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.