Jared Brown's hot mulled sloe gin
Unlike hot mulled wine, this does not leave the back of your throat filled with tannic solids. Wine should only be served hot as an ingredient in coq au vin. Sloe gin on the other hand makes an excellent toddy – and beats the pants off any wine for mulling.
Serves two
water 100ml
cloudy apple juice 100ml
Sipsmith sloe gin 100ml
cinnamon stick 1
allspice berries 2-3
cardamon pods 3-4
candied ginger 1 piece
A slice of orange
Combine water and cloudy apple juice in a saucepan on low heat. Add spices and candied or fresh ginger. Simmer covered for about 20 minutes. Add the sloe gin and allow it to heat for another minute or two. Serve hot in a mug, teacup or Irish coffee glass. Garnish with a half orange slice and/or a cinnamon stick, or a piece of candied ginger on the rim.
Move on from prosecco
If you're weary of prosecco, but don't have the funds for good champagne, head for France's Jura and Loire valleys. Aldi's Philippe Michel Crémant du Jura 2011 (£6.99) is arguably the best-value fizz in the UK, and with its tingle of crisp apples, Château de l'Aulée Crémant de Loire NV (£12, Oddbins) is not far behind.
Drink the best whisky
Christmas days are incomplete without an island whisky. Among our favourites, the peaty, peppery 10-year-old Talisker from Skye (£34.25 from the Whisky Exchange) and its grown-up siblings, the sweeter, smoother 18-year-old (£71.95) and Distillers Editions (£52.35). This year's dream dram? A "Special Release" for 2013, cask-strength 27-year-old, a once-in-a-lifetime whisky for when Santa is feeling flush (£475).
thewhiskyexchange.com
Where to buy the best cognac
Chefs Henry and Matthew Harris's father Lewis supplies superior booze to Le Gavroche, St John, The Square and other top restaurants. He specialises in award-winning family-owned producers: a bottle of Grand Champagne 1er Cru Cognac Couprie costs £31, plus delivery, and Bas Armagnac Chateau de Lacquy and La Vieille Prune Louis Roque, £40. tengreenbottles.com
Wine match: turkey and trimmings
A lighter red or a richer white are the best matches for the turkey-based Christmas dinner. They're wines with enough substance to handle the competing trimmings (and plenty of acidity to cut through the fat and carbs) but without too much tannin to swamp the white meat.
Stéphanie Colinot's luminous-red Irancy Vieilles Vignes, France 2010 (from £18.90, Beaconsfield Wine Cellars, Bottle Apostle, Hoults Wine Merchants, Polygon Wines and the Secret Cellar) from northern Burgundy cleanses like cranberry sauce; while The Millton Vineyards Riverpoint Viognier, Gisbourne, New Zealand 2011 (£12.99, Vintage Roots) is a lush, exotically scented white treat.
Crack open the craft beers
Why bother with a generic crate of booze when you can sample the best of the burgeoning British craft ale scene. Try a full set of the six pale ales and India pale ales brewed from different hops by London's Kernel or a pick-and-mix of names such as Sussex's Darkstar, the Bristol Beer Factory and Manchester's Marble, ordered from an independent beer merchant such as Beer-Ritz in Leeds.
Drink a better sherry
Many of us grew up with parents who had a bottle of sweet sherry ready to have with cake when people popped in over the holiday. If you can't quite manage reliving the memories of a cream sherry, an elegant, adult Lustau Palo Cortado deserves a place on any Christmas table.
