New Year
Drinks for New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve is the one night of the year when everyone agrees that bubbles are a good idea. Make the most of it.
Most of these drinks are built on champagne or another sparkling wine, and nearly all of them take less than a minute, which is the whole point when you are serving twelve and laying the table at the same time. A couple belong to the early evening, a couple to midnight, and one to the hours afterwards, when somebody needs keeping awake.
The arithmetic is simple: a bottle pours six glasses. With one welcome drink and one for midnight, twelve guests need four bottles; if bubbles are the theme of the night, count half a bottle per guest. Buy one bottle more than you think you need. Everyone does, and nobody regrets it. For the shaken drinks, allow a bag of ice for every four guests; the ice always runs out first.
Whatever can be done ahead should be, because at half past eleven nobody has time to squeeze lemons. The day before: the peach purée for the Bellinis, the Negroni Sbagliato base in a bottle, and the punch, which needs a day to steep anyway. In the afternoon: lemons squeezed, sugar cubes soaked with bitters and laid out on a tray, twists cut and kept in a damp tea towel. Bubbles in the fridge by three o’clock, or in a bucket of ice and water half an hour before if you forgot. Ten minutes to midnight: flutes in a row, a sugar cube in each.
Alcohol-free sparkling wine has become good enough to stand on the same table, and it solves most things: a Kir Royale, a Bellini and a Champagne Cocktail turn alcohol-free by themselves when the bubbles do. Under each drink is what to pour for the people driving home. In one place it says, honestly, that there isn’t one.
13 recipes
Champagne CocktailA classic Champagne cocktail of sugar cube, bitters and cognac, sparkling with elegance.Sugar cube, bitters, cognac and champagne: the midnight drink above all others, and it takes thirty seconds. Lay the sugar cubes on a tray and dot them with bitters in the afternoon; they wait happily, and midnight becomes cube in the glass, cognac, top up. Twelve glasses: two bottles of champagne and 360 ml of cognac. Alcohol-free: alcohol-free sparkling wine over the same cube, with a strip of lemon peel instead of bitters if it must be entirely clean.
French 75Crisp citrus, gentle sweetness and a stream of Champagne bubbles lift gin's herbal perfume into something truly festive.Gin and champagne with lemon in between. Named after a field gun, and it lands about as hard. Mix the gin, lemon juice and syrup in a bottle in the afternoon, 70 ml per glass, and put it in the freezer for the last hour; it pours ice-cold into the glass before you top up, and the shaker stays in the cupboard. Alcohol-free: lemon, syrup and alcohol-free bubbles. A sparkling lemonade, which is what a French 75 really is.
Kir RoyaleFrench finesse in a glass: sweet cassis meets cold, crisp Champagne bubbles.Blackcurrant liqueur at the bottom, bubbles on top: the easiest welcome that still looks like something. For twelve: two bottles of bubbles and just under 200 ml of cassis. Pour the liqueur into the glasses before the guests arrive, and the welcome is just a top-up. Alcohol-free: 15 ml of blackcurrant cordial instead of cassis, alcohol-free sparkling wine on top. It looks the same and tastes almost the same.
BelliniCreamy peach purée and crisp Prosecco bubbles meet in one of Venice’s most elegant glasses.Peach purée and prosecco. Make the purée the day before and the rest is a pour. In December frozen peaches beat fresh ones: thaw, blend, sieve and stir in a squeeze of lemon to keep the colour. Twelve glasses: a kilo bag of frozen peaches and two bottles of prosecco. Alcohol-free: the same purée with alcohol-free sparkling wine. That is all there is to it.
Negroni SbagliatoBitter Campari, sweet vermouth and sparkling prosecco meet in a light, fizzy cocktail with the Negroni's soul.A Negroni with the gin swapped for bubbles, bitter enough to wake the appetite before dinner. Mix the Campari and sweet vermouth in a bottle the day before (it keeps for weeks in the fridge); each glass is then 60 ml from the bottle over ice, prosecco to the brim. Alcohol-free: our Non-alcoholic Negroni (Nogroni) is the base. Leave out the alcohol-free gin and top with alcohol-free bubbles instead.
Death in the AfternoonAbsinthe and cold Champagne meet in an opal-white, sparkling glass: sharp anise and equal parts elegance.Absinthe and champagne: Hemingway’s own recipe, and exactly as dramatic as the name promises. One per guest is plenty, and not as a welcome; it is stronger than it looks, and it looks strong. Alcohol-free: no. The absinthe is the whole point, so pour an alcohol-free Kir Royale instead.
Old CubanAged rum, fresh mint and lime meet dry Champagne in this elegant, sparkling modern classic.A Mojito in black tie: rum, mint and lime, topped with champagne instead of soda. The rum, lime, syrup and bitters can be mixed ahead, 100 ml per glass, but the mint has to go into the shaker fresh, so shake two at a time and top up in the glass. Alcohol-free: our Non-alcoholic Mojito with alcohol-free bubbles in place of the soda. The same idea, just without the rum.
Russian Spring PunchA fresh, berry-rich punch with a hint of lemon and a sparkling fizz of wine.Vodka, blackcurrant and lemon under the bubbles: the most drinkable on the list, which is meant as a warning. The name says punch, so make it like one: multiply, mix the vodka, cassis, lemon and syrup in a jug in the afternoon, and top each glass with bubbles. Alcohol-free: blackcurrant cordial, lemon and alcohol-free sparkling wine. The red colour is what people remember, and it is still there.
BarracudaGolden rum and Galliano meet fresh pineapple and lime, topped with a sparkling veil of Prosecco.Rum, Galliano and prosecco: golden, tropical and completely out of place in January, which is why it works. The pineapple juice, lime, rum and Galliano can be mixed ahead; shake with ice, strain into the glass and top up. Alcohol-free: pineapple juice, lime and a teaspoon of vanilla syrup, topped with alcohol-free bubbles. Galliano tastes of vanilla, and so does vanilla syrup.
Pink & BubblyA fresh pink drink of vodka, limoncello and citrus, topped with cold sparkling wine.Limoncello and grenadine turn the champagne pink, and it looks more expensive than it is. Everything but the bubbles can be bottled in the afternoon, and the sugar rims can be done while the guests take their coats off. Alcohol-free: our Shirley Temple is the same pink idea with nothing in it, and the children already know it.
Chatham Artillery PunchA powerful Southern punch of lemon sweetness, rum, rye and Madeira, topped with sparkling wine.For when there are a lot of you. Mix it in a bowl ahead of time and you are free for the rest of the evening. One batch is just over four litres and pours about thirty glasses, and it is far stronger than it tastes. Start two days ahead: lemon peel and sugar for the oleo saccharum, and the base needs a day in the fridge. The bubbles go in just before the bowl is carried out. Alcohol-free: the same tea and the same oleo saccharum, apple juice in place of the rum, rye and madeira, and alcohol-free bubbles on top. A punch that can stand beside the real one without anyone telling them apart from across the room.
Espresso MartiniA cold, creamy and gently bitter coffee drink with a lush foam and a touch of sweetness.Insurance against falling asleep at eleven. Shake it hard; the foam is half of it. Brew the espresso in the afternoon and chill it, as cold coffee shakes to a better foam than hot. Two per shake at most, or the foam collapses. Alcohol-free: ice-cold espresso shaken hard with ice and 15 ml of syrup. The foam comes from the shaking, not the vodka.
Star City FizzA fresh, bubbly fizz of pomegranate, cranberry and white rum, topped with soda water.Pomegranate and cranberry, red and festive: the one to hand to those who have had enough champagne. The rum and juices can be mixed in a jug ahead, 150 ml per glass, leaving just shake, strain and soda to the top. Alcohol-free: leave out the rum. Pomegranate, cranberry and soda are alcohol-free on their own, and the colour is the same.