Hong Kong’s best Christmas cocktails to warm your spirits – from The Daily Tot’s rum mulled wine to Tell Camellia’s Not Irish Coffee But Tea

December is the most wonderful time of the year for bars in Hong Kong. Okay, Rugby Sevens week might be even better for the tills but the festive period is still a time when people are looking to celebrate if not Christmas then the new year. From company end-of-year parties to celebratory tipples on December 31, there are plenty of excuses this month for visiting some of the city’s lauded bars.

The last 12 months were something of a banner year for Hong Kong after hours scene. Not only did the city’s boozers equal their best-ever performance in Asia’s 50 Best, with nine bars featured, but local establishments scooped a number of the biggest individual awards including best bar in Asia (Coa), highest climber (Caprice), best new opening (The Diplomat) and “legend of the list” (Quinary).

Naturally, with all the talent and creativity in the industry at the moment, Hong Kong’s mixologists have come up with a tantalising array of tipples for Christmas.

The Landmark’s annual Christmas display is probably the most famous in Hong Kong, so it’s no surprise that MO Bar, at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental, has an array of seasonal cocktails on its menu, each costing HK$158. For those with a sweet tooth there are the Dulce Claus – featuring Hennessy VSOP cognac, Cocoa Cream liqueur, coconut liqueur, chocolate cream and chocolate syrup – and the slightly less calorific Christmas Oat Berry, a combination of Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 years rum, maple syrup, oat berry, cinnamon and vanilla extract. For something more traditional grab a cup of Santa Mulled Wine made with Whispering Angel rosé, Cointreau, cinnamon, star anise, cloves and oranges.

However it’s the Marshmallow that is MO Bar and PDT head bartender Daniel Valencia’s seasonal favourite. The ingredients – Belvedere vodka, Aperol, orange juice, lemon juice, cookie syrup and marshmallows – include many nostalgic favourites. “I wanted to mix some of those ingredients in the cocktails to remind me of home since I can’t be there,” says the homesick New Yorker. “I would love to transmit it, to share this with all our guests and bring them to my hometown, so they can sample a little of what the Christmas flavours are like in America.”

Also in Landmark, Zuma has prepared the Omatsuri Fizz (HK$140), starring wintery ingredients such as cinnamon, chocolate and rum, and a splash of Japanese yuzu. It comes topped with a dollop of cream for a snowy white finish that invokes a true sense of the holiday season.

Meanwhile, downstairs in The Atrium, Dr Fern’s is giving back this season – the gin parlour will be donating HK$10 from the sale of each limited-edition festive cocktail to mental health charity Mind HK. Santa’s Toddy with Christmas Gin Jelly (HK$180) is a warming cocktail starring Australian Four Pillars Christmas gin combined with a cinnamon and clove syrup, ginger, honey, hot water and lemon juice, ensuring drinkers enjoy an immunity boost whilst enjoying their festive tipple. For those who’d prefer something more classically Dr Ferns’ there is the colourful Blackberry G&T (HK$160), made with blackberry gin jelly paired with Tarquin’s British Blackberry Gin, and topped with the London Essence Company’s Rosemary and Grapefruit Tonic.

Elsewhere in Central, Sevva is serving two custom creations for Advent. The first is its classic eggnog (HK$185) made with SelvaRey Rum, Amaretto and a sprinkling of cinnamon and nutmeg, all whisked together with organic eggs. The Count Negroni (HK$185), meanwhile, takes the popular cocktail and combines it with a cinnamon stick garnish to lend the classic recipe an appropriately seasonal edge.

For December, Gurung is shaking up the Tell Camellia menu and giving it a special Christmas flavour. New highlights include Tulled Wine (HK$120, Christmas tea, red wine, cognac, honey, citrus, spices and cinnamon), Broadway (HK$120, jasmine tea, tequila, roasted pepper distillate, popcorn, lime, caramelised pomegranate and garnished with popcorn salt) and Not Irish Coffee But Tea (HK$120, hojicha tea, whiskey, sesame and cream). “The flavours are very nostalgic but at the same time unique, and the textures are so much fun to create – and to drink as well,” enthuses Gurung.