Dear Prue, 

My father-in-law has recently given up alcohol, much to the whole family’s delight. He drank far too much for years and it had become a health issue.

This will be his first booze-free Christmas and he is very wobbly about it. Should we all go alcohol-free to support him? We will be a big group on the day – Covid permitting – and the family is split in half over it. Half are horrified at the idea of no wine or champagne etc. Please help!

– JB, via email

Dear JB,

I think you should go the alcohol-free route – but really embrace it, make it fun and take a lot of trouble to get the drinks right. Do a bit of research; googling, tasting and experimenting over the next few days so you are all set to make it a festival to remember. There are some amazing alcohol-free wines and beers, even substitutes for spirits, and you can create cocktails which could be as good as anything alcoholic. Your father-in-law will be impressed at the support and solidarity his family are showing and I bet 90 per cent of them will get into the spirit (no pun intended) of the thing. They’ll feel pleased with themselves that they found it so easy.

A few tips: ginger ale, tonic and cold black tea give non-alcoholic drinks a nice grown-up taste; mint, Angostura bitters (which do contain alcohol but you’d only be using a few drops), tobacco, lime, pink peppercorns, black pepper and Worcestershire sauce all give a zip and punch to drinks. Alcohol-free cordials can replace liqueurs: lime cordial for limoncello, for example. And you know what, if anyone can’t face a booze-free Christmas, they can always get tanked up before they arrive, or sneak out for a quick nip from a hip flask.

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