Feeling Adventurous?
Try One of Our Delicious Cocktail Recipes
We have taken the time to create expertly crafted cocktail recipes that respect the ingredients & balance of our Spirits.
Classic Ma
rgarita
• 50ml Leonista Blanco
• 40ml Cointreau
• 25ml Lime Juice
• 1 Tbsp agave nectar or sugar syrup (optional)
• Oryx Lemon Salt, for the rim
METHOD
1. Run one of your lime wedges around the rim of your serving glass. Dip the rim in salt and then place glasses into the freezer until ready to serve.
2. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, blanco, lime juice and cointreau. Shake well. Taste the balance of your drink and add a little syrup or more lime for preference.
3. Strain into your glass and garnish with the remaining lime wedges. Serve immediately.
Mandarin Margarita
(Designed and shot by the Culinary Cartel)
INGREDIENTS
• 50ml Honey Reposado
• 300ml Fresh Mandarin, or Orange Juice
• Juice of 1 Lime
• Chilli & Lime salt for the glass rims (optional)
• Mint Leaf Garnish
METHOD
1. Pour the mandarin juice into ice trays and freeze until solid.
2. Tip the frozen juice cubes into an Omniblend jug, and add the lime and Honey Reposado. Blend on high until combined.
3. Optional: Sprinkle chili lime salt on a plate, dip the glass rims into water, and then into the salt mix. Set aside
4. Pour the frozen margaritas into the glasses and serve immediately
TIP
Our mandarins are super sweet and delicious in South Africa. If yours are a little tart you can add some sugar syrup for sweetness. Sugar syrup can be made by combining equal weights of water and white sugar, and heating the mixture until the sugar dissolves.
The Best Espresso Mezcaltini
(Designed and shot by the Culinary Cartel)
INGREDIENTS
• 90ml Leonista Reposado Black
• 2 shots Strong Espresso (60-70ml)
• Sugar to taste (add to preference)
• Pinch of salt
• Coffee beans, for garnish (optional)
INGREDIENTS
1. Prepare your espresso, then sweeten it to your preference with sugar. We advise making it slightly sweeter than you usually like it.
2. Once sweetened to your liking add a small pinch of salt to your coffee and allow it to cool to room temperature. Place your serving glasses in the freezer.
3. Half fill a cocktail shaker with ice, then add your espresso and Leonista. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds, then strain into two martini glasses. Garnish with coffee beans, if using.
‘Bloody Hell’ Maria
INGREDIENTS - Serves 6
• 1L Tomato Cocktail Blend*
• 2 Tbsp Creamy Horseradish
• Juice of 1 Lime (about 2-3 Tbsp)
• 300ml Blanco
• 2 Chipotle Chilies in Adobo**
• Celery Salt (optional)
*if you use a brand of tomato juice that doesn’t include Worcestershire sauce be sure to add in 2 Tbsp.
** We suggest adding all of these swaps to taste prior to adding salt and finishing the mix. When in a real pinch, some finely minced red chili or Sriracha to taste should also do the trick!
METHOD
1. Remove the chili from the spicy adobo sauce and chop very very finely.
2. Mix the tomato juice blend, horseradish, and minced chipotle together. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
3. Once ready to serve dip the rims of the glasses in water and into the celery salt (optional). Add the Leonista Blanco and lime to the tomato mix and add salt to taste. If you want more smokey chili heat add a few more minced chipotles and give the mix a good stir.
4. Fill your glasses with ice and serve.
Paloma Rose Sunrise
(Designed and shot by the Culinary Cartel)
INGREDIENTS - Serves 2
• 20ml Rose Syrup (make your own)
• 50 ml Leonista Blanco
• 150ml Grapefruit Juice (Freshly Squeezed)
• 70ml Soda Water
• Loads of Ice
METHOD
1. Pour the rose syrup and Blanco into a glass and stir until combined. Fill the glass with ice.
2. Next hold a teaspoon over the glass (the rounded side facing straight up) and slowly pour in the grapefruit juice over the teaspoon and into the glass, until the glass is 3/4 full. The teaspoon will help gently distribute the juice and keep the cocktail in distinct layers. Repeat the teaspoon action and top up the cocktail with soda.
3. Serve immediately with a paper straw, and instruct guests to give everything a stir once they have admired the hues of pink. pair perfectly with my dip, and a couple of nachos
Raspberry Rose Smash
(Designed and shot by the Culinary Cartel)
INGREDIENTS - Serves 4
• 100g Raspberries
• 2 tsp Castor Sugar
• 1 Juicy Lime
• 2 Tbsp Rosewater
• 100ml Leonista Blanco
• 840ml Raspberry Hibiscus Kombucha
METHOD
1. Using the back of a spoon, smash the berries into a chunky pulp with the castor sugar.
2. Add blanco and rose water before squeezing in the juice of the lime (you should have about 40ml).
3. Divide the mixture between 4 glasses and fill the glass halfway with crushed ice.
4. To finish top up the drinks with Kombucha and serve immediately.
Pineapple Chilli Margarita
(Designed and shot by the Culinary Cartel)
INGREDIENTS - Serves 4
• 100ml Leonista Reposado
• 840ml Pineapple Lime Kombucha
• 1 Red Chili
• 1/3 Cup White Sugar
• 1/3 Cup Water
• Egg White (optional)
• Pink Salt (optional)
METHOD
1. Finely slice your birds eye chili and add this to a small pot along with the sugar and water. Cook on a medium heat until the sugar is dissolved then set aside and allow to cool.
2. Pop your Reposado into a large jug, along with half the chili simple syrup (you can add more later to taste). Mix the two together before pouring in your kombucha. Give everything a final stir and a taste (add more chili syrup or Reposado if you want) and top up the jug with lots of ice.
3. To serve dip the rims of your margarita glasses in an egg white. Grind some Himalayan pink salt onto a plate and roll the egg white dipped rims in it until they are covered in a thin layer of salt.
Modified Margarita with Blackberry & Lemon Balm
(Image shot by Sophie Smith)
INGREDIENTS - Serves 1
• 45ml Leonista Blanco
• 30ml of lime juice
• 1 tbsp organic cane sugar
• Small handful of fresh blackberry
• 3-5 leaves fresh lemon balm
METHOD
1. In our case, we began by muddling the berries and sugar in the bottom of our cup directly (jar, whatever). If you have the tools, straining the blackberries is great. Making a shrub is an excellent way for this to last even longer and give you even more versatility.
2. Add Blanco, lime, ice (or snow), and shake.
3. Press lemon balm leaves firmly but delicately to release oils without bruising the leaf and altering its flavour. Add to the cocktail to finish.
TIP
We kept the squeezed lime in our drink to encourage the oil to permeate the cocktail and add a bright green note to the taste.
NOTE
For this drink, we simply left all ingredients in the jar and poured it into our glassware. The colours in our cocktail required no additional garnish.
Leonista Lambada
(Designed and shot by the Culinary Cartel)
INGREDIENTS - Serves 2
• 100ml Reposado
• 5ml of Lamb Fat (optional)
• 40ml of Cool Caramelised Onion Sugar Syrup
• 50ml Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
• 40ml Chickpea Liquid/Aqua Faba
• Grated Lemon Zest
• Ice as needed
METHOD
1. Place all the ingredients, except for the garnish, in a cocktail shaker, and shake the mixture vigorously for 10 seconds to encourage the chickpea liquid to form a nice froth.
2. Crack open the shaker, fill half of it with cubed ice, and shake again for 20 seconds to cool, dilute, and aerate the mixture.
3. Fill two glasses with cubed ice, and finely strain the cocktail mixture between the two glasses (being careful not to allow any broken ice from the shaker to fall into the cocktail glasses) and allow 30 seconds for the foam to form and settle.
4. Sprinkle the reserved lemon zest over your cocktails to garnish, and serve.
Karoo Mule
INGREDIENTS
• 340ml Lemon and Ginger Kombucha
• 40 ml Leonista Honey Reposado
• Crushed Ice
• Lime Wedge
METHOD
1. Fill your tumbler or copper mule mug with crushed ice.
2. Squeeze over the lime wedge and add the lime wedge to the tumbler.
3. Add 1 shot of Leonista Honey Reposado (about 40ml), top up with Lemon and Ginger Kombucha to taste.