Getting to know Gin - cocktail making & cocktail emergencies

I like a good cocktail, I'm not a beer drinker and being as I have sweet tooth a cocktail is the best alcoholic drink in my opinion. I've been getting in to cocktail making thanks to Aoife's blog and recently tried my hand at rhubarb vodka, which was so easy to make and works well with a number of cocktails.

Gin was always something I avoided and being as it is in a lot of cocktails this is a bit of a bother to me.  But I think I've not really given it a chance. Sainsbury's came to the rescue (ok it's not an emergency but you know...) and offered to send me a bottle of Blackfriars London Dry Gin to test out with some cocktail recipes.

I really like the cocktail posts on Domestic Sluttery so I scoured them for gin cocktails, pinning a few along the way.

The first one I really liked the look of was called ' The Business' - gin, honey and lime juice over ice. The recipe says to loosen the honey by putting it in the microwave, I don't have one so I added a tiny bit of hot water - you could also gently heat the honey in a pan.

The Sainsbury's Blackfriars gin was really nice, not too medicinal and you could taste the 'botanicals' in it - orange, juniper and lemon is what I tasted - it is also made with coriander seeds and angelica root. It won best gin at the International Spirit Challenge in 2011, which from my quick research seems to be pretty good for a gin you can pick up in the supermarket!

The next cocktail I tried was because of a cocktail emergency (a term coined by Aoife I believe). It was a very hot today, we didn't have any wine and I'd had (another) long day. This one was just a shot of gin and then apple & mango juice and lots of ice. Very refreshing and very simple.

There are a few more I want to try out including 'The Eastside'  (gin, cucumber, syrup, mint) and Rhubarb Fizz. You can also add fizz to The Business cocktail which is very interesting to me.


Thank you to Sainsbury's for sending me the gin to try.

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Sweeteasy - Cakes and Cocktails

Last Friday we spent a very civilised and yummy evening at Afternoontease's Sweeteasy event. You may have heard me mention Afternoontease before - who does have a name, her name is Jo and she is a local Cambridge baker supplying her delicious layer cakes to lots of cafes locally, and she is also one half of the Platelickers supperclub duo. Jo also hosts Sweeteasy, which is a simple but excellent concept - cocktails paired with cakes.

Everything is homemade, with the exception of the spirits of course - Jo makes the cakes, brownies and other sweet treats and also concocts purees and infusions from to go into the cocktails.

We started off with a Gooseberry & Elderflower Fool Martini. It was made with gooseberry puree from Jo's parents garden which was perfumed with locally picked Elderflower, then mixed with gin and served in wide cocktail glasses. Gin is one of my least favourite things but this cocktail was great, the gin was perfumed but in a good way, and the sweet fruit puree worked so well. This was matched with Bramble Friands - light sponge cakes made with ground almonds and whisked eggs whites, they were finished with a blackberry and gin glaze.

Next up was Honey Bourbon Milk Punch - my favourite of the evening - Honey bourbon mixed with a little nutmeg and then milk, served in cute little mini milk bottles. We had these with chunky stout brownies, made with Hot Numbers Coffee Stout, brewed by Moonshine Brewery. These were proper brownies, no messing around, dense and tall with a great crispy top.

After this we had Limoncello Tiramisu, something I clocked immediately when the menu was presented to us, and it didn't disappointed. It was served as a lemon mascarpone zabaglione in a little teacup with two homemade sponge fingers on the side, dusted with icing sugar. A shot of limoncello served in a cute little wax seal bottle was served with it.

Finally, to round things off, was a warming Fruitcake Infused Rum Daquiri. Jo explained to us that this was a proper daquiri, none of the terrible crushed ice and overly sweet fake fruit. Instead it was made with proper rum (infused with dried fruits and spices), lemon juice and a cube of ice.  This was the Mr's favourite of the night.

I thoroughly enjoyed Sweeteasy, I'm just getting into cocktail making and Jo's evening gave me a really good idea of the kind of flavours that work well. None of the cocktails were too overpowering - in sweetness or alcohol and Jo has some amazing ideas for combinations. And I definitely think that cakes should be paired with cocktails more often, why do we always have savoury nibbles when we can have cake?

You can find out more about Jo's cakes and events on her site here.

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Rhubarb Vodka & Cocktails!

Ever since I saw Aoife's talk at Eat Cambridge I've become really interested in infused spirits and cocktails - well who wouldn't? I love a good cocktail but I lack experience and knowledge when it comes to making them - I have one stalwart, a magarita, but that is as far as it goes, apart from adding ice to a spirit.

I have a sweet tooth and I don't like things that taste too strong, so brandy, whisky, gin and neat vodka are out. I like amaretto and I love fruit vodkas - probably because they don't taste too alcoholic. I've previously made Damson Vodka before which was a great hit at Christmas time, it was dead easy to make and tasted like Ribena, very drinkable indeed. I've also made cherry vodka, so despite knowing how to make these spirits I didn't revisit them, I think because of my lack of knowledge in how to make a good cocktail.

So along came Aoife with her expert knowledge and delicious sounding but easy to follow recipes. I love her Friday cocktail posts, and swoon over them whilst drinking another glass of disappointing wine (my wine knowledge is terrible) or just a cup of tea.

Rhubarb vodka is just as easy as the other flavoured spirits I've made before, chop up some rhubarb, chuck in some sugar, wait a few days, add in some vodka and then wait (an agonising) two weeks. Strain into a bottle and then gather your ingredients and make a cocktail!

I made Aoife's Rhubarb Vodka with Thyme & Ginger Syrup cocktail yesterday evening, you can find her recipe here. The sugar syrup seems a little daunting but it is really easy, it takes minutes to make and you just have to wait an hour to let the herbs and ginger infuse. It's finished with lemon juice and bitters. I didn't have any bitters but it worked ok. It was very sweet so I think the bitters might help, but it was perfect for my sweet tooth.

I've got some lemon thyme and also some mint growing in pots in my garden so I'm looking forward to many more cocktails over the summer, and beyond. I'll definitely be revisiting more flavoured vodkas when the greengages at the bottom of the garden are ready.

I've got some syrup left for Eurovision drinks tonight, so I'm looking forward to another pink drink to go with the campness that is Eurovision!

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