WORDS
Jane Fulcher
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.