Let's talk about Christmas drinks!

[ChristmasZombie]

What festive drinks will you be enjoying this year?
Alcoholic tipples, non-alcoholic favourites, coffee shop special editions...

Starbucks have emailed me today to tell me that the Hot Mulled Fruit drink is coming back this year. I did like that! Also looking forward to their gingerbread latte and, hopefully, the orange mocha. Costa black forest hot chocolate will hopefully be returning, too.

Love the Costa black forest hot chocolate.

We are having Turkey this year so need to find a good white wine to go with it. Open to recommendations! We usually have beef so pair it with red.

I wanted special bottles to take a few Christmases ago so I our local wine merchants who said we didn't actually HAVE to have white with turkey - they recommended a delicious Pinot Noir instead.

DP loves the Black Forest hot chocolate. Whilst not festive, I love the hot chocolate Milano from Caffe Nero (I only tend to have that over the festive season!) I do like a dash of cinnamon syrup in my coffee, and on weekends in the couple of weeks before/over Christmas I tend to add some cinnamon and mixed spice to the coffee in the cafetiere before pouring over the water. I love the Christmas paper cups at Costa

I have friends visiting most weekends now until Christmas, and usually serve plenty of mulled cider and mulled wine. We aren't big drinkers, but do tend to splurge a bit at this time of year (Christmas/friends and family visits/my birthday) so there will be many champagne/prosecco cocktails (I love a Twinkle, and homemade sloe gin or bramble vodka topped up with fizz is also divine). I have Christmas pud vodka steeping away in the cupboard so that will no doubt come out (probably topped up with fizz ) and the port will come out more frequently than it usually does.

Sorry to hijack but what do people recommend for mulled wine? I love it but never have it at home.

NeverNic I always make my own. Red wine, cinnamon sticks, vanilla pod, star anise, nutmeg, orange studded with cloves, orange slices, sugar or honey, decent red wine and brandy. Alternatively, Schwartz do a good mulled wine spice mix in wee muslin balls which is good in a pinch! I sub the wine for cider sometimes.

Mulled cider
Raspberry blimey- sugar syrup, rasp vodka, champagne and cranbrerry juice, with mint.
Mulled wine
Ginger bread latte
Lots of room temperature Malbec
White burgundy
Instead of prosecco I prefer cava with cherry liqueur
Kingston black aperitif

I will be stocking up on liqueurs, cherry brandy, Irish cream, advocaat, cointreau.

The usual:

Champagne - marks and spencer
Baillies
villa Maria Sauvignon blanc which is my favourite
What ever red DH buys himself
Port

Weatherspoons mulled cider was amazing last year.

Aldis have baileys coffee pots in, I'm not sure if they're nice or not I just bought their version of baileys instead!

Im looking for some non alcoholic cocktails if anyone knows of any.

My Christmas tipple is normally. Baileys and Tia Maria. Very nice together.

How do you make your own mulled cider? I used the ready made spices in the past, but I haven't seen them on sale in the past few years.

Martini and lemonade, with a slice of lemon. I grew up in the late '70s/'80s! I was allowed a very weak one as a girl at Christmas.

I like the idea of Snowballs. Reminds me of my grandmother. Never tried them though. They look great.

Harvey's Bristol Cream. Reminds me of my other grandmother and I like the taste.

Always snowballs, advocaat, topped up with lemonade and a squeeze of lime. Can't have Christmas without a snowball.

We also drink red with our turkey dinner, a soft one - Pinot noir possible but a gamay most likely.

Port with the cheese. I have started to like dessert wine at last so might get some of that in this year, I've especially enjoyed ice wines from Canada.

Waitrose did a great Bakewell tart flavoured vodka last year.

Ah thanks snausage!

Scarlets - growing up we'd get a very weak babycham!

Friends made a gorgeous Jamie Oliver mulled cider last year - I might look that up.

Buck's Fizz for Christmas Day brunch.

Fizz while cooking Christmas dinner.

We'really not keen on mulled wine - seems like a good way to spoil nice wine. We make Krupnik - Polish honey spiced vodka. There's tonnes of recipes online. It's sweet and Christmassy and absolutely lethal!

Other than that - wine, champagne, port, whisky and Long Island Iced Tea.

Oh I'm counting down the days until Starbucks bring back their eggnogg latte (22 days lol).
I also love Costa white hot chocolate.
Also love a bsileys and snowball but not together lol.

What does eggnog actually taste like?

Eggnog is delicious, cream, eggs, alcohol, well, they do non alcoholic too, I had some in America, I tried to get some here the other year and couldn't, I have a recipe but not got around to making it yet, some of the recipes are very long winded.

Gingerbread latte.

Snowballs.

Port with the cheeseboard.

Some really nice red.

I'm really intrigued by the Krupnik - like the idea of having something different this year (especially as I was pregnant last year so couldn't drink anything exciting!)

Non alcoholic drinks:-

Mulled apple/Orange/cranberry juice

(using all 3 juices and a mulled wine sachet/tea bag)

St Clements

Bitter lemon and orange juice

Cranberry Fizz

Cranberry juice and sparkling water

Fill the cold drinks in nice big glass/plastic jugs and like you do with pims.. Pimp them up with slices of fruit and ice.

I like to make eggnog, started last year and I love it.

I also enjoy Sloe Gin at Christmas, but cheat and my M&S ready made.

And lets not forget plenty of champagne and chambord :)

If you make eggnog can you keep it in a bottle for ages? Or do you have to drink it all that day?