New Year's Eve drinks

A 75 cl bottle gives you six 12.5 cl glasses. For just the midnight toast, one third of a bottle per person is enough, so three bottles for nine people. If your guests drink bubbles all evening, count on half to a whole bottle per person and buy an extra. Don't chill everything at once: a bottle that spends a day in the fridge is fine, but opened bottles lose their fizz, so only open them when needed. A punch alongside saves on bottles and pouring.

A bucket half filled with ice and half with water chills a bottle in about twenty minutes, much faster than ice alone, because the water touches the entire bottle instead of only the tips of the ice cubes. A generous handful of coarse salt in the ice water makes the ice melt faster and the bath colder than zero degrees, so you get there a few minutes earlier. Turn the bottle around once halfway through. The freezer works too, but set a timer: freezing bubbles push the cork out or make the bottle burst.

Remove the foil and keep your thumb on the cork from that moment on. Loosen the wire cage with six half-turns, hold the bottle at an angle of about thirty degrees, and then turn the bottle, not the cork. Hold the cork back as it rises so it comes out with a sigh instead of a pop: that keeps the mousse in the bottle rather than on the floor. Never point the bottle at anyone. Then pour into the glass in two stages along the side, so the foam does not spill over the rim.

An hour before midnight, count the glasses and put them on a tray or a clear section of the counter, with the bottles beside them in the cooler. Do not rinse them with hot water just beforehand or dry them with a fluffy cloth: soap residue and lint break the mousse. Allow one glass per person plus two spares, because one always gets broken. For outdoors during the fireworks, glass is not a practical idea; the tea glasses with handles keep mulled wine warm, and for a larger group, a pitcher or dispenser from the water pitchers and drink dispensers is more convenient than individual bottles.

A punch is the most relaxed way to get through an evening: make it once and pour it all night. Allow eight 12.5 cl glasses per litre, and use a simple ratio of one part spirits to just over three parts juice. Make the base in the afternoon, chill it, and only add the ice and bubbles when the first guests arrive. Large 4 cm ice blocks melt noticeably more slowly than cubes from a standard mould, so your punch gets less diluted. Put a non-alcoholic pitcher with the same juice beside it, so no one has to ask what is in it.

Bubbles go flat within a few minutes in the cold, so it is better to take something warm outside: mulled wine or bishop's wine from a pan or thermos flask. Set the pan to the lowest heat and do not let it boil, because as soon as it boils, the alcohol evaporates and the spices become bitter. Remove the cloves and cinnamon sticks after half an hour; the longer they infuse, the sharper the whole drink becomes. Then fill it to about two-thirds, so you can still hold it without spilling while wearing gloves, and place a jug of water next to it, because in the cold you notice thirst less quickly.