Snowball
A Snowball is 50ml advocaat and 10ml fresh lime juice, shaken hard with ice for 10 to 12 seconds and strained into an ice-filled highball, with 120ml of sharp sparkling lemonade poured over. A lime wheel and a cherry go on top. It carries about 0.9 UK units, a light drink. Advocaat is a Dutch liqueur of egg yolk, sugar and brandy, thick enough to pour like custard. The lime is what cuts through it: fresh juice, not lime cordial, which would add sugar where the drink needs acid. Who first mixed a Snowball is not recorded; it is remembered as a household drink of the British Christmas rather than a bar drink, which may be why its history went unwritten.
Glassware: Highball Glass
Garnish: Lime wheel and Maraschino cherry
Ingredients
50ml
Egg yolk, sugar and brandy, usually 14 to 20% ABV. Shake the bottle first, since it settles. It supplies every gram of sugar here, and the custard texture, and it contains egg.
10ml
Fresh juice, squeezed the same day, not lime cordial. The 10ml is the acid that stops the custard turning cloying; lemon works but is less bright against the vanilla.
120ml
Sharp and preferably cloudy. It fills most of the glass, so a sweet lemonade adds sugar where the advocaat has already supplied plenty.
Instructions
Squeeze the lime juice the same day, ideally just before you build.
Shake the advocaat bottle, then shake 50ml of it hard with the lime juice and cubed ice for 10 to 12 seconds.
Fill a highball glass with cubed ice.
Strain the advocaat and lime into the glass.
Top with the sparkling lemonade.
Stir once, gently, and garnish with a lime wheel and a cherry.
Expert Tip
Use fresh lime juice, not cordial. Advocaat already carries all the sugar the glass can take, and cordial adds more; fresh juice brings the acid that cuts through the custard. Shake the advocaat hard with the lime and ice for 10 to 12 seconds before the lemonade goes near it. Advocaat is thick, and poured straight into lemonade it sinks and sits in a layer at the bottom. Choose a sharp, cloudy lemonade over a sweet clear one, and stir once after topping. More stirring flattens the fizz, and the fizz is what keeps the glass light.
Behind the Snowball
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
Advocaat is Dutch and older than the drink. Who first lengthened it with lemonade and called it a Snowball is not recorded.
It is remembered as a household drink of the British Christmas, the kind that turns up on sideboards and in family habit rather than in print. Treat any precise date for it with caution.
What Advocaat Actually Is
Egg yolks, sugar and brandy, blended into something thick and pale yellow. In its Dutch form it can be thick enough to eat with a spoon; the export style sold in Britain pours like custard.
Advocaat is Dutch for lawyer, and one story holds that it was drunk to smooth the throat before speaking at length. That story is unproven.
It also separates in the bottle. Shake it before pouring, or the season’s first glass will be thinner than its last.
The Sweetness Problem
Most complaints about the Snowball are complaints about a sweet one. Advocaat is rich and sugary, so the other ingredients have to bring acid, not more sugar.
That is the lime’s job. Fresh juice, not lime cordial, cuts through the custard; cordial only adds sugar. A sharp, cloudy lemonade does the rest.
Snowball: what each ingredient does
Advocaat
- Measure
- 50ml
- Its job
- Body, custard and all the sugar
Fresh lime juice
- Measure
- 10ml
- Its job
- The acid that cuts through
Sparkling lemonade
- Measure
- 120ml
- Its job
- Length, sharpness and fizz
| Ingredient | Measure | Its job |
|---|---|---|
| Advocaat | 50ml | Body, custard and all the sugar |
| Fresh lime juice | 10ml | The acid that cuts through |
| Sparkling lemonade | 120ml | Length, sharpness and fizz |
Building It Properly
Advocaat is too dense to blend into lemonade poured on top. Built straight in the glass, it settles in a layer that stirring cannot lift without flattening the fizz.
So shake it hard with the lime and ice for 10 to 12 seconds first. What strains into the glass is a smooth base that the lemonade lifts rather than sits on.
Then top, stir once and serve it straight away. A Snowball left standing for a few minutes has lost its lift.
When to Drink It
December, mostly. At about 0.9 UK units it is light enough to pour through a long afternoon, and familiar to anyone who grew up with it.
Serve it tall, with a lime wheel and a cherry.
Advocaat comes thick or pourable, and the pourable export style is the one to buy for this drink.
Make it at home
The Spirit
AdvocaatAdvocaat is a Dutch egg liqueur made from egg yolks, sugar and brandy, 17.2% ABV for Warninks on Difford’s Guide’s listing, and Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, retained in UK law, requires at least 140g of egg yolk a litre. Difford’s Guide compares its texture to custard or eggnog. It contains egg, and it is the custard in the Snowball and the Fluffy Duck.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in a Snowball?
What is advocaat?
Lime juice or lime cordial?
Why does my Snowball taste sickly?
Why shake it rather than just build it?
How strong is a Snowball?
Where does the Snowball come from?
Does a Snowball contain egg?
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Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 18 October 2026