Spice up New Year’s with these fabulous festive cocktails

1. Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Pudding Vodka
Ingredients
1 piece of mace blade
2 sticks of cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground mixed spice
1 lemon
1 orange
300g currants
200g chopped mixed peel
450g light muscovado sugar
1 litre quality vodka.

Method
1. Warm the spices in a dry pan over a low heat for 10 minutes, or until the aromas are released.
2. Grate the lemon and orange rind into in a bowl, then squeeze in 2 tablespoons of each juice.
3. Combine with the rest of the ingredients, including the warmed spices. Mix well, cover and chill for 3 to 4 days, stirring a few times daily, if you can.
4. To bottle the vodka, line a sieve with muslin and strain. Discard the cinnamon sticks, but reserve the soaked fruits for other uses.
5. Decant the vodka into clean bottles and seal – this will store for up to one year, and can be served from the freezer or at room temperature.

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2. Distell’s Black Bottle Bitters and Cola:
Ingredients
1 part Black Bottle whisky
2 to 3 dashes Angostura Bitters
2 parts cola
Orange wedge
Ice

Method
Fill the glass to the rim with ice cubes. Add the bitters, Black Bottle whisky and cola. Stir and add orange wedge.

3. Amarula Dom Pedro
Ingredients
60ml Amarula
30ml espresso
120ml vanilla ice cream
25ml thick cream
Chocolate powder or pieces for garnishing

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Method
Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker or blender. Seal the container, shake or blend thoroughly and pour into a glass. Garnish with chocolate powder or pieces.

4. Red Wine Sangria
Ingredients
1 (750ml) bottle of red wine
1 lemon, cut into wedges
1 orange, cut into wedges
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 ounces brandy
2 cups ginger ale or club soda
Optional: Lemon or orange wheels

Method
1. Gather your ingredients.
2. Pour the wine into a pitcher and squeeze the juice from the lemon and orange wedges into the wine.
3. Toss in the fruit wedges (try to remove seeds first, if possible) and add the sugar and brandy, stirring gently until the sugar dissolves.
4. Cover the pitcher with plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight to marry the fruit and wine flavours.
5. Add the ginger ale or club soda just before you serve it. Garnish with freshly cut lemon or orange wheels if desired.

5. Nutmeg and orange Christmas coffee
Ingredients
4 tablespoons ground coffee
1 small cinnamon stick
2 pitted dates
Pinch of ground nutmeg
2 cloves
Strip of pared orange zest.

Method
1. Put the ground coffee, cinnamon stick and dates in a large cafetière. Add the ground nutmeg, cloves and orange zest, then pour over 400ml freshly boiled water.
2. Stir gently with a wooden spoon to combine, then leave to steep for 4 minutes. Slowly push down the plunger and serve in espresso cups.

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