So what is the cocktail for this January?

Last January I included a cocktail I had invented myself, and posted it on 6 January – the Epiphany – the day of the three kings. One of them, Gaspar, was bearing gold, and so the cocktail, fittingly included floating flakes of gold.

This January I’m spending some time in the Swiss alps. I pottered into a local bar together with another intrepid Saucy Dressings investigative journalist (all in the interests of research) and we both tried different concoctions. Both were excellent – but hers was better suited to hotter weather (so a later post), whilst mine was perfect for this time of year.

What was in my Alpine Eclipse?

There was vodka, Chambord, raspberry-strawberry jelly, cranberry juice, lime…. it had an interesting taste – sweet but a little bit dark!

If you wanted to have a go at this yourself you could try mixing the following:

• 4 parts vodka
• 1 part Chambord (this is a raspberry liqueur – if you don’t have any to hand, try cassis – ideally British cassis – or cherry brandy)
• 1 tsp sloe jelly – from Sloemotion of course (or you could use ordinary redcurrant). Serve this in a teaspoon for the lucky drinker to stir in himself.
• 3 parts cranberry juice
• squeeze of lime
• crushed ice

If you make it, please let me know your comments!

You can get the gorgeous silvered glasses at Michael Anastassiades.