Krampus – Christmas Movie Cocktails

Krampus was born from Central and Eastern Alpine folklore during the Christmas season, with the purpose to scare children who misbehaved. He assisted Saint Nicholas, punishing the badly behaved children by whipping them with birch rods.

The exact origins of when Krampus was created are unclear, but the dedication of his followers remains constant, events such as the Krampuslauf (Krampus run) are popular among locals and tourists, where young men dress up as Krampus and attempt to scare those around, often happening in most Alpine towns.

The origins of these events are said to date back to the 6th or 7th century CE, although there is no written evidence of them before the end of the 16th century.

As to the origin of the name – Krampus either comes from krampn which means dead/rotten, or from the German word kramp/krampen, which means “claw.

Now for the movie – Krampus released on the 4th of December 2015, with a budget of only $15 million, it grossed over $61 million despite its mixed reviews. The United States and Canadian box offices took in $42.7 million and the rest of the world took in $18.8 million.

Directed by Michael Dougherty, and written by Dougherty, Todd Casey and Zach Shields. The film stars Adam Scott, Toni Collette & David Koechner.

The film features a dysfunctional family which, after a bit of fighting, causes the young boy to lose his Christmas spirit, which unleashes the wrath of Krampus who lays siege to the neighbourhood with assistance from his little helpers. The family must band together to save one another from a monstrous fate.

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on the 26th of April, 2016, with an unrated, extended version of the film referred to as ‘Krampus: The Naughty Cut’ released on the 7th of December, 2021.

The idea for the film came in 2011, Dougherty was planning to make a Christmas-themed horror film, but hadn’t officially chosen a theme, the idea for Krampus came when one of his friends sent him an e-card featuring Krampus, which was, according to Dougherty “just love at first sight.”

The Croatian Sparkling Wine – Josipović

They started with the goal to not produce another copy of champagne, but to stay true to themselves and produce something new and distinctive. They accomplished their mission with their Josipović Sparkling Wines, displaying high quality with the unique and recognizable characters that they were after, they have three Sparkling Wine labels on offer, with some amazing and easy-to-remember names – Time, Jazz and Tango.

Vitis Vinogradarstvo i Vinarstvo – Josipović Time – Tasting Notes

Aroma – “Red berry, raspberries, strawberries, mulled wine, sweet woody spices, earthy, and Christmassy on the aroma.”

Flavour – “A similar expression, sweet woody spices with red berries, cranberries, hints of blackberries as well on the palate, this tastes like a part of Christmas and would pair very nicely with some festive foods.”

Silver Medal Winner in the Spring Fling Category at the Glass of Bubbly Awards 2022

The Sloe Gin – Becketts

Becketts Gin uses our very own country-grown English juniper berries. The juniper berry had been in decline in England over the recent decades, with many populations on the brink of local extinction due to poor seed quality, disease and other factors.

In England, the Juniper Berry generally exists on the chalk downs of Southern England. To help save juniper from local extinction in England they are undertaking a long-term conservation project in conjunction with the National Trust and Natural England which will create a new juniper population on Juniper Top in Surrey.

I reached out to Neil from Kingston Distillers to find out how the project was going.

“The conservation project had a mixed start but has really begun to make a lot of progress over the last few years. From every annual harvest of juniper berries from Box Hill since 2014, we pass a proportion to a nursery to go through the very tortuous process of extracting the seeds, stratifying them and then planting them in seed pots for germination.

For the first few years, the nursery we used had limited success and the saplings all subsequently died. We moved to another nursery for the 2018 crop onwards. They didn’t produce any viable saplings from the first year’s crop but subsequent years have been fantastic.

We now have 81 juniper trees propagated from the 2019 harvest ready to plant out and 168 trees from the 2020 crop will be ready next year. I am now waiting for the go-ahead from Natural England and the National Trust to start planting them out on Juniper Top and at other protected sites that Natural England deem to be a priority for juniper’s reintroduction or replenishment. We continue to send a batch of each harvest to the nursery every year so our conservation programme will gather more momentum as the decade progresses.” – Neil from Kingston Distillers

To make their Sloe Gin they have steeped their classic Type 1097 London Dry Gin with the finest sloe berries, perfectly complementing the botanicals in their London Dry.

Becketts Sloe Gin – Tasting Notes – “Dark ripe fruits, red and black cherries, hints of sweet almond and winter spices with cherry plum, smooth with a warming length.”

The Cocktail – Krampus Cocktail

Ingredients

• Becketts Sloe Gin
• Red Sparkling Wine
• Ground Nutmeg/Cinnamon/Coriander
• Blackcurrants

How To Make The Krampus Cocktail

• Pour in 20mls of your Sloe Gin
• Add a Sprinkling of Ground Nutmeg/Cinnamon/Coriander
• Top up with Red Sparkling Wine
• Then Drop in a handful of Blackcurrants

Krampus Cocktail Tasting Notes – “A mythical blend of red berries, dark rose petals, blackcurrants, redcurrants, cranberries, blackberries with sweet Christmas spices, imagine a bowl of ripe red and black berries sprinkled with winter spices, then add the wonderful touch of Sparkling Wine and you’ve got a touch of the amazing flavours inside this Cocktail.”