Article: Christmas cocktails from the distillery
Christmas cocktails from the distillery
These are our favourite Christmas cocktails, made and tested at the distillery in Tanygroes. Some are for a crowd, some for one glass by the fire. Each has its own recipe page on our blog.
Most of them start with our Signature Style Gin. Inspired by the cargoes that came into New Quay and the flavours of Welsh baking, it carries orange, cinnamon, clove, ginger and tea-soaked currants. Christmas in a bottle, more or less.
- Mulled gin
- Mince Pie Martini
- Christmas Sour
- Plum & Cinnamon Sour
- Christmas Coffee
- Spiced Tea
- Winter Spritz
- Saffron Old Fashioned
- Boulevardier
- Hot toddy
- Aged White Dragon
Mulled Welsh Gin (or rum)
Our easiest batch serve, and always a favourite at our Distillery Open Weekend. Spiced apple juice, a little honey, and a measure of gin in each mug.
Ingredients
- 200ml Signature Style Gin or Eccentric Black Batch Rum (25ml per person)
- 1 litre apple juice
- 1 lemon and 1 orange, sliced
- 1 star anise, 8 cloves, 3 bay leaves, 3 cinnamon sticks
- 4 tsp coriander seed and 8 juniper berries, crushed
- 2.5 tsp runny honey (we like local Welsh honey), or to taste
Method
- Pour the apple juice into a large saucepan and add everything except the spirit. A muslin bag keeps the spices together.
- Heat gently until simmering, then take off the heat.
- Ladle into 8 glasses or mugs, add 25ml of gin or rum to each and top with a slice of orange or lemon.
The spiced apple is lovely on its own, so anyone not drinking can share the same pan.
Mince Pie Martini
Gin, spiced rum, red vermouth and a homemade mince pie syrup, in a sugar and spice rimmed glass.
Ingredients
- 4 tsp mincemeat (the best you can find)
- 100ml Signature Style Gin
- 100ml red vermouth
- 50ml Eccentric Black Batch Rum
- 80ml mince pie syrup
Method
- For the syrup, simmer 100g soft brown sugar, 50g mincemeat and 100ml water until the sugar dissolves. Cool, strain and chill.
- For the rim, mix 4 tbsp sugar with 4 tsp mixed spice. Wet the rim of each glass and roll it in the sugar.
- Spoon the mincemeat into a shaker, add the gin, vermouth, rum and syrup and stir.
- Add ice, shake well and strain into your rimmed glasses.
Welsh Christmas Sour
Clementine, lemon and a float of mulled wine, whose cinnamon and clove sit well with the spice in the gin.
Ingredients
- 50ml Signature Style Gin
- 25ml fresh clementine juice
- 15ml fresh lemon juice
- 10ml simple syrup
- 20ml mulled wine
- Charred clementine to garnish
Method
- Chill a shaker with ice for a minute or two.
- Add the gin, citrus juices and simple syrup, and shake.
- Strain over a couple of large ice cubes in a rocks glass.
- Pour the mulled wine slowly over the back of a bar spoon so it floats, and garnish with the charred clementine.
For simple syrup, warm equal parts sugar and water until the sugar dissolves, without boiling. It keeps in the fridge for a few weeks.
Plum & Cinnamon Sour
Sticky plum syrup and a silky egg white foam, finished with a sprig of singed rosemary.
Ingredients
- 60ml Signature Style Gin
- 25ml fresh lemon juice
- 20ml homemade plum syrup
- A small pinch of ground cinnamon
- 1 egg white
- A sprig of rosemary to garnish
Method
- Chill a shaker with ice, then tip the ice out.
- Add the gin, lemon, syrup, cinnamon and egg white with a single ice cube and shake hard until frothy.
- Double strain into a coupe.
- Briefly light the end of the rosemary and lay it on the foam.
For the syrup, simmer 500g chopped plums, 100g caster sugar, 250ml water and a split vanilla pod for 30 minutes, then strain and cool.
Welsh Christmas Coffee
A rich, creamy party drink. Equal measures make it easy to scale up.
Ingredients
- 25ml Signature Style Gin
- 25ml coffee liqueur
- 25ml cream liqueur
- 25ml cream
- Grated nutmeg, a cinnamon stick and a star anise to garnish
Method
- Shake everything hard with ice. Chill the shaker first if you like it very cold.
- Strain into a rocks glass over large ice cubes.
- Grate a little nutmeg over the top and finish with the cinnamon stick and star anise.
Welsh Wind Spiced Tea
Our Cardigan Bay take on an iced tea, inspired by the clippers that once sailed in with tea, dried fruit and spice.
Ingredients
- 25ml Signature Style Gin
- 12.5ml Eccentric Black Batch Rum
- 12.5ml Cardi Bay Vodka
- 12.5ml Cointreau
- 25ml fresh lemon juice
- 12.5ml Earl Grey syrup
- 25ml cranberry juice
Method
- Shake the gin, rum, vodka, Cointreau, lemon juice and syrup with ice.
- Strain into a highball glass filled with ice and top with the cranberry juice.
- Garnish with a strip of lemon peel.
For the syrup, boil 500g caster sugar with 250ml water, then steep 3 Earl Grey tea bags for 30 minutes and cool.
Winter Aperol Spritz
A festive twist on the Italian classic, made with Pembrokeshire Pinky Gin from our Eccentric Spirit Co range. Cranberry brings a sour edge, and the gin's cherry and lemongrass keep it fresh.
Ingredients
- 25ml Pembrokeshire Pinky Gin
- 25ml Aperol
- 25ml cranberry juice
- 75ml prosecco
- 25ml soda water
- Orange slices and a rosemary sprig to garnish
Method
- Fill a wine glass with ice and pour in all the ingredients.
- Stir well with a bar spoon.
- Garnish with orange slices and a sprig of rosemary.
Saffron Gin Old Fashioned
An Old Fashioned made with gin instead of whisky. Our Palo Cortado Cask-Aged Gin brings almonds, dried stone fruit and wood spice. It was a World Gin Awards 2026 Global Finalist, one of the top five matured gins in the world.
Ingredients
- 60ml Palo Cortado Cask-Aged Gin
- 1 white sugar cube
- 2 dashes Atlas Gold Saffron Bitters
- 1 dash orange bitters
- Orange peel, plus extra to garnish
Method
- Soak the sugar cube with both bitters in a rocks glass.
- Add a small dash of the gin and muddle to a smooth paste.
- Fill with fresh ice, add the rest of the gin and stir until cold.
- Squeeze a strip of orange peel over the glass and garnish with an orange twist.
The Brychan Boulevardier
A Negroni with whisky in place of gin. With no juices or mixers, the whisky has nowhere to hide, so we make ours with Brychan, our first Blended Welsh Malt Whisky.
Ingredients
- 50ml Brychan
- 25ml sweet red vermouth
- 25ml Campari
- Orange zest twist to garnish
Method
- Chill a rocks glass.
- Stir the Brychan, vermouth and Campari with ice.
- Strain over one large ice cube in the chilled glass.
- Garnish with an orange zest twist.
A Welsh whisky hot toddy
Whisky, something sweet, lemon and hot water. Ours swaps the usual spoonful of honey for Oak Whisky Barrel-Aged Traditional Mead from Hive Mind, a meadery in the Wye Valley, alongside Brychan.
Ingredients
- 50ml Brychan
- 25ml Hive Mind Oak Whisky Barrel-Aged Traditional Mead
- 10ml fresh lemon juice
- 50ml hot water
- 1 dash of orange bitters
- A dehydrated orange slice, to garnish
Method
- Warm a heatproof glass with hot water, then tip it out.
- Add the Brychan, mead, lemon juice and orange bitters.
- Top up with the hot water and stir.
- Garnish with a dehydrated orange slice.
Aged White Dragon
Our take on a White Russian, made with Limited Edition Cask-Aged Vodka. An oak barrel that once held red wine gives it vanilla, caramel and soft spice, which suit coffee and cream.
Ingredients
- 50ml Cask-Aged Vodka
- 25ml Kahlúa
- 50ml double cream
- Grated dark chocolate to finish
Method
- Shake the vodka and cream hard with ice for 15 to 20 seconds.
- Pour the Kahlúa into a rocks glass of fresh ice.
- Strain the vodka and cream over the top.
- Finish with freshly grated dark chocolate.
Christmas cocktail questions
What gin is best for Christmas cocktails? A gin with warm spice suits festive flavours like mulled wine, mincemeat and clementine. Our Signature Style Gin has orange, cinnamon, clove, ginger and tea-soaked currants, so it sits naturally in mulled drinks, sours and martinis. For something slower, try Palo Cortado Cask-Aged Gin in an Old Fashioned.
Can mulled gin be made alcohol free? Yes. Our mulled gin is spiced apple juice with the gin added to each glass at the end. Leave it out and non-drinkers, drivers and younger guests can share the same pan.
How do you make mince pie syrup for a mince pie martini? Combine 100g soft brown sugar (or golden caster sugar), 50g mincemeat and 100ml water in a pan. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then cool, strain and keep in the fridge.
For the gin and whisky lovers in your life
If you are buying for someone who would enjoy making these, our Christmas gifts page brings together our gins, our Welsh whisky and cask ownership. A bottle of Signature Style with a pair of our tasting glasses is a good place to start.
Iechyd da, a Nadolig Llawen
from all of us at In the Welsh Wind.
