Cocktails: vacation libation inspiration

How to rustle up great cocktails without breaking the bank
Cocktails: Manhattan, Cosmopolitan, Martini
Cocktails: Manhattan, Cosmopolitan, Martini. Photograph: Alamy

There's been an interesting experiment going on at London drinking den, the Social. Until December 31, it is home to LTD, a temporary cocktail bar that is attempting to demystify the mixed drink. There are no molecular cocktails; no confusing banks of triple-distilled vodkas; no eye-wateringly expensive options. Instead, following a blind tasting by a panel of industry experts, LTD's creators, Dre Masso and Eric Yu, have whittled down their spirit selection to just six bottles: one vodka (Stolichnaya), one brandy (Courvoisier VS) and so on, a further rule being that said spirits had to retail for around £20.

Who better, then, to advise the Word of Mouth community on how to serve great cocktails, this Christmas, on a budget? If you can only afford one bottle of spirits, says Masso, choose rum. It works particularly well across traditional festive drinks, such as hot toddies, mulled wine and egg nog, but it is also a versatile component of perennial no-fuss party cocktails, such as a dark 'n' stormy (ginger beer, squeezed lime, Angostura bitters) or an ad hoc punch.

Plus, it offers value: "Go to a good off-licence or supermarket, like Waitrose, and for around £20 you can get some really high-end rums. Translate that to cognac, and you're probably not going to get anything decent under £20. We carry Havana Club 7, which works fabulously well. If you've got a few more quid, Zacapa 23 is fantastic. In aged rums that have settled in ex-bourbon barrels, you get good American whiskey qualities: vanilla, chocolate, tobacco and oak. So, if you just want to sip a good aged spirit at Christmas, you can do that with rum, too."

In terms of white spirits, Masso is personally unenthusiastic about vodka ("It doesn't stand-out ... you may want that out of a drink"), is a great fan of tequila's figgy, honey notes, but settles on gin as a more consensual, all-rounder. Gin's almost endless botanical complexity, of liquorice sweetness, acidity, spiciness, is a great base from which to experiment, and Masso loves a gin hot toddy made with lemon juice, honey, hot water, and perhaps finessed with cinnamon, clove-studded mandarin or star anise: "You can make seriously grown-up drinks with gin."

Interestingly, despite its naff reputation, not least among LTD's tasting panel, Beefeater came out as their top choice. "We blind-tasted it and it was a great gin and tonic, a great gin Martini. All the flavours you'd expect, the citrus and juniper, did what they were supposed to do. It's an immaculately-made gin," says Masso, who, we should point out, does a bit of promotional work for the brand.

As for bar equipment, don't bother. To mix your drinks, Masso recommends using a wide, stumpy glass jar (LTD use Kilners, but an old Bonne Maman conserve jar is perfect), and a chopstick rather than a fancy bar spoon. "The best thing for creating a citrus zest is a potato peeler. Use stuff that you've got." Save your pennies for the crucial components of good mixed-drinks: quality lemons and limes; fresh mint; some sort of sweetening agent ("I'd suggest making a sugar syrup at home.); a small bottle of Angostura Bitters, and, if you can stretch to it, triple sec: "If you need one liqueur for a home bar, it's triple sec. It helps you with a Margarita, Cosmopolitan, a Sidecar, White Lady."

You can make better ice at home, says Masso, than you can in a bar, using filtered or purified water and the larger ice trays that you can buy in Muji or IKEA. It may seem extravagant, but Masso also suggests freezing a bottle of mineral water. Allow it to melt slightly, bash it about, cut the bottle open and you have superb chunky ice. Personally, Christmas or no Christmas, I'd just use tap. It's cheaper and, invariably, it'll taste identical.

Likewise, £5 or £6 for a bottle of Angostura Bitters is money well spent. "Use a nice amount, a couple of splashes," says Masso. "It's good with a lot of those Christmas drinks, because it's spicy and aromatic, it gives them more depth." And, he suggests, it's great with sparkling water and lime juice, if you want, "an interesting soft drink". Which, after that lot, you might.

What clever cocktail techniques will you be putting to good use this Christmas? What spirits do you stock-up on for the season? And, even at this time of year, is there really any need for hot buttered rum?

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