We’ve put together a shortlist of FAQ’s, frequently asked questions to help you on your way.
I don’t have a milk frother, what can I do? – Whilst we have created and adapted all of these recipes to make it easy to make in a milk frother it is still possible to enjoy single servings of Hot Cocktails at home. All of the recipes have a “top-up” liquid, water, milk, coffee, orange juice, etc. You just need to find a way to heat that liquid up to pour over the remaining ingredients. Obviously, heating water in a kettle is easy, the others may be best warmed up in a small saucepan. Be careful not to overheat.
Why does my Hot Cocktail lose it’s heat so quickly? – Have you preheated your glass or mug beforehand? We find that filling it with just boiled water before switching on the milk frother gives just enough time to preheat the glass so it is ready to pour out when the Hot Cocktail is ready. Your Hot Cocktail will not stay as hot as a cup of coffee or tea because it has been heated to a lower temperature in the first place to avoid boiling off any of the alcohol.
Why should I use the Amazon Affiliate Links? – You don’t have to, it’s completely up to you but they are there for a couple of reasons. Adding affiliate links help boost our page rankings. Google (and any other search engine) uses a very sophisticated method of ranking pages when you do a search on a topic. Affiliate links help play a part and make it more likely that you will find our pages. If you do click on an Amazon affiliate link and then proceed to buy something from the Amazon website then we do receive a small commission, think of it as advertising revenue. It does not add anything to the cost of the item to you, it comes out of Amazon’s profit (as far as I can make out). That revenue can then go towards the running costs of maintaining this website.
How do I create my own recipe? – Use one of our recipes as a starting point and then make adjustments to suit your own tastes. There are some general rules though, avoid “summery” flavours such as cucumber, melon, fresh herbs, etc. You need to balance sweetness (sugar, honey, maple syrup, …), bitterness (spices, bitters such as Angostura, Aperol, lemon, …), alcohol type (rum, whisky, vodka, tequila, gin,…) and flavours (coconut, chocolate, fruit, coffee, …). Once you get into the swing of things it does become easier. Try changing one thing at a time, don’t overdo the alcohol, (we aim for 50ml in a 240ml cocktail), don’t overdo the sweetness (2tsp is a good start) and keep experimenting. Some of our best recipes have been accidents!
MY question isn’t listed here. – Ask us, just send an email to info@hotcocktails.co.uk and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can find the answer for you.