Cocktail No 80 Hawaii Kiss

I was looking forward to this one, but an sadly disapointed. The concept sounds fabulous and tropical, but it doesn't live upto the idea. Generally I am not a fan of gin and prosecco and this one confirms it.

I used a dry prosecco. The drink is too dry and the pineapple juice without sweetner lacks the delicious taste we associate with it. Its actually quite bitter. Perhaps with some sugar syrup or a sweeter wine would work, but I am not getting that tropical pineapple taste I was hoping for.

Still I get to make pineapple icecream with the residue.

Recipe

1 pineapple
25 ml Birkdale gin
2 ice cubes
Sparkling wine

Scoop out flesh from the pineapple and press juice out of it, use a juicer, or blend the flesh and pass through a strainer. Return juice to hollowed out shell. Add gin and ice and top up with sparkling wine. Serve with straws and share if you are able.

Cocktail No 79 Gin Sling

A nice and simple sweet and sour. It's very easy to over do the lemon juice, so a light touch please. Using mineral water instead of soda makes a huge difference - much lighter and refreshing. One dash of Angostura bitters is usually a bit light for me, but in this it is right. It's not intrusive but is there and gives a hint of complexity to the drink. The gin itself is masked by the other flavours, so probably best with a cheaper brand than a premium gin, but as I have litres of the stuff, I went ahead and used Birkdale gin of course!

It is a lot nicer than I was expecting - well worth trying

Recipe

2-3 ice cubes
40 ml Birkdale gin
20 ml Lemon juice
2 teaspoons caster sugar
1 dash Angostura bitters
Mineral water

Put ice in a tumbler (Tiffany naturally) with gin, lemon juice, caster sugar and bitters. Stir until sugar dissolves and top up with mineral water (I used sparkling)

Cocktail No 78 Lady Brown

Wow this one is a keeper!

The gin comes through very strongly (maybe I had a heavy hand!) and in an extremely good way. The grand marnier and the mandarin orange juice (I cheated and used regular OJ) provide the sweetness, not not over the top, whilst the lemon juice cuts through this to give the sour compliment.

There is burnt caramel in there - heavens knows where from, but it is extremely pleasant and I don't have a sweet tooth, so its subtle and just balances against the lemon acidity. And relatively low in alcohol, which is an interesting concept in cocktails as the gin is diluted with almost equal volumes of low ABV GM and 0% lemon juice. Probably only 15-16%. I could work it out, but hey it is Easter Sunday on lockdown due to COVID-19

Recipe

Ice cubes
40 ml Birkdale gin
20 ml Grand Marnier (or Cointreau - its a bit sweeter)
20 ml Mandarin Orange Juice (or regular orange juice)
15 ml Lemon juice
2 Mandarin Orange segments

Crack Ice and put in shaker with the gin, Grand Marnier, mandarin orange juice and lemon juice. Shake well and strai into a cocktail glass. Garnish with the 2 mandarin segments and serve with a straw.

Cocktail No 77 John Collins

Another really simple one to make. Its another sweet & sour play balanced by the bicarb in the soda water. The gin is quite subtle - I was expecting it to be more dominant.

Its very refreshing and perfect for a sunny afternoon like today.

Happy Easter everyone.

Recipe

Ice cubes
25 ml Birkdale gin
15 ml lemon juice
2 teaspoons caster sugar
Soda water

Add gin, lemon juice and sugar to a tumbler. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Top up with soda water and add ice.

Cocktail No 76 Horse's Neck

When I do a gin course one of the questions I ask is "what is the most distinctive taste in almost every gin?" and it isn't Juniper. Its pepper, in my case coming from Grains of Paradise and Cubeb berries. Next time you drink a G&T look out for it - its a fire at the back of the throat. As soon as it is pointed out to them practically everyone can taste it.

But this isn't the only fiery botanical in gin. The other is Ginger. I use dried ginger as the aroma and the bite is so much stonger than fresh ginger.

The Horse's Neck is basically Gin & Ginger. It a perfect combination if you like it on the spicy side. The lemon tones it back a touch. Couldn't be simpler.

Recipe

Spiral of lemon peel
Ice Cubes
50 ml Birkdale Gin
Dry Ginger Ale

Place one end of the lemon peel over the edge of the tumbler, letting the remainder to curl inside. Anchor with two ice cubes. Add Birkdale gin and top up with ginger ale.

Cocktail No 75 - Gin Punch

Nice and simple for a warm sunny evening on Easter Saturday.

Its strong and sweet.The Maraschino and juice from the cocktail cherries is really pronounced, but the lemon juice cuts through and prevent it being too sweet. Really refreshing.

Recipe

Ice Cubes
40ml Birkdale Gin
15 lemon juice
2 teaspoons caster sugar
2 dashes Maraschino
Cocktail Cherries
Pineapple chunks (if you have them)

Crush Ice and add to a shallow tumbler. Add gin, lemon juice, sugar and Maraschino. Stir, then decorate with cherries and pineapple chunks.