6 never-fail cocktails to serve this Christmas

We’re calling it here: it is officially time to stop your efforts of resistance and start preparing for Christmas Day. The season of festive cheer is well and truly upon us, bringing with it endless excuses to get well oiled before midday (and experiment with the Akvavit sitting at the back of your dusty drinks cabinet).

If you’re looking for a little seasonal inspiration, we’ve done the hard work of sourcing the festive favourites sure to impress even your Scroogiest guests. Whether you prefer your tipple gin-based or flambéd, fruity or fragrant, read on for our curation of the best to try now.

You’ll need all the energy you can muster to get through this festive season – and what tastier way to deliver that jolt of caffeine than in a wintry spin on the classic espresso martini?

Ingredients:

• 40ml Grey Goose Vodka
• 60ml fresh Aeropress espresso
• 20ml cardamom-cinnamon syrup (per 500ml: 2 tblspns ground
  cardamom, 1 cinnamon stick, 500ml boiling water, 500g sugar)
• Oat milk
• Cinnamon dust (for garnish)

Method:

1. Combine vodka, espresso and syrup
2. Top with frothed oat-milk in a cappuccino mug
3. Garnish with cinnamon dust

Created by Tom Jolly of The American Bar, Gleneagles Hotel, this cocktail blends orange bitters and vanilla pods to complement the coastal flavours of the Isle of Harris Gin, creating a Christmassy concoction too delicious to resist.

Ingredients:

• 50ml Isle of Harris Gin
• 25ml Lillet Blanc
• 1.5ml sugar syrup
• 2 dashes of orange bitters
• 1 dash of vanilla saline
• Lemon peel

Method:

1. Make the vanilla saline by adding 40g of sea salt to 100ml of water and 3 split vanilla pods, then leave to infuse for 24 hours
2. Add all the ingredients, except for the lemon peel, to a chilled mixing glass
3. Add a large block of ice and stir until the liquid is chilled and suitably diluted
4. Strain into a frozen coupe glass
5. Squeeze oils from lemon peel over the drink and rub the stem with remaining peel
6. Drop peel into drink as a garnish

Whether you’ve been out for a wintry walk or you’re settling in to watch a classic Christmas film, there are few better warming options than a Hot Toddy. This version, from Patrón, puts a slightly spicy twist on the traditional.

Ingredients:

• 2oz Patrón Añejo
• 3oz hot water
• 1.5oz lemon juice
• 1oz honey
• 1 pinch of ground cinnamon
• 3 drops vanilla extract

Method:

1. In the bottom of a sturdy mug, combine ground cinnamon, honey and hot water and stir until fully mixed
2. Add Patrón Añejo, lemon juice, and vanilla extract
3. Stir to combine all ingredients

An Old Fashioned is a tried-and-tested classic, but during the hosting season it can be fun to shake things up with a festive alternative that is simple yet impressive. This year, we are opting for Sepia Form, Jo Vodka’s seasonal take on the Old Fashioned, which brings a fresh twist to a traditionally whisky-led serve. Crafted with Jo Vodka 103, The Artist, it delivers a bold yet elegant spiced Old Fashioned profile, layered with warming notes of apple sencha and pink peppercorn.

Ingredients:

• 50ml Jo Vodka 103, The Artist
• 7.5ml Apple, sencha & pink peppercorn syrup
• A dash of Angostura bitters
• Pink peppercorn dusted apple wheel (for garnish)

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass.
2. Add ice and stir until the mixture is cold and smooth.
3. Strain into a chilled glass over an ice block, garnish with an apple wheel and serve.

Why not mix up your usual warm seasonal drinks with a Metaxa Hot Sun Mug, the perfect cocktail for those cold winter nights? It's a delicious twist on the traditional mulled wine and brings hints of dried fruits and spices.

Ingredients:

• 40ml Metaxa 12 Stars
• Natural apple juice
• Cinnamon stick and a slice of apple (to garnish)

Method:

1. Lightly heat natural apple juice and pour it in your favourite mug
2. Fill 2/3 high
3. Add Metaxa 12 Stars
4. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and a slice of apple

Designed by Walter Pintus, the master mixologist who has helmed bars at The Ritz, The Connaught and The Conduit, this luxurious take on the traditional gin martini blends Caorunn Scottish gin with whisky, Italicus bergamot liqueur, vermouth and pink grapefruit for a strong serve that is pure elegance.

Ingredients:

• 20ml Caorunn Gin
• 5ml Old Pulteney 12 Year Old
• 25ml Italicus
• 30ml dry vermouth
• Pink-grapefruit oils

Method:

1. Put a single ice chunk in a cocktail coupette
2. Pour all ingredients into the glass and stir
3. Garnish with a grapefruit coin

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