Many cocktails involve a sugar syrup of some sort, but don’t let that put you off – that bit’s a cinch. For a basic sugar syrup, put equal quantities of sugar and water in a saucepan (250g sugar and 250ml water, say), bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then decant into a bottle and leave to cool. Mixologists and bartenders add all sorts of flavourings, anything from honey or lemon to ginger or herbs, either infusing them in the pan or adding once the syrup is made.
Recipes by Meatliquor.
All recipes serve one
Down the chimney
4 strawberries
25ml lemon juice
50ml apple juice
10ml sugar syrup
Sparkling elderflower water, to top
Optional extra: 35ml vodka
To garnish
Lemon slice, strawberry
Put all the ingredients except the elderflower water into a cocktail shaker, muddle (ie, bash) the fruit with the end of a rolling pin, add ice cubes and shake. Strain into a highball glass over more ice, top with sparkling elderflower, garnish and serve.
Christmas apple berry
2 blackberries
2 raspberries
1 string red currants
25ml sugar syrup
220ml apple juice
Optional extra: 60ml brandy
To garnish
Apple slice, raspberry, blackberry
Put all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, muddle the fruit with the end of a rolling pin, add ice cubes and shake. Strain into a highball glass over more ice cubes, garnish and serve.
Grapefruit crush
Honey syrup is as easy to make as sugar syrup: take three parts honey to one part boiling water, and stir until the honey dissolves.
6-8 mint leaves
15ml lime juice
10ml honey syrup
5ml grenadine
110ml pink grapefruit juice
Optional extra: 50ml vodka
To garnish
Pink grapefruit slice, mint sprig
Put everything in a cocktail shaker, shake, strain into a highball glass over crushed ice, garnish and serve.
Donkey crunch
To make ginger syrup, blend 250g peeled root ginger, 250ml water and 250g sugar, then put in a pan on a low heat for 15 minutes and strain through a fine sieve. It’ll keep in the fridge for two or three days.
20ml lime juice
15ml fresh ginger syrup (see above)
Ginger beer, to top
Optional extras: 35ml vodka and 5ml absinthe
To garnish
Lemon slice, mint sprig
Half-fill a highball glass with ice cubes, pour in all the ingredients, stir, garnish and serve.
Elderflower Collins
15ml elderflower cordial
20ml lemon juice
San Pellegrino Limonata, to top
Optional extra: 50ml gin
To garnish
Lemon slice, mint sprig
Half-fill a highball glass with ice cubes, pour in all the ingredients, garnish and serve.
Christmas apple sour
Add extra flavourings to your bog-standard sugar syrup to make it more yo-ho-ho. Start your sugar syrup as normal (ie, 150g sugar: 150ml water), add a cinnamon stick, two or three cloves and a star anise, and heat for 15 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved.
25ml Christmas sugar syrup (see above)
25ml lemon juice
80ml apple juice
1 dash Angostura bitters
Optional extra: 50ml bourbon
To garnish
Lemon wheel, a little ground cinnamon
Put all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker, shake and strain into a highball glass over cubed ice. Garnish with lemon, dust with ground cinnamon and serve.
Cranberry cooler
6-8 mint leaves
25ml lemon juice
25ml sugar syrup
80ml apple juice
2 tsp cranberry sauce
Optional extra: 50ml gin
To garnish
Lemon slice, mint sprig
Put all the ingredients in a highball glass, half-fill with crushed ice and churn with a spoon. Top with more crushed ice, garnish and serve.
• With thanks to Giles Looker and Scott Collins of Meatliquor. The Meatliquor Chronicles: Chapter & Verse, is published by Faber & Faber at £25. To order a copy for £21.75, go to bookshop.theguardian.com, or call 0330 333 6846.
