It’s that time of year, folks. Yes, believe it or not, it’s once again time to pull out your book of original Sherlock Holmes stories and re-read “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” (what did you think I was going to say, holiday shopping or Christmas card-mailing? Please).

I enjoy re-reading this ‘Christmas story without the slush’ every year, but felt maybe it was time, now that I am an adult and all, to enhance the experience just a little. I was feeling ambitious and decided to invent a Blue Carbuncle cocktail to warm me up on these frosty nights when I settle in to read.

But this really got me thinking. What good is just sipping one delicious theme cocktail, when we can take things to the next level? That’s right. The Sherlock Holmes Drinking Game has been born.

Drinking and reading have always gone together- although maybe it’s been tea or coffee you’ve been wasting on that read. And what safer way to quaff your favorite cocktail than in the warmth and comfort of your own home, curled up with a good book? Plus, a huge debt of gratitude goes out to the talented Erin and all the lovely ladies who blog at ForeverYoungAdult.com– they inspired me (i.e. I totally got this idea from them- Thank you ladies!)

The Sherlock Holmes Drinking Game rules are as follows:

Take one drink every time Holmes makes an amazing deduction

Take one drink every time Holmes speaks badly about the police

Take one drink every time Holmes lets a perpetrator go free

Take one drink every time Holmes chastises Watson for not ‘observing’

Take one drink every time someone rushes into the rooms at 221B

Take one drink every time Holmes and/or Watson dash off in a hansom cab

I feel like there should be a few more rules (two or three at most, otherwise we’ll never make it to the end of the story!), but I am going to leave those up to you, dear reader. What do you think needs to be added to make this the best (and most educational) drinking game ever?

Next time- the complete rules will be posted (with your input), I share my recipe for my Blue Carbuncle cocktail, and we set out to drink our way through this holiday tale. Sound good? It’s a date then.