Steaming flavours 

The spicy scents of mulled wine set the taste buds tingling, and heat intensifies all the flavours and aromas. Try it for yourself. Take a smell of some cold orange juice and compare it with the powerful fragrance it releases when you warm it up. 

While ice cubes refine a flavour, heat amplifies it. When it has awakened your sense of smell, take a sip of a warm cocktail at a pavement café and you’ll soon understand that it really does “taste like it smells”.

In other words, the volatile, flavour-carrying molecules are enhanced. They reach the taste receptors on the taste buds, and boom! Double the fun! The flavour intensity is heightened in the mouth. You can easily pick out each ingredient in the cocktail because the heat works like an enhancer. 

Comforting couples 

That intensity is enjoyable as long as one rule is followed: get the TASTE pairings right! If you love the sweet but slightly acidic taste of apple, hot cocktails with cognac, cider or apple juice are great matches for crumbles. A hot mojito, with or without alcohol, goes really well with dark chocolate treats. Aniseed flavours lighten the full, delicious roundness of a homemade tiramisu. There are plenty more great flavour pairings, this is just to whet your appetite. 

Recipes for happiness 

In a mug or a glass with sophisticated texture, why not surprise taste aficionados with some of the trendy hot cocktails for 2023? Here are a few recipes, some are revisited, others more traditional. All will certainly create a warm and successful atmosphere for a special moment with your guests!

Hot mojito 

·    1883 Green Tea Concentrate 

·    1883 Cane Sugar Syrup 

·    Hot water 

·    Cuban rum, or 1883 Caribbean Syrup for an alcohol-free version

·    Lemon juice 

·    Fresh mint leaves 

·    Lime slices 

Aniseed chai tea  

·   1883 Cherry Syrup 

·   1883 Chaï Tea Syrup 

·   Hot water   

·   Pastis, or 1883 Anise Syrup for an alcohol-free version 

·   Spices for decoration: cinnamon, star anise, sliced orange