Christmas 2017: 10 hot cocktails you can make at home

Hot cocktails are big business on London’s bar scene right now, with everything from Irish coffee to dubious-sounding hot gin and tonics gracing the capital’s drinks lists.

Traditional chilean alcoholic Christmas drink Cola de mono

Rather than getting miffed when you don’t get change back from a tenner on your order of mulled wine at the pub, why not whip something up at home?

We’ve rounded up the best, weirdest and most wonderful warm drinks you can make without stepping outside.

Whether you choose to keep it simple with a Hot Toddy or dare to be different with a Chilean Monkey’s Tail, there’s something to keep everyone warm and toasty while the winter months rage on.

Click through to see our picks of the best things to try making at home for Christmas 2017.

French Coffee

Irish coffee is a classic winter warmer, but why not travel slightly further afield this year with a hot-tail which carries a subtle hint of Anjou pear; a classic flavour of french cuisine?

Your average French coffee usually incorporates Cointreau and Kahula, but this take on a grown-up espresso has a smoother, lighter, and overall more refreshing taste to ward off the feeling of overdoing it on the Christmas turkey.

Ingredients (for 2): 35mls Grey Goose La Poire, 75mls Warm Speciality Filter Coffee, 15mls Demerara Sugar Syrup, Double Cream, Garnished with ground nutmeg

Method: Build all ingredients in a French coffee glass. Float double cream on top.

Spiced Apple Tea

Plenty of bars in London are cottoning on to the hot gin punch trend this year, and it’s simple to replicate at home. Try adding your Bombay Sapphire to this spiced apple tea, laced with heady cardamom, cinnamon, and tannin-rich tea for a substantial winter tipple.

Ingredients (makes 2): 50mls gin, 15mls Martini Bianco, 20mls fresh lemon juice, 3 thin slices of apple, 1 cinnamon stick; 3 clove; 3 cardamom pods (broken); ¼ vanilla bean, 1 black tea bag, 15mls honey, 150mls water, 50mls unfiltered/cloudy apple juice

Method: Add water, honey and apple to a pot and heat. add spices and tea bag when hot and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove tea bag and add apple juice. Strain. Add gin, Martini Rosso and fresh lemon juice and stir before serving. Serve in a large tea cup. Garnisg with orange zest, spent apple slices and nutmeg sprinkle

Mulled White Wine

Dare to be different by mulling white wine instead of your usual Merlot or Shiraz this year.

Go on, we dare you. Mulled wine is rife in pubs up and down the country this time of year, so why not try something a little different at home by swapping red wine and allspice for white, dried apricots and star anise.

Travel site ebookers.com sent us this recipe after creating a handy infographic of Christmas drinks around the world, with mulled white wine being a typical German winter tipple. To see more seasonal drinks from around the globe, both hot and cold, head to their website.

Ingredients (for a crowd): 2 bottles white wine, 500ml cider, 2 cinnamon sticks, 1tsp star anise, 4 tbsp. caster sugar, lemon zest from 1 lemon

Method: Pour your wine into a pan along with the cider and your mulling ingredients and bring to a simmer. When the smell of the spices are filling the kitchen, it’s ready to serve.

Glogg

Not ready to break away from a classic red wine-base? Supercharge your mulled drink with a glug of Brandy and have a Scandi celebration.

A stalwart of Scandinavian Christmas celebrations, Glogg is a supercharged (read: better) variation on mulled wine with the addition of brandy.

The drink also has delicious added garnishes of raisins and almonds, which rather conveniently double-up as a bar snack once you’ve drained the glass. 

Ingredients (for a batch): 1 litre red wine, 1 litre port, 750ml brandy, 3 cinnamon sticks, 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds, 24 cloves, 1 orange peel, 25g raisins, 25g blanched almonds, 400g sugar

Method: Warm your wine and liquors together in a pan until hot but not quite boiling. For an extra touch of culinary wizadry, you can flambé the mix, pouring the sugar into the flames to caramalise before extinguishing with the pan’s lid. Let it cool for about 10 minutes before adding your spices, raisins and almonds and serve when it’s cool enough to drink.

Cola de Mono

Traditional chilean alcohol Christmas drink Cola de mono

This Chilean serve, which translates to “monkey’s tail”, combines milk, sugar, coffee, cloves and a generous glugg of whatever booze you have available. While the origin of the “monkey’s tail” is largely unknown, most drinks experts agree you’ll be swinging like one after a few.

The fir branch garnishes are entirely optional, and we’d recommend passing them up in favour of something more sensible like a cinnamon stick.

Ingredients (makes 2): 6 cloves, 2 cinnamon sticks, 300ml milk, 75g sugar, 100ml fresh coffee, 50ml white rum/brandy/gin

Method: Fill a pan with your spices, milk and sugar and heat until the sugar is nicely dissolved. Take off the heat and stir in your coffee, add your poison of choice just before serving with a few cinnamon sticks to garnish.

Ponche Navideño

Mulled drinks are often heavy on the sugar at Christmas, so if you have less of a sweet tooth and don’t mind shopping around we recommend this slightly sour Mexican Christmas punch.

This drink uses plenty of, shall we say, unique ingredients like dried tejocote, which are hard to come by in your local supermarket, and takes a little bit more dedication than the others.

Nevertheless, keen foodies will find it a worthwhile investment. The ingredients are easily sourced on Amazon for a Navidad to remember.

Ingredients (for a crowd): 12 Tejocotes (Mexican Hawthorn), 3 cinnamon sticks, 1 cup dried hibiscus, 8 tamarind pods, 1 orange, 2 apples, 10 dried prunes, 1 cup roasted walnuts, 2 litres water.

Method: Boil hibiscus leaves in water and leave to steep for approximately one hour. Strain the mix and add the rest of your ingredients, including the sliced orange, and bring it to the boil until the fruit is soft. Serve in a punch bowl, hot or cold.

Tom and Jerry

Christmas is a time for aged spirits, and what better partners for sweet, creamy, cinnamon-laced drinks than brandy and rum?

A traditional Yuletide cocktail in the US, the Tom and Jerry was originally conceived by British journalist Pierce Egan in the 1820s. It is a variation on the popular egg nog drink made by adding brandy and rum and served hot. Its heartland are the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota where pre-made Tom and Jerry “batter” can be found in supermarkets approaching Christmas.

Ingredients (makes 2): 1 egg, 1tbsp ounce of syrup or sugar (I used maple syrup), 50ml dark rum, 50ml cognac or brandy, 350ml hot milk (dairy-free options like almond milk also work), grated nutmeg for garnish.

Method: Make by separating the yolk and white and beat them separately, before mixing together again. Add the sugar, rum and brandy then top with hot milk or water and stir well. Garnish with a sprinkling of nutmeg.

Hot toddy

if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Not only a winter warmer but a well-regarded treatment for colds and flu a hot toddy, known as a hot tottie in Ireland, is typically made by warming whisky with water, sugar and spices. Recipes vary greatly. In Scotland it is made using whisky, water, sugar and honey with added cloves, lemon slice or cinnamon. Whereas in Ireland the mix takes Irish whiskey, brown sugar, hot water, a slice of lemon and cloves. Over the pond, a typical recipe in the US midwest uses Bourbon, ginger ale, lemon and honey.

Ingredients (makes 2): 100ml whisky/whiskey, 2tsp sugar, 2tsp honey, 2 cloves, 2 cinnamon sticks, water to taste

Method: Combine the whisky, honey, hot water and cloves in a toddy glass and stir gently until completely combined. Squeeze in lemon juice, to taste. Remove the cloves, then garnish with a slice of lemon and cinnamon stick.

Mulled coretto

Bring a taste of Italy to the dinner table this Christmas with a fiery digestif.

Inspired by a bottle of Grappa Prosecco that has been collecting dust on my shelf for a few months now. In Italy, a common after-dinner drink involves pouring a small measure of Grappa into a single espresso. plenty of supermarkets stock own-label and criminally cheap bottles of pre-made mulled wine, which are easy to dress up. Take a leaf out of the Italian Christmas book with this restorative and sweet digestif.

Ingredients (for a crowd): 180ml espresso, 1l mulled wine, 120ml Grappa, 2tbsp honey

Method: Heat the mulled wine in a saucepan until it is almost boiling. Add the espresso, grappa and honey to the mulled wine. Stir well and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. add orange peel and cinnamon stick for garnish.

Wassail

A drink as old as medieval Christmastide. a Wassail is made up of cider, orange and spices, and was traditionally drunk while “Wassailing” — a ritual in which the folk of Southern England would wander door-to-door singing carols and house-visiting in exchange for a piping hot beverage. Some historians say this was an integral part of the cider-making process in the UK, as Wassailing ensured a good harvest next year.

If you don’t want to sing for your sup (and who can blame you?), try whipping this up on the stove instead to ring in the New Year.

Ingredients (for a crowd): 2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger, grated, 6 whole cloves, 1l apple cider or apple juice, 250ml orange juice, 75ml honey, 1 medium orange, cut into small pieces, 1 medium apple, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices, 1 lemon, cut into small pieces, 2 cinnamon sticks. Whisky, brandy or rum are also optional additions.

Method: Combine ginger, cloves, and cinnamon in a cloth pouch and tie to make sure it won’t spill. Heat a pan of apple juice, cider and honey until almost simmering, and add the pouch alongside the fruit. Simmer until everything is infused (ideally 3 hours, but we know you’re busy, so simmer to taste). Serve in mugs with a glug of additional alcohol if desired. Garnish with cinnamon sticks.