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Hygge, pronounced ‘Hoo-gah’ is a Danish and Norwegian word to describe something like healthy hedonism

It means “a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being”.

If a warm boozy drink, a fluffy woolly blanky, and someone to spoon with doesn’t immediately come to mind, then I am not really sure I can trust you as a person.

The cold is rolling in, and we’re collecting our nuts so that we can be sure to stay warm and healthily hedonistic. While part of that looks like furiously matching and chatting on Tinder (high-five to the singles (or ENM folks) out there), it also includes compiling a decent Hygge-tastic cocktail list.

This time of year, we like our concoctions hot hot hot.

Forbes has a solid list of 21 winter-warming cocktails, but we’re being somewhat less hedonistic (gasp, I know) and providing two absolute go-to’s. That’s what balance feels like, I guess.

To get started, you’re going to need to whip out some of South Africa’s premium liquor, AKA anything and everything from Kinship Spirits.

There’s the Elephantom Rum, the Albatross Vodka, the Malachite Gin, and the Karo Cape Brandy:

1. HOT BUTTERED RUM

“This classic recipe dates back to the 1600s and is reminiscent of warm boozy cookie dough. The spiced buttered sugar is a concoction of ingredients one would associate with winter: butter, brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove. These flavors blend perfectly with the spiced rum and make you feel like you’ve made a restaurant or cocktail bar-worthy drink at home.” —Grant Sceney, creative beverage director at Fairmont Pacific Rim, Vancouver, BC

 

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Ingredients

• Two shots of rum
• Half a cup of hot water
• Cinnamon stick, garnish
• Less than one shot of spiced buttered sugar*
• Half a stick of butter
• A cup of sticky brown sugar
• 1 pinch nutmeg, 1 pinch cinnamon, 1 pinch clove

Method:

• Preheat a coffee mug with hot water. Discard hot water.
• *Melt the butter, sugar and some spice in a pan on medium heat before adding to the cocktail.
• Build all ingredients into a mug.
• Stir with a cinnamon stick to garnish and enjoy.

2. SPICED APPLE WARMER

A botanical mix of the Malachite Gin will nicely complement the warming spices of cider, cinnamon, and ginger:

 

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Ingredients (yields enough for everyone):

• 1 bottle (750 ml) Malachite Gin
• 5 litres of cloudy apple juice or apple cider
• Juice of 6 limes
• Juice of 6 lemons
• 2 bar spoons ground cinnamon
• A thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
• Superfine sugar, to taste

Method:

• In a large saucepan, bring apple, lime, and lemon juices to simmer over medium heat.
• Add cinnamon and ginger. ­Stir continuously. Do not allow it to boil. Add sugar to taste.
• Once the concoction is well mixed and hot, add gin.
• Return to a hot temperature and put it into a pitcher or dispenser.
• Garnish the batch with lemon wheels. Garnish individual mugs or cups with a cinnamon stick and star anise.

Winter is around the corner. Shop the Kinship Spirits range over online.

Habada, habada, hygge (remember it’s pronounced “hoo-gah”).

[source:forbes]