No doubt you are all recovering from those
fantastic Christmas parties and New Year celebrations.
Here at in-the-spirit you know we are always
looking for new cocktail ideas or reasons to
celebrate with cocktails. January is no exception
as we bring to you our ideas for celebrating
Burns Night which is widely celebrated in Scotland
every year on the 25th January.
So what is Burns Night all about then? Burns
Night has been an important part of Scottish
culture
for around 200 years. They were first started
by close friends of Robert Burns – the well
known Scottish poet - a few years after his death
in 1796 as a tribute to his memory. He was born
on 25th January in 1759 – which is why
Burns Night is traditionally celebrated all over
Scotland
- and by Scots all over the world - on the anniversary
of his birth.
Burns’ most famous “poem” is
well known all over the world – Auld Lang
Syne – often sung at the end of the evening
at New Years Eve celebrations it is also used to
round off a Burns Supper that is traditionally
served on this special night. A traditional Burns’ supper
usually consists of Cock-a-leekie soup (leek soup),
Haggis served with “neeps and tatties” (translated
from the Scottish as Haggis with potatoes and turnips!)
followed by “tipsy laird” (otherwise
known as sherry trifle). Of course, the Scots
are well known for their party spirit and enjoyment
of whisky which is often the traditional accompaniment
to the supper. In some instances, it is recommended
to pour whisky over the haggis to bring out all
the flavours.
Here at in-the-spirit, we appreciate the chance
to try all types of drinks and ways and occasions
of serving them, but we can never resist mixing
them to find different cocktails and bringing
you new suggestions of enjoying them! For those
of
you who have not considered whisky as an option
in your cocktail repertoire, why not try out
our recommended ideas for whisky cocktails
developed with our friends from Grants
Family Reserve.
Then
for those of you who might like to organise
a Burns Supper of your own, you will have some
whisky cocktail
ideas that will hopefully suit everyone! |