World's Best Cocktails

Our Favourite Christmas Food Buys

After all things beauty, one of The Amazing Blog's favourite topics to write about is food. The following items are perfect for those of you who are food lovers just like us. Whether you are an amateur barman or chef, here you'll find some pieces that we're sure will delight you and your families.

This is the season of cocktails. With holiday parties, and the New Year ringing in soon after, Tom Sandham’s book World’s Best Cocktailsis a great tool to get some new drink ideas. The book contains 500 couture cocktails from the world’s best bars and bartenders. Cocktails are represented from all around the world. Whether you or a friend is an aspiring mixologist, or you just want to learn some new recipes to make at home, World’s Best Cocktailsis an inspirational and practical book that includes all the information you need to know about a wide range of cocktails.

Do you know someone who loves cooking traditional Spanish food? Claudia Roden’s book The Food of Spain delves into Spain’s richness through the history and culture. Claudia travelled through Spain to write this book which includes numerous traditional Spanish and Catalan recipes. Each recipe is unique to a certain region of Spain and has a particular story behind it. All of the recipes in the book come together to form the history of Spain’s cuisine. Claudia Roden includes hundreds of recipes from fish dishes to meat and vegetables. This book is perfect for anyone who loves to cook and wants to try some new recipes for the Christmas.

The award-winning coffee company, Weanie Beans, has introduced a Christmas product range for this year’s holidays. It is one of the greenest coffee brands on the market ensuring that their products are sourced sustainably and all the packaging is biodegradable. What better way to help the environment and get a great coffee treat. Weanie Beans holiday specials include the Chilli Chocolate Indulgence and the Coffee Chocolate Deliciousness. The Chilli giftbox contains a jar of warming Chilli Hot Chocolate and a bag of fresh Chilli and Milk Chocolate covered almonds. This fiery indulgence would hit any chocolate lovers’ sweet spot, and only costs £13. The Coffee Chocolate Deliciousness giftbox, one of our favourites, contains 100g of dark-chocolate; dark and white chocolate; and Tiramisu and dark chocolate-covered coffee beans. These three individually wrapped bags are perfect for the stockings and cost £10.50 for all three. All of Weanie Beans products are available at their website here.

What better way to enjoy your Christmas, then with some custom liqueurs from Alchemist Dreams. Whether you want to give a unique gift with a personal touch, or even make some for your own Christmas treat, Alchemist Dreams has a line of liqueur flavours that will suit any taste buds. They make their liqueurs by hand from organic spirits so that you can have whatever flavour you desire. Their variety of fruity bases includes anything from Blackberry and Strawberry, to Orange and Lime. The nice thing about these liqueurs is you can drink them alone or even mix them with soda for a fizzy delight. We decided to make our own liqueur after hearing about this amazing new creation. We started with a Raspberry base and added two accents: Cinnamon and Rose. It tasted delicious and very unique! Each bottle is finished with a red ribbon and hand printed label with your message. With prices starting just at £15, there’s no reason not to try these fabulous liqueurs. You can purchase one of their blends or make your own liqueurs on their website here. The deadline for the Christmas orders ends on the 20th of this month – so if you want to have your own custom made liqueur, make your choice of flavours and place your order!

Looking for some delicious stocking fillers for this Christmas? Try Shop on Your Doorstep’s personalized chocolate bars. These cute chocolate bars come in three different designed packages that you can choose from with a personalized message on the front and back of the bar. The packaging not only looks adorable, but the chocolate bars taste delicious too! They retail for £5.50 and can be purchased on their website here. Check out other fun Christmas gift ideas on Shop on Your Doorstep’s website while you’re there!

Thompson’s of Smithfield has the most Luxury Christmas Hamper for this festive period. It makes the perfect food gift - especially if you are going to spend the Christmas period with the in-laws - I promise you if you present this,  you'll be welcomed back with open arms forever more! Sourced from some best of British food producers it's starring item is a delicious free range turkey from Jimmy Doherty's farm  (also known for his appearance on  C4 Jimmy's Food Factory  - the  exposé on supermarket food). However, it also includes a Scottish Smoked Salmon, Luxury Pork, Cranberry, & J&S Hot Red Currant Jelly Stuffing, J&S Hot Cranberry Jelly, along with their Very Hot Mango Chutney, Sliced Pancetta, and a substantial Honey Roasted Ham. The entire hamper retails for ONLY £85.00 . Limited quantities - so do hurry along to  1-7 Central Markets Smithfield, London EC1A 9PQ to collect your prized hamper. This luxurious hamper filled with very select British farm produce will definitely leave your guests wanting more. You can order the hamper from the Peter Thompson’s website here.

We hope that you enjoy these food  and drink related star picks  - we think we've found you some exceptionally good finds!