I would like to first point out that we are definitely not the sort of people who start their christmas shopping in August, who have their tree up in late November, or who keep the decorations up year round. But when it comes to Christmas cocktails, we do take things quite seriously and like a bit of preparation for our annual drink of the season.

Be it some sort of sloe gin fizz, a heady mix of elderflower liqueur and champagne, or a trusty fusty old snowball, we like to have the ingredients in stock in advance so come advent we are ready to get the festive season a swinging. Many of the best cocktails - from the Old Fashioned, to the champagne cocktail - have a couple of drops of bitters for seasoning and to add depth of flavour. Come Christmas, we want to have a festive flavour to our bespoke bitters blend to give an extra festive punch to our cocktail creations. An orange base to the bitters with cloves, star anise and cassia bark. Get your Christmas bitters a-brewing!