The boy and I love a good cocktail hour...

For us it's the ultimate in luxurious relaxation and it's become a firm fave on our holidays-a-deux! We also have our own well-stocked bar cart at home. Champagne and Henricks feature regularly. Now, before you jump to conclusions about me and said boy, we're not talking about regular debauched sessions sipping on Delboy-esque cocktails here, oh no, we're certainly of the thinking that one cocktail is civilised and two is well, not (in my case).

As the festive season is dancing just around the corner, I thought it was the perfect time to share some classics with a twist in preparation of the glittering celebrations. To help me in this task, I asked the lovely folks at The Bingham to create 3 lipsmacking cocktails... The Bingham is the ultimate in grown-up luxury and sophistication, a gorgeous townhouse on the banks of the River Thames it's quite the location for our own B.LOVED cocktail hour.

Be warned, these yummy delights will have you running for the shopping list!

Winter Pimms

• Apple
• Mint
• Cucumber
• Blood Orange
• Pomegranate
• A measure of Winter Pimms
• Half a measure of Brandy (optional)
• Lemonade

• Chill your glass with ice.
• Prep your fruit.
• Add your sliced strawberries, apple, orange, pomegranate seeds and mint into a beaker.
• Add your Winter Pimms.
• Peel long strips of cucumber and place into your freshly chilled glass.
• Add the fruity concoction to the glass.
• Top with lemonade.

Garnish: Sprigs of mint.

Tip: If you wanted to serve this warm, gently heat all of the ingredients (except for the ice!!)

The Original Snowball

• A measure of Advocaat
• A measure of Dry Sherry
• Fresh lime juice
• Soda water

• Chill your glass with ice.
• Squeeze half a lime into your beaker.
• Add two measures of Advocaat and a dash of Dry Sherry.
• Top with ice cubes and shake well.
• Removed the ice from the glass and strain into your now chilled glass.
• Top with ice cubes.

Garnish: Peel a pear and using a melon baller, scoop a perfectly round pear 'snowball'. Add fresh mint and a dusting of iced sugar to serve.

Classic Champagne cocktail

• Pomegranate
• Strawberries
• Taylor's Valvet Falernum liqueur (a liqueur made with lime sugarcane almond and cloves!)
• Champagne

• Chill your champagne flute with ice
• Add strawberries and pomegranate seeds to a beaker and muddle into a sweet puree.
• Add your liqueur
• Top with ice cubes and shake well
• Removed the ice from the flute and strain your mixture into your now chilled glass
• Top with bubbles!

Garnish: Add a slice of Pomegranate to finish your cocktail.

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