With the world now firmly used to celebrating big events at home, cocktail making has become a favoured new hobby for many. Lockdown restrictions may be lifting, but the habit of shaking or stirring something tasty in your own kitchen is here to stay. Below is a selection of the best cocktails for the season for any budding mixologist to try.

The Cointreau Christmas Margarita

 The hint of cinnamon updates a classic margarita to make it perfect for Christmas, New Year or any festive celebration.

Ingredients

30ml Cointreau

50ml Blanco Tequila

20ml Fresh lime juice

6 drops of Aromatic Bitters

Dash of cinnamon and tsp of sugar

Rosemary sprig

Method

Make a sweet rim on your glass by wetting the edge and running it through a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Combine the cocktail ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a rosemary sprig.

A Winter Walk cranberry and mint cooler with Beluga vodka

This cocktail recipe is inspired by the refreshing but cosy feeling of a brisk walk in cold weather.

Ingredients

25ml Beluga vodka (from the freezer)

75ml Cranberry juice

15ml Grenadine syrup

Fresh mint

Stick of cinnamon

Ice

Method

First ice your glass and leave to cool. In a cocktail shaker filled with ice put the vodka, cranberry juice, grenadine syrup, a handful of torn fresh mint. Shake or stir vigorously, strain into martini glass and garnish with sprig of fresh mint and stick of cinnamon.

The Botanist Gin Bramble 

Hints of rich and sweet honey make the Botanist Gin Bramble a fantastically sophisticated winter warmer.

Ingredients

50ml Botanist gin

20ml lemon juice

15ml honey dissolved in water

Method

Add all ingredients, shake with ice and strain into a glass. Drizzle with Aelder Elixir and garnish with bramble and rosemary.

Metaxa Christmas Sour

This traditional Greek digestif makes the perfect base for a rich and complex Christmas take on a classic sour.

Ingredients

50ml Metaxa 12 Stars

20ml Fresh lemon juice

2ml Egg white (optional)

1 tsp of fig marmalade

2 Dashes of plum bitters

Dried orange slice

Method

Shake ingredients and strain into an old fashioned glass onto a big ice cube. Garnish with a dried orange slice.

Christmas Cake Negroni

This deliciously seasonal take on the classic negroni comes from Francesco Orefici, bar manager at BAR 45 at 45 Park Lane.

Ingredients

15ml Cointreau

3ml Maraschino

40ml Gin

20ml Cinnamon-vanilla syrup

3 drops of orange bitter

Orange peel

Method

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add all of your cocktail ingredients. Close and shake well for six to eight seconds. Using a strainer, pour the cocktail into a martini glass. Squeeze an orange peel on top of the drink, twist it and drop it into the glass.\

Ginger Collins made with Four Pillars Modern Australian Gin

This gin is infused with Australian botanicals, resulting in a refreshingly complex ginger Collins ideal for Christmases in the snow or the sun.

Ingredients

50ml Four Pillars Modern Australian Gin

25ml fresh lemon juice

1 tsp honey

Fever-Tree Ginger Beer

Lemon

Method

Completely dissolve honey into lemon juice. Add honey lemon liquid and gin to a Collins glass over ice, then top up with ginger beer. Garnish with a lemon wheel.

The Don’s Midwinter Dream

This warming and deliciously old fashioned cocktail is ideal for a languid night spent by a well-tended fire. Don’t forget the cherries.

Ingredients

50ml Don Papa Rum

20ml Berry Grenadine

1 dash of ginger bitters

5-10ml overproof rum

Maraschino cherries to garnish

Method

In a mixing glass, add the Don Papa Rum, berry grenadine and ginger bitters and stir. Strain into a chilled rocks glass with one large cube. Warm the overproof rum, set on fire, and gently pour over the cocktail. Garnish with skewered maraschino cherries. (Served cold).  

Fenjiu Christmas Fizz Cocktail

The inclusion of China’s favourite spirit, baiju, from its most celebrated maker makes this sparkling treat even more enticing.

Ingredients

35ml Fenjiu Fen Chiew 10 Year Old 45%

20ml Muyu Jasmine Verte Liqueur

10ml Noilly Pratt Extra Dry Vermouth

Method

Top up with Champagne, Prosecco or Cava. Serve in a flute and garnish with lemon zest.

Follow Fenjiu baijiu cocktails on Instagram at @cheng_international

Fenjiu is available now from Harrods, Selfridges, Slurp and Harvey Nichols priced from £30 to £160 per bottle.