Easy festive cocktails and mocktails you can make at home for Christmas

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12 Days of Christmas competition

To celebrate the countdown to Christmas we have launched a special festive competition to help you have a happy New Year.

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Five winners of our 12 Days of Christmas winter word search will receive an engraved, hand-crafted Bailey bracelet worth £230 and a Cockburn’s Port ‘big night in’ hamper.

All you have to do is find the letter included in the special 12 Days of Christmas content running each day in the Christmas sections of our top JPIMedia websites from December 13-24 and put them together to find a suitable word for this special time of year.

Although we know the 12 Days don’t begin until December 25 we were so excited that we thought we would start the celebrations early.

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While Christmas dinner certainly takes a spotlight role on the big day, you can’t forget about the drinks.

For something a little different, check out these 10 Christmas cocktails and mocktails that you can easily make at home to get you in the festive spirit.

Mulled wine

Recipe via BBC Good Food

You’ll need:

  • 750ml bottle of red wine
  • One large cinnamon stick, or two small ones
  • Two star anise
  • Four cloves
  • Two strips of lemon zest
  • Four tablespoons of caster sugar

Pop all of the above ingredients into a large pan and cook on a low heat for around 10 minutes.

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Remove from the heat and leave it cool, letting it infuse for around 30 minutes.

When you’re ready to serve, reheat the mulled wine and pour into mugs, or heatproof glasses.

Non-alcoholic mulled wine

You’ll need:

  • 500ml pomegranate juice
  • 25g of golden caster sugar
  • Handful of frozen blackberries
  • 250ml apple juice
  • One cinnamon stick
  • One star anise
  • Four cloves
  • Three black peppercorns
  • One orange, quartered

Place everything into a large pan and heat gently until simmering. Taste for sweetness and adjust accordingly. When you’re ready to serve, strain into heatproof glasses.

Eggnog

You’ll need:

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  • Three egg yolks
  • 75g golden caster sugar
  • 800ml whole milk
  • One teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Two cinnamon sticks
  • 150ml rum or brandy
  • 200ml whipping cream
  • Pinch of ground cinnamon or freshly grated nutmeg, to serve

Start by whisking together the egg yolks and the sugar in a bowl until well combined. Add the milk into a pan and add the vanilla and cinnamon sticks. Place over a medium low heat and bring just to the boil.

Pour the hot milk over the egg and sugar mixture and whisk together well. Pour this back into a cleaned out pan, place over low medium heat and stir constantly until it has slightly thickened.

Remove from the heat and add your rum or brandy, and set aside to cool for roughly 20 to 25 minutes, then chill for at least three hours.

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Once cool, whisk the cream and folk into the mixture. Fill six to eight glasses with ice and pour over your eggnog.

Garnish with a little ground cinnamon or a grating of fresh nutmeg.

Alcohol-free eggnog

You’ll need:

  • One vanilla pod, split and with the seeds scraped out
  • Four egg yolks
  • 100ml sugar syrup
  • 100ml double cream
  • 500ml whole milk
  • Ice

Put the vanilla in a large bowl and add the egg yolks and sugar syrup. Beat with an electric whisk until pale, about two to three minutes.

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Add the cream and milk, and beat again until just combined.

Fill a large jug with ice, then strain in the eggnog mixture. Stir gently until the outside of the jug feels cold, then pour the eggnog into glasses to serve.

Apple and berry buck’s fizz

You’ll need:

  • 360ml apple and raspberry juice
  • Six oranges, squeezed
  • One bottle of cava, chilled
  • 15g of fresh mint, to garnish

Quarter fill 12 champagne glasses or small wine glasses with apple and raspberry juice, then squeeze the juice of half an orange into each glass. Top up with chilled cava and garnish with the fresh mint.

Serve immediately.

Non-alcoholic orange and rosemary fizz

You’ll need:

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  • Two large orange wedges
  • A sprig of rosemary
  • Soda water
  • One teaspoon of pomegranate seeds
  • One cinnamon stick, to serve

Put the orange and half the rosemary into a highball glass. Muddle well and then fill with ice. Top off with soda water, stir and garnish with the pomegranate seeds and remaining rosemary.

Hot toddy

You’ll need:

  • ¾ cup water
  • One and a half ounces of whisky
  • Two to three teaspoons of honey, to taste
  • Two to three teaspoons of lemon juice, to taste
  • One lemon round
  • One cinnamon stick (optional, for garnish)

Boil your water and pour it into your mug - add your whisky, two teaspoons of honey and two teaspoons of lemon juice and stir until the honey has dissolved into the water.

Have a taste and add more lemon or honey depending on your tastes.

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Garnish with your lemon round and cinnamon stick and enjoy.

Non-alcoholic peppermint julep

You’ll need:

  • One cup of crushed ice
  • One ounce of peppermint simple syrup
  • Two to three ounces of cranberry ginger ale
  • A spring of fresh mint
  • A candy cane for garnish

Start by adding your peppermint syrup to the bottom of a glass, add your ice and top off with the cranberry ginger ale.

Add your mint and candy cane for garnish and serve.

Gingerbread and espresso martini

You’ll need:

  • 50ml of vodka
  • 25ml of chilled espresso coffee
  • 15ml of gingerbread syrup
  • Three coffee beans

Rim a chilled martini glass with cinnamon and sugar. Set aside and place all the liquid ingredients into a shaker with some ice.

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Shake and then strain into the glass. Add coffee beans to garnish.

Festive chai white russian

You’ll need:

  • 75ml of cooled Chai tea infused milk
  • 50ml of vodka
  • 25ml of coffee liqueur
  • Ice

Put the coffee liqueur into a glass and fill with ice. Mix the vodka with the chai tea and pour over the top. Serve immediately.

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