The best three premixed cocktails for Christmas - including one served by top Scottish bar

I’m starting to feel quite festive, despite it still being November. In the past few days I’ve made the Christmas pudding and watched the local Christmas lights switch on.

The snow, which arrived in Glasgow on Saturday, helped a lot as well. This feeling has me starting to plan for get-togethers with family and friends between now and the big day - including hosting family on Boxing Day.

One new thing on my list is pre-mixed cocktails. Normally I try to make something simple from scratch, for those that fancy, say, a negroni or old fashioned. I had friends round at Halloween and we ended up shaking up espresso martinis, despite me not having all the right ingredients.

My past experience of a pre-mixed drink was a Bacardi Breezer or Smirnoff Ice. These graduated to canned G&Ts long before Fleabag made them cool, but the availability of really good, well-crafted, ready-made cocktails is something of a new phenomenon.

Whitebox, the Edinburgh-based business that makes really cute little cans including pocket negroni, freezer martini, espresso martini (which I could have done with in October) and classic Cosmo, were the ones that first caught my attention. Their fun designs and delicious drinks - plus price point of a fiver a can - made them attractive as something to have in the fridge for when friends come over or when I want a cocktail at home, but don’t happen to have vermouth. If you don’t want to choose between the different drinks, you can buy a selection box of six cans for about £26.

If you’re more of a one-drink household and if that drink is a negroni, then I can’t recommend the Lind and Lime x Hey Palu pre-bottled white strawberry negroni enough.

Yes it sounds a bit like an ice-cream flavour, and yes it looks like something you’d enjoy on a summer’s day - which you can and will. But it is utterly delicious, balanced and not too bitter - it’s dangerously drinkable.

The first batch sold out in record time, with staff in my local Good Spirits Company buying bottles as much as the customers. The two Edinburgh businesses have, thankfully, created more of the light pink drink and I for one will be toasting Christmas with one come the big day. It’s priced at £29.50 per bottle and you can buy one here.

My final go-to is the pre-bottled concoctions available at the Good Spirits Company in Glasgow. Every December the staff create their own cocktails and bottle them in dark brown glass, wax-sealed bottles. My absolute favourite is Mind Thae Conkers, made with bourbon, chestnut liqueur, sweet vermouth and absinthe.

It sounds heavy going, but the addition of the chestnut lifts the drink. It is a seasonal take on the Remember The Maine cocktail and I am looking forward to buying a few when they are in store and online.

There’s still plenty to do for Christmas, including planning and a lot of cooking. But much like snacky starters from M&S, some things are just best left to the experts. Cheers!

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