As it is now the post-Christmas season, Oisin Davis, of Great Irish Beverages, joins Tom Dunne in order to bring a little pizzazz to the sometimes pedestrian 'mocktail'.

Oisin says, "The new year may have all sorts of connotations of fresh beginnings and opportunities. But it also brings with it the lingering guilt of Christmas. That prolonged period of indulgence where one can eat and drink their way to merriment and quite possibly a damaged liver or beer belly. So in January, many of us will opt towards abstaining from alcohol in order to offset some of that good living and work off that guilt. Yet that doesn't mean one should drink boring drinks. Enter the mocktail. That lovely non boozy alternative to a proper drink. For many, the very notion of a cocktail with no gargle in it may seem repulsive, but once you give a drink some TLC in the prep, you can actually have a decent enough beverage, even without the liquor! This one here is a fine example. It's a take on the cosmopolitan and has some nice seasonal spice in it”.

Ingredients:

1 litre of cranberry juice
2 oranges, sliced and studded with clove
The zest and juice of 5 limes
1 star anise
2 cardamom pods
2 tablespoons of honey

Method:

Heat your oven to 180 degrees.
Place the oranges on a baking tray and let them roast for 20 minutes. Pour the cranberry juice into a pot, along with the honey, spices, lime zest and oranges and bring it up to the boil. Then let it simmer for 15 minutes with the lid on. Strain out all solids from the pot and mix the lime juice into it.
For each serving, chill a martini glass with some ice and pour 100 ml of the mix into a shaker with some ice. Seal it and shake it hard for twenty seconds. Remove the ice from the glass and strain the cocktail into it. Garnish with a lime slice.