3 Cocktails for the Monsoon Season

Picture this: you’re walking down the street without a care in the world, when all of a sudden, it starts to rain. You don’t have an umbrella, your feet are wet, and all you want to do is curl up under a blanket with a delicious warm drink and a few seasons of a thrilling drama. 

When I picture the monsoon, all I can think about is feeling warm, cozy, and comfortable. This mental image includes a delicious cocktail too! Here’s a list of three warm cocktails that are perfect for the monsoon season. 

Hot Chocolate Spiked with Bailey’s

Hot chocolate is one of those classic drinks that’s guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser, no matter how old everyone is! However, you might just want to take it to the next level and make it more adult-friendly, so here’s how you do that: 

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of milk 
• 175gms of chopped milk or dark chocolate
• 65mls of Bailey’s Irish Cream 

Method: 

• Heat the milk in a saucepan. 
• Stir in the chopped chocolate once the milk starts to simmer. 
• When you add the chocolate, a little at a time, constantly stirring to prevent lumps from forming. 
• Take the milk off the stove once the chocolate melts and add in the Bailey’s. 
• Serve with whipped cream on top or with some cookies on the side!

Quick and Spiked Apple Cider 

Apple cider is one of the healthiest liquids to drink. It contains antioxidants and reduces inflammation in the body, and it’s also one of the tastiest things to drink. However, this list of recipes is all about indulgence and self-care, which is why we’ve included apple cider in it! Here’s how you can spike your apple cider and take it up a few notches. 

Ingredients: 

• 3 liters of apple cider
• One and a half cups of dark rum
• One orange, cut into thin slices
• Two cinnamon sticks
• 3 star anise
• 5-6 whole cloves

Method: 

• Take a large pot and throw in all of your ingredients except for the dark rum. 
• Bring the mixture to a boil. 
• Once it’s reached the boiling stage, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes. 
• Turn the heat off, cover your pot, and set it aside for over 3 hours. 
• Once you’ve let the spices and flavors infuse nicely into the apple juice, add the rum and stir the mixture well. 
• Strain your mixture to remove the spices and sliced orange into a jug or container of your choice. 
• Serve warm or at room temperature! (We’d recommend serving it warm.)

If you’re serving this cocktail at a party, you can garnish it with fresh apple or orange slices. 

Warm, Gingery Toddy

Every rainy season brings the inevitable cold and cough after getting caught in a downpour. You want to drink something gingery and soothing for your sore throat and congested nose, but there are times when ginger tea isn’t enough. Instead, you could try out our version of toddy that comes with freshly squeezed lemon juice and deliciously sweet honey. 

Ingredients: 

• Your favorite dark whiskey
• Freshly brewed ginger tea (you can use black tea brewed with ginger slices if you don’t want a strong ginger flavor)
• Two teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
• Three teaspoons of honey (you can use agave or maple syrup if you don’t have honey) 
• Garnishes of your choice 

Method: 

• Making this cocktail is almost suspiciously easy. All you need to do is combine all your ingredients in a glass or saucepan, depending on the volume of liquids you’ve measured out. 
• Ensure that the tea is hot for the honey to dissolve. 
• Stir the ingredients together, adjusting for taste every so often. You can add more honey or maple syrup if you have a sweet tooth, or you can increase the lemon juice if you want a cocktail that’s a bit brighter and more citrus-heavy. 
• If you’re drinking this cocktail at home, you could skip the garnishes, but if you’re serving it at a party, you could garnish each glass with a cinnamon stick or a slice of fresh lemon. 

Conclusion

There’s nothing like a delicious spiked cocktail that takes a monsoon evening from bleary and sad to happy and comforted! In this article, I took you through three cocktail recipes that contain ingredients that you can easily find at your local supermarket and liquor store. When you pour one out, we hope you think of us!