christmas cocktails

Bring good cheer with our wine expert's classy cocktailsSnowball

Advocaat is enjoying something of a revival at the moment. To make this drink look even more festive, dip the rim of the glass (any glass will do, but a champagne saucer looks particularly good) in freshly squeezed lime juice. Then place it, rim down, into a bowl of sugar.

1 part chilled advocaat

2 parts chilled lemonade

½ lime, squeezed

sugar to decorate the glass

Mix the ingredients together and serve with a slice of lime and a cherry.

Santa's Christmas Delight

3 parts Irish whiskey

1 part freshly squeezed lime juice

soda water

few drops of grenadine

Mix the ingredients together. Serve in a tall glass on ice. As a variation, try using ginger ale rather than soda water or Schweppes Russian. Father Christmas (aka Mum or Dad) will love it.

Christmas Champagne Cocktail

3/5th glass of chilled brut champagne or Spanish cava or Australian sparkling wine 1/5th glass cointreau

1/5th glass Absolut mandarin vodka

1 sugar lump

Mix all the ingredients together. Serve in a champagne flute and decorate with either a slice of orange or a few segments of tangerine.

Holly-tini

A festively coloured green version of the famous cocktail.

2 parts vodka or gin

1 part dry martini

½ part crème de menthe

Either mix in a cocktail shaker with ice or simply serve on ice in a martini glass.

Santa's Cointreau Spritzer

This cocktail is an unusual variation on a standard spritzer

3 parts dry white wine

1 part cointreau

soda water

Mix everything together, decorate with a twist of orange peel and a stick of celery.

Tanqueray Tang

1 part Tanqueray gin

1 part cherry brandy

2 parts freshly squeezed lime juice

soda water

1 tsp sugar

Mix the above ingredients together over ice, adding soda water to taste. Serve in a tall glass and decorate with a wedge of lime. The ideal red and green Christmas cocktail.

Between the Sheets

Everybody loves oranges, satsumas and tangerines at Christmas, so this cocktail will be a sure-fire hit.

1 part cointreau or grand marnier

1 part brandy

1 part rum

2 parts freshly squeezed lime juice

Mix the above ingredients together and serve in a martini glass. Decorate with a twist of lime or orange peel and drop a few tangerine segments into the glass.

Cranberry Cheerer

This Christmas version of a Seabreeze always goes down well.

1 part vodka

1 part cranberry juice

1 part blood red orange juice

Mix the ingredients together and serve in a tall glass on ice. Decorate with a wedge of lime.