Winter is the season of parties, festive dinners and nights snuggled up on the sofa. Of course, we believe that cakes and patisserie are the best accompaniment to all these happenings. But what about the drinks?
We’ve uncovered a selection of winter drinks for every occasion, from the office shindig to cosy evenings in. Best served with Christmas cheer.
Moscow Mule mocktail
Serves 2
250ml ginger beer
4 tbsp lime juice (freshly squeezed is best, if you have time)
Club soda or sparkling water
A small handful of fresh mint
2 lime wedges, to garnish
Crushed ice
Half fill two old-fashioned or heavy-based glasses with the crushed ice. Bruise the mint leaves using a chopping board and the back of a spoon (or even just crush them a little in your hand). This releases more of the flavour. Divide evenly between the glasses.
Pour half the ginger beer into each glass, top with 2 tbsp of lime juice per glass and fill with club soda or sparkling water.
Garnish with a lime wedge.
Non-alcoholic mulled wine
Serves 6
250ml pomegranate juice
250ml apple juice
250ml cranberry juice
250ml water
25g brown sugar 6 cloves
1 cinnamon stick 1 star anise
3 black peppercorns
1 orange, cut into wedges
Pour the juice and water into a large saucepan. Then add the rest of the ingredients and stir well. Bring to a gentle boil and simmer on a low heat for at least 30 minutes (ideally an hour). Strain into heat-proof mugs to serve.
Vegan chocolate orange
Serves 2
600ml vegan milk of your choice
2 tbsp cacao powder
60ml agave syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange
Juice of half an orange
Heat the milk in a sauce pan, on a medium heat. Add the cacao powder, agave syrup, vanilla extract, half the orange juice and the orange zest. Whisk together and bring to a gentle boil, continuing to whisk. Simmer for 15 minutes, giving the ingredients the occasional stir.
Remove from the heat and leave to stand for a minute or two, until the hot chocolate is cool enough to do a taste test. If you’d like it more orangey, add the rest of the orange juice until you have the right strength of flavour. Strain into two heatproof mugs (to remove the zest) and serve.
Hazelnut mocha
Serves 2
600ml milk or vegan alternative
2 tbsp cacao powder
2-3 tbsp hazelnut syrup (depending on how sweet you like it)
2 shots of double espresso or 4 tsp instant coffee brewed with 120ml of boiling water
Heat the milk in a sauce pan, on a medium heat. Add the cacao powder and agave syrup, whisking the ingredients together. Turn down the heat and simmer gently while preparing the coffee mixture.
For the coffee mixture, get 2 heatproof mugs and add a double shot of espresso or half the instant coffee to each. Then add 1-1.5 tbsp of hazelnut syrup per person. Stir until well mixed. Take the milk saucepan off the heat and pour into the mugs. Stir and serve.
