What the Going Out team are drinking this Christmas

Christmas “cheer” — that thinly-veiled allusion to being gently sloshed through most of December. This is the time of year where slight stumbles are a given; when soft slurring is par for the course on any given Wednesday.

There are different ways to do it. There is the chap who drinks pints of Boddingtons into the double figures and puts it on Twitter. There are the lost heel brigade, the Guinness purists, the ones big into the shots.

And then there's the Going Out desk, famously keen on a good time. Below, our writers share what they like to put away over the Christmas holidays — before going dry and healthy in Jan (as if).

David Ellis

I don't drink much over Christmas, as you'll notice. Still, some obstacles cannot be overcome. There is Christmas morning for a start; salmon cannot be avoided, neither can Champagne. Earlier this year, a bottle of  (£180, ) arrived at my desk out of the blue — no card, no clues — so I've been saving that for the occasion. I am grateful to the mystery gifter, though I suppose it could be from an especially inept enemy. If supplies run low — (£26.99, ). They offer a personalisation service, where each bottle can be sent with a message on; I used it to troll a friend, but then bought another bottle for me. Christ knows if I'll still be on the fizz after lunch, but if I am, my favourite English sparkling at the moment is (£30.95, ); I had a bottle at Harry Lobek's excellent London Shell Co and I've been thinking about it ever since.