You might be used to having a crate of beers or a standard cheapest-vodka-you-can-get and coke as your pre-drinks, or if you’re a fresher you will be soon, however pre-drinks for a night out don’t have to be this way.

Make your house/flat the number one destination for pre-drinks by serving up these easy recipes and show others how to transform their own.

Yorkshire Iced Tea

You’ve heard of the Long Island Ice Tea, but now there’s a Yorkshire one for us all to enjoy, which actually features tea. Not only subtle and refreshing but you could even serve it in mugs if you run out of glasses. Best served with biscuits, what else would go with tea?

For each glass add:

–          1 tsp of honey

–          Half a mug of recently boiled water infused with one tea bag , left to cool

–          A generous shot of Jack Daniels

–          A few slices of lemon and lots of ice

Put the honey in the bottom of the glass then add the tea, mixing until the honey dissolves. Add the Jack Daniels and stir. Finish with the ice and lemon.

Passion Fruit Daiquiri

You’ve probably seen this on menus in bars around, but it’s just as easy to make yourself and not that expensive. The trick is to use passion fruit coulis, which you can get in supermarkets – it adds the colour, intense flavour and thickens a little. I doubt any the standard Leeds bar really uses fresh passion fruits anyway.

For each glass you’ll need:

–          A few cubes of ice

–          30ml of white rum

–          100ml of passion fruit juice (Available from any supermarket)

–          2 tsp of passion fruit coulis

Put the ice in a martini glass (if you have one). Shake all of the liquids together and pour out over the ice and strain away any passion fruit seeds if the coulis had them.

 

Cool and Fiery Tequila and Lemonade

Adding heat to alcohol makes the drinking experience loads more fun, especially when you have to dare each other to drink it. Here, infusing chilli with tequila creates either a fiery shot, or if mixed with lemonade and lots of cool mint, a really interesting hot and cold beverage at the same time.

For a large bottle/jug of this you’ll need:

–          400ml tequila, infused with 2 chillies overnight

–          A handful of fresh mint

–          About 800ml of lemonade

If you’re feeling daring then shot the chilli infused tequila straight, but it you want the cocktail, put it along with the chillies into a jug or bottle. Add the fresh mint and dilute with the lemonade and stir. To serve, simply pour over ice in a glass with an extra few springs of mint.

An easy snack to provide your mates with, is the Mexican favourite of Tortilla Chips with Salsa and Guacamole.

For a speedy salsa:  Mix one finely diced tomato, half a finely diced onion, half a finely diced red pepper, a squeeze of lime juice, a pinch of paprika and a small handful of freshly chopped coriander. For the guacamole: Mash up the flesh of one avocado with a good squeeze of lime juice, lots of freshly milled salt/pepper and a small bunch of chopped coriander.

Wil Law

Photos and video: Wil Law