Dirty Santa at Dirty Bones
This Christmas, Dirty Bones are serving up the Dirty Santa cocktail, which sees Finlandia vodka mixed with fresh ginger, blueberries, Velvet Falernum liqueur, cinnamon, apple juice and lime juice, and vanilla and cinnamon infused maple syrup. The Dirty Santa is served alongside a range of festive specials, such as the Mac Baubles (Dirty Bones Mac & Cheese Balls with a sweet chilli cranberry sauce), Winter Waffles (caramelised root vegetable waffles with rosemary fried chicken and maple syrup)and Mince Pie Mess (smashed mince pie with brandy butter gelato and coconut snow).
The Green Bar at Cafe Royal
This Christmas the Green Bar at Cafe Royal is serving four wonderful cocktails to get guests in the festive mood. Mulled White Wine is made with white wine, Bowmore 12yo, lemon juice, Christmas spices and handmade syrup and garnished with a vanilla pod, golden raisin, and lemon and orange twist. Devil’s Christmas combines Ketel One chilli infused vodka, Frangelico and Cacao liqueurs, and is finished with fresh chilli. The Winter Mule sees cinnamon infused Sipsmith Sloe Gin mixed with Fonseca Aged Port, lime juice, chocolate bitter and topped up with ginger beer, all garnished with a cinnamon stick and lime twist. Finally, the Royal Blazer sees Janneau Grand Armagnac flash infused with flambed berries and finished with a wild berry liqueur. The festive tipples are available in the Green Bar at Cafe Royal until the 3rd of January. www.hotelcaferoyal.com
Christmas cocktails at Busaba Eathai
Discover a Bangkok Christmas and enjoy Busaba Eathai’s specially created seasonal beverages to bring the perfect seasonal flavours to festivities this year. The festive drinks include Christmas spritz; White wine, elderflower cordial, grapefruit liqueur, Kamm & Sons Ginseng liqueur topped with ginger beer or Busaba’s Mulled wine; a Thai infused twist on a classic.
A Caribbean Christmas at Big Easy Canary Wharf
The newly opened Big Easy in Canary Wharf is launching a new range of cocktails on 14 December to be served in their colossal rum bar and lounge – the perfect way to celebrate the Caribbean way this Christmas. The theatrical new cocktails include Black Pearl – the “love-child of a Champagne Cocktail and a lava lamp” (8 year old Bacardi, sugar, Champagne, and Kahlua infused ‘black pearls’); Boston Tea Party (pomegranate tea, Plantation 3 Star Rum Balthazar Rose Vermouth and coffee bean infused ginger bitters); and House Above the Clouds (Guatemalan rum, sugar and bitters mixed on a cloud box and served in apple-wood smoke).
#HottieHoliday at The Distillery
Exclusively for the holiday season, expert mixologists at The Distillery have created three new festive cocktails including ‘The Hottie Holiday’ served warm with a candy cane garnish and made from Jameson Irish Whiskey shaken with Milk, Wine Port and a home-made Christmas syrup using fresh ingredients from neighbouring Borough Market; the ‘Mona Lisa Smile Again’ with Cognac Ruby Port, Grand Marnier and Angostura Bitter, and the ‘Liquid Carbonara’ using Bourbon fat wash bacon, Cointreau infused parsley, sage syrup, egg white and bitter lemon served with sweet fried pasta and bacon on the side. Located inside the recently launched Hilton Bankside hotel, The Distillery is built on the site of a renowned essence factory from the 1800s named Stevenson & Howell’s Standard Works.
Wonderful cocktails at Lodge d’Argent
City restaurant Coq d’Argent has once again created a magical Alpine themed winter wonderland. The bar has been transformed into a cosy chalet, complete with rustic wooden chalet walls, vintage skis, animal horns and cosy knits. The selection of winter warmer cocktailsinclude: Alpine Sour (Hennessy Fine Cognac, apricot brandy, lemon juice, aromatic bitters and egg white) and the Avalanche (Hennessy Fine Cognac infused with apricot and earl grey tea, apricot brandy, peach puree, lemon juice and egg white).
Pollen Street Social’s Nutcracker cocktail
This year, Jason Atherton’s Michelin-starred Pollen Street Social will be serving up a festive cocktail inspired by The Nutcracker ballet. Designed by Bar Manager Greg Almeida, ‘Nutcracker’ combines the rich, nutty flavours of chestnut and spicy layers of black cardamom with the sweetness of maple, cocoa nibs, cream and the warming notes of Bulleit Rye whiskey. Priced at £13.50, the cocktail is served alongside a musical ornament of a drummer boy from the ballet. http://pollenstreetsocial.com/
Old Bengal Bar
This Christmas, East London favourite, Old Bengal Bar, will be mixing up the ‘Winter Forest’ cocktail to be served on the bar’s new winter terrace in collaboration with Ketel One Vodka. Combining the flavours of pine infused Ketel One, spiced pear, lemon, gomme and soda, each sip will evoke the feeling and aromas of a crisp walk through a snowy pine forest- what could be more festive?
