I’m not even going to pretend I need to justify doing an end-of-year summary or putting together a list of drinks I adore. I simply refuse. Instead, I offer you this: Drink, and ye shall be free.

1) Boulevardier (January–March + October–December)

If there’s one drink I kept coming back to this year (especially during the colder months), it’s the Boulevardier. It’s the cocktail I’ve experimented with the most – or rather, my husband has experimented with the most. I just drink the results. And good grief, when it’s good, it’s good. Imagine a Negroni with a little less bitterness and a lot more flavour. Yum yum.

Ingredients:
• 3 cl bourbon or rye whiskey (traditionally bourbon)
• 3 cl sweet vermouth
• 3 cl Campari
• Ice
• Orange slice to garnish

Method:

  1. Stir together the bourbon, sweet vermouth and Campari.

  2. Shake or stir with ice for 20–30 seconds until properly chilled.

  3. Strain into a short, wide glass over a large cube or sphere of ice.

  4. Feeling fancy? Add a twist of orange zest and express the oils before dropping it in.

One of many board game boulevardiers.

2) Mint Julep (June, July, August)

This summer I promised myself I’d down Mint Juleps like there was no tomorrow. In reality… I managed maybe three. I’m tragically bad at drinking spirits in any sort of quantity, but the few Juleps that did make it into my system were divine. The hotter and more unbearable the weather, the better this drink tastes.

Ingredients:
• Fresh mint leaves
• 1 teaspoon sugar (or 1 cl sugar syrup)
• 6 cl bourbon
• Ice (traditionalists insist on crushed ice, but honestly, who has the energy? Use whatever you’ve got – I like one big ice sphere.)
• Extra mint sprig for garnish

Method:

  1. Add the mint and sugar (or syrup) to a glass.

  2. Muddle gently – just enough to release the oils without shredding the leaves. I usually press down a few times with the handle of a wooden spoon.

  3. Fill the glass with ice.

  4. Pour over the bourbon and give it a good stir.

  5. Feeling fancy? Garnish with a generous mint sprig.

3) Rhubarb & Red Wine Cobbler (All Other Months + Cameos)

This, my friends, is the drink I didn’t know I needed. Cool, fruity, slightly tart — a little summer sweetie that makes me feel like a 19th-century lady on a Charleston porch, minus the corset and plus the mental instability. It is ridiculously good. Rhubarb + red wine is a combination I never expected to work, but it does — spectacularly. It soars, swoops and lands on your tastebuds like a bloody acrobat. This is a “why on earth aren’t more people drinking this?” cocktail that ought to be compulsory from April to September.

Ingredients:
• 4 cl red wine (I wish I could tell you which one, but Christian used whatever was open and slowly dying in the fridge because we drink too little)
• 2 cl ruby port
• 3 cl rhubarb syrup (Christian makes his own; buy it if you don’t have your own personal Christian)
• 2 cl lemon juice
• Ice
• Sliced rhubarb or lemon for garnish

Method:

  1. Pour the red wine, rhubarb syrup and lemon juice into a shaker.

  2. Add ice and shake until you feel like the bartender in Moulin Rouge.

  3. Strain into a glass filled with crushed ice or regular cubes. Garnish if you’re feeling fancy.

Kind of like a Sangria but with more wine and a hint of tangy fruitiness. Looks puurrrdy too!