‘I once had a glass of wine with Buzz Aldrin’ My life in drinks

The comedian, 41, tells Miranda Thompson about the monstrous mixes she drank as a student, her favourite festive tipple and a memorable Scottish sundowner

Cola floats were mind-blowing as a child. I couldn’t believe you were allowed to put ice cream into a Coke and then drink it. Me and my two younger sisters were allowed to have them at a fish and chip restaurant when we went to visit my dad’s mum in Dagenham, near where I grew up. [Sara was brought up by her mum Gail.]

As a teenager, I’d help out on the bar at my Auntie Barbara’s wedding venue in Essex, where she’d also host family parties. I had 20 cousins. We used to sneakily help ourselves to drinks like orange juice and Tia Maria or Malibu and lemonade; I was 14 but thought I was 25.

I used to drink something called a Green Monster at Sussex University [where Sara read English]. It was a bottle of Reef with WKD and a shot of tequila. Or there was Mudslide, which had a Baileys in it. I can’t believe we’d drink those on a weekly basis.

The best advice I’ve had was to stop drinking before a gig. I was doing a stand-up competition in 2008 and I’d often have a drink to help with nerves. The comedian Rhona Cameron told me, ‘If you drink before each gig, and there’s a gig every day, it can become a real problem.’ I felt nervous the first time I didn’t drink, but you have to be present in the room.

I have my first coffee at 6am when my one-year-old, Theodor, is smearing his breakfast around the kitchen. I overdid the caffeine a few months ago when I was trying to cope with him not sleeping and was too exhausted, so I’m trying to limit myself now.

My husband [35-year-old Australian comedian Steen Raskopoulos] and I send each other pictures of wines that we’re excited about. We’re novices, but we know what we like. We love online wine retailer Naked Wines as they do great recommendations and its prices are really accessible.

I loved the first glass of wine I had after having my baby so much that we bought six bottles. We went to a lovely pub called The Maynard Arms in North London. I’d been saying I’d thought my tastes had changed and that I didn’t fancy wine anymore – but as soon as I sniffed the Australian Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon by

Brookford I went straight back to it again.

Veuve Clicquot always reminds me of my husband. He won’t drink any other champagne. Every year, on his birthday, he buys himself a bottle.

Having a drink with Sandi Toksvig made me realise how lucky I am. We’d finished filming an Extraordinary Escapes documentary in the Scottish Highlands and were having a glass of wine with her wife in a seafront hotel as the sun set.

I once had a glass of wine with Buzz Aldrin. Myself, Jimmy Carr and Dan Schreiber, who does the No Such Thing as Fish podcast, did a BBC radio show with him. We were in a hotel near Great Portland Street, but he had a woman with him, on a date, so we probably should have left him alone. But we didn’t. He’d been on the moon!

I’d love to have a drink with Maggie O’farrell. When I’m reading a really good novel, I fantasise about being able to talk to the writer and just hear their brains working. I’d also loved to have met Hilary Mantel.

There’s something very classy about prosecco, especially in an art deco glass. Oliver Bonas has great ones with coloured stems.

I now have a signature Christmas cocktail. Last year, I bought myself a Hotel Chocolat hamper, which had a caramel liqueur mixed with vodka. I just call it ‘Mummy’s having a drink again’.

I’d like people to toast me with a cup of tea at my funeral. I’d love my husband to say something like, ‘Oh, she’s not my cup of tea’ – and then raise a mug.

Sara Pascoe is touring England and Ireland until the end of April. Tickets from saraontour.com

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