Celebrate World Gin Day with one (or all) of these 10 simple cocktails
World Gin Day takes place on Saturday June 9; what better excuse to mix up a cocktail or two at home in honour of Mother's Ruin? Whether you want a drink that's long or short, refreshing or sweet, gin is the perfect spirit.
Bramble
One for when you see the first blackberries appearing in the hedgerows. Blackberry liqueur and gin have a natural affinity, more so than cassis and gin.
INGREDIENTS
40ml gin
10ml sugar syrup
15ml crème de mur (blackberry liqueur)
15ml lemon or lime juice
Blackberries to garnish
METHOD
Pour all the liquid ingredients into a chunky tumbler half filled with ice and stir gently, garnishing with a perfect blackberry or two.
Gin Fizz
My own favourite recipe, many times tried and tested (just to make sure…). The egg makes it silkier and richer, but note it is raw, of course.
INGREDIENTS
50ml gin
30ml lemon juice
10ml sugar syrup
1 tsp sugar
20ml lightly whipped egg white (optional)
Chilled soda water, quantity to taste
METHOD
Shake up the gin, lemon juice, sugar syrup, sugar and egg white (if using) in a cocktail shaker with a little ice and strain into a highball glass half-filled with ice cubes. Top up with soda water.
Gin & Mint
A cool, elegant, refreshing serve. You can add more ‘bite’ with a dash of lemon juice, if you like.
INGREDIENTS
50ml gin
Two tender top sprigs of fresh mint, washed
1cm thick slice fresh cucumber, quartered
100m chilled elderflower pressé (NB: not concentrate)
Small mint sprig and thin lemon slice to garnish
METHOD
Place the gin, mint and cucumber pieces in the bottom of a cocktail shaker or glass jug, and stir for a minute, squashing down the mint and cucumber with the back of a spoon to bruise them well and release their juices. Strain into a tall thin tumbler containing a couple of ice cubes, and top up with spritzy elderflower pressé. Garnish with mint and lemon.
Bee’s Knees
Why isn’t this Prohibition-era recipe, a brilliant combination of gin and honey, more widely known? It’s delicious.
INGREDIENTS
50ml gin
10ml runny honey (use the best you can, its flavour will shine)
5ml water
15ml fresh lemon juice
METHOD
Stir the honey into the water until dissolved to make a syrup. Pour into a cocktail shaker with the gin, lemon juice and a couple of ice cubes. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.
Lemongrass Fusion
This has exotic, fragrant ingredients and quite a sweet finish from the cordial.
INGREDIENTS
50ml gin
30ml lime and lemongrass cordial concentrate (I use Belvoir’s)
4cm long piece lemongrass, outer layer peeled
2cm square piece fresh ginger root, peeled
150ml ginger ale
Slice of lime to garnish
METHOD
Chop the lemongrass and ginger into pieces and bruise them with the back of a spoon. Put them, and any juices from them, into a cocktail shaker with some ice, and add the gin and cordial. Shake well then strain into a tumbler with more ice in it. Top up with ginger ale. Garnish with a thin half-slice of lime.
Gimlet
Gin and lime were meant to be together. More so even than gin and lemon, in my view. Here’s a simple, classic cocktail that showcases the marriage.
INGREDIENTS
60ml gin
15ml lime juice
10ml sugar syrup
Twist of lime zest to garnish
METHOD
Pour the gin, juice and sugar syrup into a tumbler half-filled with ice. Stir gently. Garnish with the lime zest.
The Moll Cocktail
Adapted from the famous Savoy Cocktail Book of 1930. The orange bitters make all the difference, so don’t leave them out.
INGREDIENTS
30ml gin
30ml sloe gin
30ml French dry vermouth
Dash orange bitters
A little sugar, to taste
METHOD
Shake all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker over ice and strain into a cocktail glass
Apricot Passion
Hugely fruity, tangy and succulent, this one, and not as strong in spirit. Use either apricot glaze (which comes in jars in the baking section of major supermarkets) or pass apricot jam through a sieve instead.
INGREDIENTS
30ml gin
2 tsp apricot glaze or sieved apricot jam
30ml passionfruit juice drink (from a 1 litre carton)
10ml lime juice
METHOD
Pour the gin over the apricot glaze in a glass with a little crushed ice and stir very well until the apricot is more or less dissolved. Add the passionfruit juice drink and lime juice and stir further, add more crushed ice, then serve with a straw.
Tarra-Gin
Herbs work well with gin - fresh basil can be good in a gin cocktail, but the mild aniseed and grassiness of tarragon is even better. For a stronger aniseed flavour add a few drops of pastis.
INGREDIENTS
50ml gin
15ml tarragon syrup (see below)
25ml fresh lime juice
Lime slice to garnish
METHOD
Make tarragon syrup by heating up a small cup each of water, white sugar and fresh tarragon leaves and stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Do not boil; instead take off the heat and allow to steep for 5-10mins. Strain off the tarragon and let the syrup cool before using. Pour the gin, tarragon syrup and lime juice into a tumbler with ice, stir briefly and serve, garnished with a thin slice of lime.
What to pour
To make one of these delicious cocktails, take your pick from some of our favourite gins, as chosen by Leah Hyslop, below...
Whitley Neill
Although it’s made near distinctly-unglamorous Birmingham, Whitley Neill is inspired by the flavours of Africa.
Stuffed with exotic botanicals such as baobab fruit and cape gooseberries, it’s a delicate, smooth gin with a slightly earthy, peppery finish.
Really good with in a G&T, with a slice of orange instead of the standard lemon or lime.
£21, Tesco Buy now
Bloom
With its pretty glass bottle and overwhelming floral notes, Bloom is clearly being marketed as a “girly” gin, but don’t let that put you off.
Uncorking it is like stepping into a fragrant English garden on a summer’s day – all soft chamomile and honeysuckle. Great for a summery G&T.
£24, Amazon Buy now
Hayman’s Old Tom Gin
There’s growing interest among cocktail enthusiasts in Old Tom Gin – a slightly sweetened spirit which is closer to the kind of gin which would have been drunk in 19th century, when many of our classic cocktails were born.
Several bars, including The Dorchester, have it exclusively made for their drinks, but there are several good recreations for general sale, including this one from Hayman's. Try it in a Martinez , a predecessor of the martini, by stirring 30ml Old Tom, 60ml Italian vermouth, 2 dashes of bitters and 2 dashes of maraschino liqueur with ice before straining into a martini glass.
Feel free to adjust or even invert the vermouth/Old Tom ratios if you want something with a bit more punch.
£25.45, The Whisky Exchange Buy now