With the festive season well and truly upon us, Christmas get-togethers and parties are in full swing! And what's the best way to make sure your party is remembered for all the right reasons? Brilliant cocktails!
Being somewhat of an expert in such matters , I thought I'd offer my own take on Christmas cocktails, and how best to go about serving them.
Ahead of the party
As much as you may want to style yourself as the new Tom Cruise , practicality means that unless you have a fully stocked bar, you will probably want to limit yourself to offering a selection of cocktails.
Learn how to make a few cocktails well, and your guests will be impressed. Take some time ahead of the party itself to do a trial run on the cocktails you want to make, so you will have a good idea what you're doing. This will ensure things run smoothly on the day, thereby making you look better! By limiting the options to a few, well chosen drinks, you're also limiting the ingredients you will need, and therefore the expense of putting on the party. December is a pricey month, after all!
Preparation on the day
You will need some basic equipment, although the precise details are going to depend on the cocktails you wish to prepare. You'll need a cocktail shaker for most of the drinks you're likely to be preparing, along with the required alcohol and mixers . In addition, it may pay to spend a few moments thinking about the following:
Glasses - You will need appropriate glasses for the cocktails you wish to serve. Although these are not strictly necessary, they really do seem to make the cocktail taste that little bit better! Many shops offer a glass hire facility, particularly if you're actually buying your drinks from them, so it doesn't hurt to ask.
Ice - This is a must, whether you make it yourself or buy bags from the supermarket. Some recipes call for crushed ice, so bear that in mind.
Decoration - Cocktails tend to use fruit for decoration, so have some ready-peeled/sliced fruit to hand, and kept in airtight containers. If your recipe calls for slices of fresh apple, a squeeze of orange juice over the peeled apple stops it going brown too quickly. Oh, and don't forget stirrers, straws and little umbrellas!
Cocktail recipes
So with the preparation sorted, it's time to do a little bit of research to decide which of the hundreds and thousands of cockails you'd like to serve to your guests. I've found a few sites which have lots of seasonal specialty cocktails on them, which I've listed below. There is a great cross-section of textures and tastes, from vibrant and fruity to smooth and creamy and even a concoction or two with a hint of chocolate. Well, it is Christmas after all!
Websites
BBC food - Christmas Cocktails
about.com - 12 days of Cocktails
mixthatdrink.com - The 12 cocktails of Christmas
stylist.co.uk - Nigella's Christmas Cocktail Recipes
Mobile/Tablet Apps
Mobile apps for making cocktails number in their thousands, but there is one standout performer that I've found - Cocktail Flow. The best thing about this particular app is that you can tick off the list of ingredients that you have access to, and then it will offer you only recipes that you have the ingredients to make. This will likely save you lots of time, if nothing else.
Cocktail Flow is available from the following online stores:
- Play Store for Android
- App Store for iOS
- Windows Store for Windows Phone 8
- Microsoft Store for Windows 8 PC's and tablets.
Hopefully you now have enough recipes and tips to help your party become the talking point of the festive season, although it may have be your carefully chosen, reindeer pattern knitted jumper that really closes the deal! Either way, please make sure you drink responsibly, and remember, order taxis for the way home!