Food,  Lifestyle

Best Drinks To Drink This Festive Season 2024

It’s time to stock the drinks shelf for the festive season and we have some of our favourites that will have you merry from Christmas to New Year’s. (As always though drink responsibly!)

Rozèl Rose Vodka

Celebrate a pink Christmas with Rozél Rosé Vodka—the original premium vodka for rosé lovers, perfect for holiday parties, cozy winter gatherings, or festive cocktails by the tree. Available as a refreshing RTD canned spritz or as a versatile spirit for creating blush cocktails, Rozél brings a festive sparkle to the season.

The RTD Rozél Rosé Vodka with Raspberry Lemonade Spritz combines fruity rosé-inspired vodka with zesty pink lemonade—ideal for easy holiday sipping. For mixing, the original Rozél Rosé Vodka bottle delivers juicy raspberry, white peach, and pink grapefruit notes, perfect for both gifting and celebrations.

Bottle RRP – £30/70cl 

Cans RRP – £2.49/250ml 

Stockists – Amazon, Harvey Nichols

CHOPIN POTATO VODKA

For lovers of white spirits, Chopin Potato Vodka makes the perfect gift. This is a full-bodied vodka with notes of green apple, citrus, and fresh cut grass, carried by a creamy, rich mouthfeel. Ideal in an ice-cold martini for a luxurious after dinner nightcap. 70cl | 40% ABV | RRP £39
AVAILABLE AT THE WHISKY EXCHANGE

Cocchi Vermouth

Cocchi Extra Dry is a classic-style, Italian vermouth from Piedmont. Wine-forward and elegant, it uses a wine base made of quality local Cortese grapes and botanicals such as wormwood, angelica, coriander, cardamom, lemon peel and Piedmontese mint.  It shows aromas of fresh apple, melon and white flowers along with herbaceous notes. Cocchi Extra Dry celebrates one of the most important regions of vermouth production in the world and was developed to enrich classic cocktails such as the Martini (a 2:1 gin martini with Boatyard Double Gin and garnished with a mint leaf), or the Bamboo (40ml Cocchi Extra Dry stirred with 40ml dry sherry, garnished with lime zest). It is also equally at home served long with elderflower tonic, soda water or sipped over ice.

Cocchi Extra Dry – 50CL, 17% ABV – available nationwide at Waitrose – £20

Lacheteau Crémant de Loire
This brut has a straight and lively attack and is  well structured with a persistent effervescence. Tasting notes include a A touch of lemon and berry fruits. Lemon, tangerine, exotic fruits on the nose. (£16, Ocado). Festive Pairing: Perfect with crab.
Jura Cremant
Made using Chardonnay grapes, this is an elegant and harmonious Crémant from the lesser-known region of Jura in the east of France. Made using Chardonnay grapes.
Festive Pairing: This is perfect with cheese from the Jura region, like Comté or Emmental.
Calvet Crémant de Bordeaux Blanc (£11, Ocado)
 A beautiful golden-yellow body wine with fine and persistent bubbles from the Bordeaux region. This sparkling wine offers a fresh and balanced palate, expressing notes of yellow fruit and toasted brioche touches. Festive Pairing: A great choice when serving bread sauce.

Wild Idol

Wild Idol’s non-alcoholic sparkling Rosé and White are created using traditional winemaking skills and the highest quality fruit. Stylishly presented in beautifully crafted gift boxes. Available at: Selfridges RRP £34.99 https://wildidol.com

Searcys

Searcys recently launched  two exclusive new Cuvées, Searcys Selected Cuvée Brut Champagne and Searcys Selected Cuvée Rosé, just in time to add some sparkle to the winter season. Both available to purchase at the Searcys online store, with home delivery. For more information on Searcys Champagnes and English Sparkling Wines visit the Searcys Shop here https://gifts.searcys.co.uk/

Showerings cider

Christmas is all about sharing food and drink with friends and family and Showerings Triple Vintage Cider is the perfect Christmas gifts as it pairs brilliantly with food. Showerings Cider is made by combining the unique characteristics of the 2021, 2022 and 2023 apple harvests.

It is available to buy online via Showerings website and costs £45 for a case of x12 375ml bottles or £30 for a case of x6 375ml bottles. It is also sold by Partridges, Amathus Drinks, Jeroboams and Bailey & Sage amongst others.

Diistil chocolate orange spirit

Crafted in Diistil’s state-of-the-art London distillery, the new limited edition Chocolate Orange flavour, made from cacao and orange peel, blends the rich, velvety essence of premium chocolate with bright, zesty notes of fresh orange. A nod to the famous piece of confectionery synonymous with Christmas that many of us found in the bottom of our stockings, Diistil’s chocolate orange will add some warmth to a bonfire night party, or some festive cheer to a Christmas day aperitivo or night cap. The limited-edition chocolate orange is available to purchase from Diistil, www.diistil.com priced at £29.

Penrhos blueberry gin liqueur

For Christmas, Penrhos Spirits, the family-run artisan gin brand from Herefordshire, has launched two new limited edition gin liqueurs: Penrhos Blueberry Gin Liqueur and Penrhos Apple and Rhubarb Gin Liqueur, available from Amazon and the Penrhos Spirits website, priced at £18 and with an ABV of 20%. The brand has chosen to re-launch their delicious Penrhos Blueberry Gin Liqueur just in time for Christmas, as well as a new Rhubarb and Apple Gin Liqueur following the success of the Penrhos Spirits Rhubarb Gin. The liqueurs can be enjoyed neat, on the rocks, as an aperitif, in prosecco or champagne, or even as the base of a fruity cocktail. They can also be used in cooking, and are the perfect addition to any Christmas bakes, desserts and even over ice cream.

https://www.penrhosspirits.co.uk/

PATRÓN SILVER

PATRÓN Silver is available for £45.10 from Amazon

PATRÓN Silver is a flawless white spirit made from the finest 100% Weber Blue Agave with citrus, fruity notes. The soft, sweet, fresh agave is perfectly balanced by hints of citrus and white pepper. Handmade in small batches to be smooth and easily mixable, with a fresh agave flavour and baked agave undertones. The perfect spirit for Christmas flavoured cocktails like a cranberry and cinnamon flavoured Poinsettia Smash, or a classic margarita.

James  Gin

We love this new gift set! This time it features Asian Parsnip, London Drizzle and California Dreamgin’ in handy ‘hide in your hand luggage’ 5ml sizes. Also perfect if you don’t like someone quite enough to buy them a full bottle at Christmas.
The New James Gin Mini Gift Set includes:
5cl Asian Parsnip Gin (sweet, parsnip, spicy)
5cl California Dreamgin’ (mushroom & patchouli, man)
5cl London Drizzle Gin (umami, beetroot, ‘freshly wetted pavement’)

Gordon Ramsay wines

A vibrant red from Gordon Ramsay Wines:
This Christmas, toast the good times with the vibrant flavours of Gordon Ramsay Intenso Rosso, the perfect accompaniment to make your Christmas moments truly memorable.
Gordon Ramsay Intenso Rosso is currently available at leading UK supermarkets, including Tesco, Morrisons, and Asda, priced at an RRP of £8.50 per bottle. Gordon Ramsay Intenso Rosso and Gordon Ramsay Pinot Grigio  are available at Tesco, see here and here.

Brockmans gin

Festive flavours from Brockmans Gin:
Perfect for festive cocktails (like the smoky rosemary paloma, above), choose from Intensely Smooth Brockmans Gin, Orange Kiss or Agave Cut . The perfect gift for the Brockmans Gin fan in your life, how about a personalised bottle of Intensely Smooth Brockmans Gin, which comes in a sleek presentation box? Price: £45 and available from the Brockmans website:

Sorcova Feteasca Regala

This gorgeous wine is the perfect hostess guest! It’s available at Waitrose for £8.99. For more details visit here.

ZONIN Limoneto Spritz

A new premium sparkling wine-based drink, inspired by the Italian culture of Aperitivo Hour.  It is a blend of Italian white wine infused with Sicilian lemon juice, with an ABV of 11%. Poured over ice, it creates a refreshing aperitivo style drink – just the thing for cooling off.

RRP: £10.00, via Morrisons and Amazon

Hayman’s gin

Hayman’s The Original Gin (Waitrose Stores + https://www.waitrose.com  + www.haymansgin.com)

The Original Gin, Hayman’s has a range of beautifully hand gift-wrapped gins, perfect for Christmas gifting.   Hayman’s multi-award winning London Dry Gin is the benchmark in London Dry Gin.  Crisp and refreshing with notes of juniper, subtle exotic spice and a lively citrus finish, Hayman’s London Dry gin is distilled today using the original family recipe from 1863, and is enjoyed in more than 70 countries around the world.  Available in:  London Dry Gin (blue wrap), Sloe Gin (red wrap and unwrapped) and Old Tom Gin (green wrap and unwrapped).

Limonata Cîroc

Cîroc Vodka have launched their new limited-edition flavour, LIMONATA which is available to purchase on Amazon and on personalisation platform, INKD. Limonata is made from fine French grapes with Lemon and citrus flavours. Its elegantly balanced tart zest transforms into a smooth sweetness, giving you a taste of a Mediterranean summer’s day, wherever you are in the world and even in the middle of winter.  The new limited-edition flavour can be enjoyed in a Cîroc Limonata Spritz or with lemonade at this year’s festive parties.

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Apple

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Apple has the unique character of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey coupled with crisp green apple for a fresh and rewarding taste. It’s bold, refreshing, and exceptionally smooth. We love it in an Apple back, shot of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Apple, Shot of Apple juice and suck on a slice of lime or lemon!  70cl £27.99.

https://www.jackdaniels.com/en-gb/whiskey/tennessee-apple