Method
To serve warm
1. Gently heat the brandy, vodka, sherry, port, and cinnamon stick in a medium saucepan.
2. Remove the cinnamon stick, then pour liquid into cups and serve.

To serve cold
1. In a punch bowl, mix the brandy, vodka, sherry, and port.
2. Fill four rocks glasses with ice, then divide the Caribou between the glasses, and serve.

Quebec City’s annual Winter Carnival mocks the frigid weather every February with snow sculptures, parades, parties and other festivities – and of course, the traditional Caribou drink.

A balanced blend of caffeine and alcohol, Irish coffee warms you up from the inside out. No wonder it’s popular in both rainy Ireland and foggy San Francisco.

You’ll need
60ml (2fl oz) double cream
100ml (3½fl oz) hot strong coffee
2 tsp brown sugar
40ml (1½fl oz) Irish whiskey
fresh nutmeg (optional)

Method
1. Pour some hot water into the glass, just to warm it.
2. With a whisk, gently beat the cream until just thick but not fluffy.
3. In a separate glass, combine the coffee, sugar and whiskey and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

4. Empty the hot water from the glass, then add the coffee mixture. Gently spoon the cream over the coffee, in a thick layer that fills the glass to the rim.
5. Grate nutmeg over the top, if desired.

The first sip of a perfectly crafted Irish coffee is a marvel of sensations: first cold, thick cream and perhaps the scent of nutmeg, then hot, sweet coffee, and finally the gentle warmth of Irish whiskey.

Perfect for cooling down on hot, languid days, the mint julep – crushed ice crowned with zesty mint and spiked with bourbon – is an American classic.

You’ll need
20 mint leaves, plus an extra
sprig of mint
60ml (2fl oz) bourbon
15ml (½fl oz) sugar syrup crushed ice

Method
1. Gently bruise the mint in the palm of your hand to release its aroma. Place it in a chilled short tumbler or a julep cup.
2. Add bourbon and sugar syrup and stir gently.

3. Fill the glass with crushed ice and stir until the glass is frosted.
4. Top with more crushed ice if needed, garnish with the mint sprig and serve.

Perhaps no other drink is as strongly associated with a sporting event as the mint julep, drunk to the sound of thundering hooves during the Kentucky Derby.

Home to jazz greats and Mardi Gras, New Orleans is a heady combination of history and hedonism – and so is the city’s official drink, the bold yet elegant Sazerac.

You’ll need
5ml (1tsp) absinthe or Herbsaint
60ml (2fl oz) cognac, rye
whiskey or bourbon
15ml (1½fl oz) sugar syrup
3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters ice
strip of lemon zest, pith removed

Method
1. Swirl the absinthe around the inside of a well-chilled short tumbler. Discard any excess absinthe.
2. Add the cognac, rye whiskey or bourbon, sugar syrup and bitters to a separate glass. Fill with ice and stir until the drink is ice-cold.

3. Strain the drink into the absinthe-coated old-fashioned glass.
4. Twist the lemon zest over the top (this will release the aromatic lemon oil into the drink) and drop it in to the cocktail as a garnish.

After a day spent strolling through New Orleans’ atmospheric French Quarter, a Sazerac is just the thing to kick off a big night in the Big Easy.