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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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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Amaretto Mulled Wine

Just a quickie here. I saw this recipe for Amaretto Mulled Wine on the Domestic Sluttery blog and all I can say is DO THIS NOW*. For one, Amaretto is great and wonderful, and for two adding it to mulled wine makes it one hundred times more Christmassy. You should preferably have it with some Christmassy biscuits like I did.

Hope all my readers have a Merry Christmas!

*Ok maybe not now if you are reading this blog post just as I've written it at 11am. But you know, maybe you should, it is Christmas.

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