A colourful twist can bring new life to old-school cocktails - perfect for adding spice to the festive season
There are cocktails, and then there are cocktails. For celebrations, a colourful and slightly intoxicating drink is a must.
Most cocktails were invented out of necessity - during Prohibition in the US, people needed to mix juices and other ingredients into low quality bootlegged alcohol in order to make it palatable - but nowadays we drink cocktails purely for pleasure.
The past decade or so has been an interesting period for cocktails. They have gone through evolution and revolution, with a lot of effort put into inventing and refining recipes. Mixology has become a vocation - there are people out there who dedicate their lives to deciding what goes into your glass.
Cocktails have also become far more sophisticated. Remember in the '80s when people used to drink pina coladas? Today holding a pina colada would look as cool as wearing a scrunchy or an acid-washed denim jacket.
This year, martinis - or drinks resembling them continue to be hot. Every new cocktail invented these days seems to be served in a Martini glass. Vodka continues to be popular, and Asian flavours are being blended into the mix.
For this year's festive season, the South China Morning Post has invited four bars to create some tasty concoctions exclusively for the 2007 Christmas magazine.