Snowball

The Snowball is the great British Christmas drink: creamy advocaat, a squeeze of lime and a top of fizzy lemonade, served long over ice. Pale yellow, sweet, frothy and gloriously retro.

Ingredients

• 50ml advocaat (such as Warninks, around 17% ABV)
• Juice of a quarter of a lime (about 10ml), or 10ml lime cordial
• 100–125ml chilled sparkling lemonade
• Ice
• A glacé cherry or a slice of lime, to garnish

Method

1. Chill: Fill a highball or tall tumbler with ice.
2. Shake: Shake the advocaat and lime juice briefly with a few cubes of ice. This loosens the thick advocaat so it mixes smoothly.
3. Pour: Strain into the glass.
4. Top: Slowly top up with cold lemonade and stir gently once, from the bottom up.
5. Garnish: Add a glacé cherry on a cocktail stick or a thin wheel of lime and serve straight away.

Tips for the Perfect Snowball

• Pour the lemonade slowly. Advocaat foams up quickly and a fast top-up will overflow the glass.
• Use a clear, sharp lemonade rather than cloudy traditional lemonade; it keeps the drink lighter.
• No shaker? Stir the advocaat and lime together in the glass first, then add ice and lemonade.
• Keep opened advocaat in the fridge and check the bottle for its use-by guidance, as it is made with egg.

A Christmas Classic

Advocaat is a Dutch liqueur made from eggs, sugar and spirit, with a thick, custardy texture. Warninks, made in the Netherlands, is by far the best-known brand in Britain, and its own UK site says it accounts for 97% of advocaat sales here. The Snowball became a Christmas fixture in British homes and pubs, and you will still see bottles of advocaat stacked up in supermarkets every December. Many drinkers add a splash of soda water instead of some of the lemonade if they want it less sweet.

Please drink responsibly. Know your limits, and never drink and drive.