It’s around this time of year that I start getting messages from friends: “What cocktails shall I serve at my party?” “Can you recommend a good champagne for Christmas Day?” “How do I make an Espresso Martini?” So here are some festive drinks tips from some of the best hosts in the business.
Keep it refreshing
“Partying is a thirsty business – so go with wines that will leave you refreshed,” says Dye. “A fun crowd-pleaser like a zippy Grüner Veltliner or juicy Beaujolais.” Even in the depths of winter I also always serve lashings of rosé. Chilled wines on the rosé/red cusp also always go down well.
Christian Tschida Birdscape Pink, £39. BUY
Clos de Grillons Esprit Libre, £38.25. BUY
“A deep, dark rosé – Christian Tschida Birdscape Pink – or very light chilled red – Clos des Grillons Esprit Libre – that can be consumed on its own or with food, and doesn’t have to be treated with the utmost care,” says McMillan.
Use drinks as a focal point
A beautiful fruit-strewn punch that allows guests to serve each other can really break the ice (see recipe below). Serve with a little handwritten card alongside detailing the ingredients so you don’t have to explain it a hundred times. People tend to congregate in the kitchen, so use drinks to create focal points elsewhere; lay on mezcal shots in the sitting room or a pastis in the garden. Or create a spectacle, à la One Club Row, and construct a Martini tower.
Iced Peach Tea Punch by Juliette Larrouy
Serves approx 30
2 litres cold black peach tea
1.5 litres white rum
1 litre simple syrup (1kg sugar dissolved in 1 litre of water over a low heat and left to cool)
500ml fresh lemon juice
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl or jugs and chill in the fridge. Serve over ice with lots of citrus wheels.
Champagne is a no-brainer
Free-flowing champagne is marvellous – but it doesn’t need to last all night. I think it’s rather chic to serve a little coupe of champagne before moving on to cocktails. “Make sure it’s perfectly chilled to 8°C or 9°C prior to opening,” says Xavier Padovani. “Then allow it to go up to 10°C once it’s out of the refrigerator. Serve it in wine glasses – no one uses champagne glasses any more.”
Legrand-Latour Yprésien 2018, £110. BUY
Langham Culver Classic Cuvee, £33.95. BUY
A niche grower champagne should get people talking – especially if it has an interesting story attached. I love Legrand-Latour’s floral Yprésien 2018 – a Meunier-forward, subtly floral organic champagne, from a cave that’s studded with fossils. Or, if it’s an oenophile crowd, then consider English fizz. Sessions Arts Club’s head of wine Sophie Liverman suggests Langham’s classy Culver Classic Cuvée, which recently won Best Non-Vintage Sparkling at the WineGB awards.
Quantity is quality
Get drinks into your guests’ hands as soon as they arrive, says Tadas Alisauskas. “The first moments of a party are crucial.” “And plan to serve two to three drinks per guest for the first two hours, then one drink per hour after,” says Svajune Janeliunaite
Lean in to alcohol-free
Don’t neglect the non-alc options – even the biggest boozers need a break sometimes. “I’ll always offer a great selection of non-alcoholic beers, spirit alternatives such as Pentire Coastal Spritz, and a variety of sodas so guests can experiment,” says Nathan McCarley-O’Neill of Carbone. Good de-alcoholised wines are hard to come by, but the rosé fizz Beau Viva – which is made by the same people as Provençal rosé Maison Saint AIX – is great.
Vichy Catalan Naturally Sparkling Water, £2.95. BUY
Beau Viva, £27.50. BUY
Sparkling teas such as Saicho or Real offer a sophisticated substitute for champagne. A little gaggle of Crodinos on ice is hard to resist. And a smart sparkling water – Vichy Catalan or Chateldon 1650 – will also show you’ve put some thought into it.
Keep it simple
People often mistakenly offer too many choices. “People will try to offer something like 10 drinks, and then get overwhelmed. It’s much better to have two or three that you execute really well,” says Strangeway. “You want something you can make ahead of time, like a bottled cocktail or a punch. I would never shake a cocktail at a party – it just creates chaos and mess.” (Which means Espresso Martinis are out.)
Bottled Pomegranate Negroni by Nick Strangeway
Serves approx 30
750ml gin
750ml red vermouth
750ml Campari or other Italian bitter
750ml Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice (other brands may need filtering to remove sediment)
Mix all ingredients together, bottle and put in the fridge overnight to chill. Serve 100ml over a block of ice, in a rocks glass, garnished with a few pomegranate seeds.
Strangeway suggests serving a pre-bottled Pomegranate Negroni with a scattering of ruby pomegranate seeds (see his recipe, below). “Set the bottles out on the table in big tin baths full of ice and let people help themselves.”
Town’s Bottled Dill Boy Martini
Makes approx 700ml or 8 servings
340ml Luksosowa vodka (or other potato vodka)
140ml Aalborg Dill Akvavit
70ml Noilly Prat dry vermouth
170ml chilled mineral water
0.7g sea salt
Mix ingredients together, bottle and store in the fridge. Place in freezer for 2-3 hours before serving (but no longer or it will freeze solid). Garnish with a sprig of fresh dill or a few drops of dill oil.
“I’ll always make sure there are some freezer Martinis ready too, just in case we need to get things kick-started,” says Kevin Armstrong. (See his akvavit-spiked twist on a classic Martini, currently on the menu at Town restaurant.) Sparkling wine with a slosh of liqueur is another easy win – I love 25ml of yuzu sake topped up with chilled champagne.
Don’t stint on the ice
The number-one party fail, according to everyone, is not getting in enough ice. “Too many people treat ice like an optional extra rather than the lifeblood of the party,” says James Dye. “Warm drinks are unforgivable. You need tonnes more ice than you think.” If you’re serving cocktails, budget four to five cubes per drink; if you’re using ice to chill drinks as well, allow 1kg per person. If you don’t have room in the freezer, stack the bags tightly together in the bath or sink, to slow the rate at which they melt.
For really show-stopping cocktails, order in some crystal‑clear ice blocks and spheres from a specialist supplier such as Ice Studio. For a more DIY flourish, Nick Strangeway suggests serving festive G&Ts over rectangular ice cubes with pine sprigs frozen inside.
Chill wine, beer and mixers well in advance. “Put them in the refrigerator at least the night before,” says Juliette Larrouy. If possible, freeze your cocktail glasses as well – it will give your drinks the edge.
Go large…
“Magnums only! It screams celebration and is just fun to pour,” says Alisauskas. “Magnums are always fun,” agrees Amanda McMillan. “A delicious magnum of a light, chilled red equals party time.” “The theatricality of opening a big bottle of champagne is super-friendly,” says Padovani. “Relatively speaking, large formats can be cheaper, too. At the Farm Club nightclub in Verbier, we usually open a mag or two of Ruinart to kick off the season.”
Ruinart Blanc de Blancs NV, £218 (Magnum). BUY
Koehler-Ruprecht, £56, in store only at Shrine to the Vine
Turning up at a party with a (ready-chilled) magnum of Riesling is also a good way to make a splash, says Liverman: “If you can find them, magnums of Koehler-Ruprecht (£56, in store only, shrinetothevine.co.uk) are very well-priced.”
Something to snack on
And last but not least, don’t forget the food. “A baller move,” says McMillan, “is to serve some potato chips – the Spanish ones Bonilla a la Vista that come in a tin can are the very best – some oscietra caviar (don’t forget the caviar spoon, it’s essential), and crème fraîche. I also like to do a beautiful rustic grand aïoli plate with the prettiest vegetables I can find – lettuces, snap peas, green beans, radishes, sungold tomatoes – served with aïoli. A hot dog party also always crushes.” Alex Young prefers his party drinks with “a platter of cigarettes”.
@alicelascelles