. Let your celebrations be graced by the authentic flavors from Messinia; Navarino Icons and Navarino Vineyards bring the essence of Messinia’s fertile land and ancient gastronomic heritage to your festive cocktails, infusing them with the rich flavors and stories of Greece. From the elegant Olive Oil Martini to the comforting Mulled Wine, each recipe showcases the unique ingredients and tastes of Messinia, transforming them into delightful drinks ideal for this time of year.

Olive Oil Martini

Navarino Icons Extra virgin olive oil with its fruity flavor and distinctive aroma combined with the minty pine-like flavor of mastiha liqueur adds earthy notes to this classic. An elegant drink ideal for celebrations, we can’t imagine a more suitable cocktail to mix up on New Year’s Eve.

Ingredients

• 25 ml (0.8 oz) dry gin
• 25 ml (0.8 oz) Skinos mastiha liqueur
• 20 ml (0.7 oz) fresh lime juice
• 15 ml (0.5 oz) simple syrup
• 25 ml (1.7 oz) Navarino Icons extra virgin olive oil
• Garnish: Navarino Icons Olive Spoon Sweet

Steps

Add 25 ml dry gin, 25 ml Skinos mastiha liqueur, 20 ml fresh lime juice, 15 ml simple syrup and 50 ml Navarino Icons extra virgin olive oil into a shaker. Add ice and shake well. Double-strain into a martini glass. Garnish with Navarino Icons Olive Spoon Sweet.

Navarino Mule

A mule with refreshing ginger beer is always a crowd-pleaser, and a worthy choice for any holiday party. This one uses the soft and aromatic tsipouro from Navarino Vineyards, produced from selected grapes and distilled at a low temperature in copper stills.

Ingredients

• 60 ml (2 oz) Tsipouro Navarino Vineyards
• 15 ml (0.5 oz) lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 90 ml (3 oz) ginger beer, chilled
• Garnish: lime wheel

Steps

Fill a highball glass with ice, then add the Tsipouro Navarino Vineyards and lime juice.Top with the ginger beer. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Messinian Fig Martini

Boasting Navarino Icons marmalade made from organic Messinian figs gathered by hand in August and September, apple juice and citrus, this cocktail is like pure distilled Christmas in a glass.

Ingredients

• 25 ml (0.8 oz) vodka citron
• 20 ml (0.7 oz) apple juice
• 10 ml (0.3 oz) fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp Navarino Icons fig marmalade
• Garnish: dry figs

Steps

Put 25 ml vodka citron, 20 ml apple juice, 10 ml fresh lime juice and two teaspoons of Navarino Icons fig marmalade into a shaker. Add ice and shake. Double-strain into a martini glass or old-fashioned glass. Garnish with dry figs.

Tsipouro Old Fashioned

The aged tsipouro from Navarino Vineyards, matured for 1 year in fine oak barrels, is at once complex, balanced, and engaging. Here it shines in a classic cocktail you’ll want to sip slowly – preferably in front of a fireplace.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 dashes Angostura bitters
• 1 tsp water
• 60 ml (2 oz) Aged Tsipouro Navarino Vineyards
• Garnish: orange twist

Steps

Add the sugar and bitters into a mixing glass, then add the water, and stir until the sugar is nearly dissolved. Fill the mixing glass with ice, add the Aged Tsipouro Navarino Vineyards, and stir until well-chilled. Strain into an old-fashioned glass over one large ice cube. Express the oil of an orange twist over the glass, then drop into the glass to garnish.

Mulled Wine

If you only make one drink this holiday season, let it be this mulled wine made with Navarino Vineyards Kotyle Red 2019. This wine features a bouquet of powerful aromas that combine vanilla, ripe fruit, and jam, with an acidity that supports a lingering, spicy aftertaste.

Ingredients

• 1 orange, halved and sliced
• 1 bottle Navarino Vineyards Kotyle Red 2019
• 200 g caster sugar
• 5 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anises
• 3 slices fresh ginger (peeled)
• 150 ml (5 oz) brandy, rum, amaretto or schnapps
• Optional garnishes: citrus slices (orange, lemon and/or lime), extra cinnamon sticks, extra star anise

Steps

Place the orange slices, liqueur, sugar, cloves, cinnamon, star anise and ginger in a large pan. To complete the mixture, gracefully pour in the Navarino Vineyards Kotyle Red 2019 wine, blending all the ingredients seamlessly. Heat gently for 10-15 minutes, being careful not to let the mixture boil. Pour into glasses and serve warm.

Whether you’re ringing in the New Year or simply cozying up by the fireplace, these cocktails are not just drinks, but a celebration of the season’s spirit.

Let’s embark on a flavorful journey through winter’s most festive cocktails and make a toast to the moments that bring us together, and the memories we create.