Bloom Gin

Bloom Gin - glasses by Toasted Glass

I've had my eye on the delightfully presented Bloom Gin for quite some time now; ever since it was recommended to me by my favourite purveyors of fine spirits and liqueurs at Amathus City. I was intrigued by it's list of botanicals that include, alongside the essential juniper; sweet honeysuckle, pomelo and chamomile. I was promised a delicate gin that sounded perfect for making the kind of floral and fresh cocktails that I love.

Now don't get me wrong, I love a big, punchy gin as much as the next ginthusiast, but variety really is the spice of life and there's always room in the cocktail cabinet for another juniper based spirit and they really do vary. The only hard and fast rule, to which distillers must adhere when producing gin, is that the predominant flavour should be juniper, but otherwise, the options are infinite. The base spirit is generally a clear, grain spirit (vodka), but even that, needn't be the case, as Chase Distillers have proved, by producing a number of gins using apples from their orchards in Hereford. When it comes to botanicals, gin producers can get creative and no two brands will taste the same. Hendricks, for instance, uses a rose and cucumber infusion, Gin Mare is flavoured with olive and Blackwoods lists water mint and wild violet among it's ingredients, all of which give each gin their own, unique flavour.

Back to Bloom, our light and delicately flavoured gin. As you would expect, it's subtle on the nose; predominantly juniper with floral notes. The flavour is similarly understated and pleasantly sweet on the palate, without losing it's essential gin-iness. The pomelo makes for a softer citrus flavour than usual which is beautifully balanced by the unobtrusive hints of chamomile and sweet honeysuckle. All in all, I think it's rather lovely and would highly recommend it, but do pick and choose your cocktails carefully. The combining elements in some other cocktails could overwhelm such a delicate flower and that would be a shame. You need to make drinks that play up to it's floral delicacy rather than obscure it. There are a number of delicious sounding cocktails on their website that you should definitely have a look at and I have created a few here that I am particularly pleased with. So, without further ado...

I named this cocktail 'Forbidden Fruit' because pink grapefruit, (which is a hybrid of pomelo and sweet orange) when first discovered in Barbados, was given that name. Having a very similar taste profile to pomelo, pink grapefruit is good choice to bring out the best of Bloom gin. It's sweeter than ordinary grapefruit and of course, it's a wonderful colour. I find that basil and pink grapefruit work remarkably well together, but basil is a powerful herb, so less is most definitely more in this case.

Forbidden Fruit

Ingredients
2 oz Bloom Gin
1 large basil leaf
2 oz freshly squeezed pink grapefruit
1 tsp agave syrup
Pink Grapefruit zest and basil to garnish

Before cutting the pink grapefruit to squeeze it, first pare off a long strip of zest, ensuring to leave as much of the pith behind as is possible and set aside for garnishing the cocktail at the end.
Add the gin, basil and pink grapefruit to a cocktail shaker and muddle gently to release the aroma from the basil.
Remove the basil leave and discard before adding the agave syrup and a handful of ice.
Shake hard until the outside of the shaker is completely frosted and then double strain into a chilled martini glass.
Before  garnishing, twist the zest over the drink to release a micro fine spray of citrus oil and gently slap the basil between your palms to allow the aroma of the herb to escape.

Forbidden Fruit - glass by Toasted glass

This next cocktail makes me think of warm, mediterranean summers. The lemon and rosemary keep it fresh and light and I used Prosecco because it's a touch sweeter. You only need a little of the rosemary syrup, and the peachy citrus notes of the bubbles are perfect with this light and floral gin.

Bubble and Bloom

Ingredients
2 oz Bloom Gin
3/4 oz freshly squeezed lemon
1 tsp rosemary syrup
Prosecco to top up
Lemon zest and rosemary sprig to garnish

Before cutting the lemon to squeeze it, first pare off a long strip of zest, ensuring to leave as much of the pith behind as is possible and set aside for garnishing the cocktail at the end.
Add the gin, lemon and rosemary syrup to a cocktail shaker with a handful of ice and shake.
Strain into a champagne flute and carefully top with Prosecco.
Strip the lower needles from the sprig of rosemary and twist the lemon zest around the stem and garnish.

Bubble and Bloom - glass by Toasted Glass

This last cocktail was my personal favourite, not least because, as soon as I opened my bottle of Bloom Gin, I knew I wanted to make a cocktail that involved chamomile tea and the drink that I created in my head at that moment, worked perfectly. I wanted to use whole dried chamomile flowers to make the tea, but was unable to source them at short notice. However, to my delight, I discovered that teapigs chamomile tea temples are stocked in my local Tesco. Each little 'temple' contains a generous quantity of whole, dried chamomile flowers which brew up to produce a perfect cup of naturally sweet and golden tea. The teapigs website is well worth a visit if you are a fan of tea. It's fun, easy to use and they sell a myriad of loose and bagged, high quality teas.

Teapigs Chamomile Tea - glass cup by Toasted Glass

Chamomile Lawn

Ingredients
2 oz Bloom Gin
1 oz Chase Elderflower Liqueur
1/2 oz freshly squeezed lemon
1 tsp agave syrup
3 oz cold chamomile tea
Sprig of mint to garnish

Pour around 200 ml of just boiled water into a cup containing a teapigs tea temple and allow to infuse for around 10 mins.
Remove the chamomile and allow to cool before refrigerating until chilled.
Add all of the ingredients to a shaker with ice and stir steadily until the outside of the shaker develops a frosty bloom.
Strain the contents into an ice filled tumbler.
Gently slap the sprig of mint between your palms to release the aroma and garnish the drink.

Chamomile Lawn - glass by Toasted Glass

Nature's Harvest (in a glass)

Jolly Sailor Mulled Cider - glassware from Toasted Glass

Only a few, short weeks ago, it felt as though Summer might last forever, but of course, the seasons march on a pace and here we are, pulling on sweaters and wondering when it will be acceptable to crank up the central heating. Thankfully though, there's more to Autumn than just shorter days and chilly mornings. This is harvest time for a plethora of fruits, vegetables and grains, many of which will make an appearance on our plates and some of which should definitely be charging our glasses. British apples, pears, blackberries and plums are all at their best right now and if you are lucky enough to grow your own, you're probably wondering what to do them all, so when you've had your fill of fruit crumble, might I suggest that you turn your culinary skills to the drinks cabinet. After all, a warming tipple is a welcome pleasure as the nights draw in and the temperature drops. But don't worry if you don't have a garden full of fruit trees, the supermarket has plenty of British produce in store right now that will taste better than ever.

For this first cocktail, I actually made some pear nectar, which may sound a little over the top, but was surprisingly, very simple to do and a fabulous way to use up a surfeit of pears. Mine, I hasten to add, were from the supermarket and had inconveniently all decided to ripen at once, simultaneously turning from molar challengingly hard, to squish, within a day. As I couldn't convince my children that they really wanted to eat a bowlful of pears in a sitting, I decided to make them into juice.

Pear Nectar (makes about a pint)

3 large pears
150 ml of water

Chop the pears into quarters - no need to peel or core - and add to a pan with the water.
Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for a few minutes.
Allow to cool and place a sieve over a large bowl.
Mash the pear through the sieve and hey presto...pear juice!

As there are no preservatives, I suggest you use the juice within a day or so, but if you do want to store it for longer, you must keep it refrigerated in an airtight, sterilised container. This is very important as juices can become volatile if not kept in a sterile environment. However, it's so delicious, I can't imagine it will last too long.

Now, of course, you can buy pear nectar from some health food outlets or even make it by whizzing up unsweetened tinned pears, so don't feel you have to go all 'Nigella' in the kitchen. Using fresh produce is always a nice touch, but this cocktail is going to taste delicious, whichever way you prepare it. What really gives it that Autumnal, spiced flavour, is the delicious cinnamon, vanilla and clove syrup and luckily, you can buy it, ready made in a bottle  ( Clément Sirop de Canne available from www.amathusdrinks.com ). Alternatively, you can make your own:

Vanilla, Cinnamon and Clove Syrup

Add a vanilla pod, cinnamon stick and a couple of whole cloves to a pan with one cup of water.
Bring to the boil, reduce heat and add two cups of sugar.
Simmer for 5 mins and allow to cool.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Phew, so you've got your pear nectar, you've got your syrup, let's make some cocktails already!

Spiced Pear Martini

Ingredients

2 oz vodka (I used Sipsmith Barley Vodka)
2 oz pear nectar
1/2 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 - 1 oz Vanilla, Cinnamon and Clove Syrup (1/2 oz is enough for me, but if you like it sweet, add a little more)
Cinnamon stick and a strip of orange zest to garnish

Using a paring  knife, cut a strip of zest from and orange - try to leave the pith behind if possible.
Add the vodka, pear nectar and syrup to a cocktail shaker with a handful of ice cubes.
Shake hard for about 20 secs and strain the contents into a chilled martini glass.
Twist the orange zest over the top of the drink to release the essential oils and use as garnish along with the cinnamon stick.

Spiced Pear Martini - glass available from Toasted Glass

Next up is a cocktail that will definitely warm  you up after a chilly day. It combines lots of warming ginger with the earthy spiciness of tequila and the fresh flavour of blackberries. If you can pick your own, so much the better, just give them a little wash before you start.

Tequila, Ginger Bramble

Ingredients

2 oz Tequila Resposado (gold in colour)
1-2 cm root ginger, peeled and finely grated
3-4 fresh blackberries
1/2 oz lemon juice
3/4 oz agave nectar or sugar syrup
Sparkling water to top up
Blackberry to garnish

Add the ginger and blackberries to a cocktail shaker and muddle (squish).
Add the tequila, lemon and syrup with a handful of ice and shake hard.
Strain the contents into a chilled tumbler or hi ball, filled with ice and top up with a little sparkling water.
Stir gently to combine and garnish with a fresh blackberry.

Tequila, Ginger Bramble - tumbler by Toasted Glass

Finally, Autumn hasn't really started before you have your first Mulled Cider and Britain has no shortage of fine ciders to choose from. With the apples, literally falling out of the trees, there is no better time to celebrate that most British of drinks and warm your very cockles, to boot.

I could probably write a whole book, just of Mulled Cider recipes and indeed, I may, but for now, let's settle on just one that will see you through the next cold snap and into the Festive Season. The quantities here will make two generous cups, but if you are entertaining guests in the near future, scale up and give them a warming treat.

Jolly Sailor's Mulled Cider

500 ml dry cider
50 ml dark rum
Peeled zest of 1/2 an orange
1/2 an apple, cut into 4 wedges
1/2 cinnamon stick
1/2 vanilla pod
4 cloves

Put all of the ingredients in to a heavy bottomed saucepan and heat gently - do not allow to boil.
Simmer very gently for about 20 mins and pour into cups with the apple wedges - try to leave the zest etc, behind, as the cups get a little crowded, but be sure to eat the apple at the end - it's delicious!

Jolly Sailor Mulled Cider - glassware by Toasted Glass

Skinny Cocktails

Champagne Flute by Toasted Glass

As I write this, the weather, here in the South East of England is rather fine and sunny. Now I realise that it will not be so for all of you, but by and large, days are getting longer and the sun is making more and more of a regular appearance. This, I am sure you will agree, is a good thing - even my father, who is a die hard Scot who views the southern climate with deep suspicion, can appreciate the approach of summer, but with warmer weather, comes a whole set of issues which admittedly affect the female of the species more, but bear with me. Warmer weather means less clothing and less clothing means more exposed body parts and if like me, you are wondering where that extra bit of body padding came from, then this week's post is for you, because this week, as the title suggests, we are making skinny cocktails.

To be honest, I tend not to favour the creamy cocktails anyway and generally find that the addition of simple syrup in many, can be reduced, without spoiling the flavour. In fact, in many cases, it's an improvement and I always try to use the actual fruit, squeezed or muddled, rather than concentrated juices. However, this week's selection are, in the main, especially low calorie, without resorting to artificial sweeteners, which are just horrid.

Aside from containing less sugar and therefore, less calories, another notable point, regarding skinny cocktails is that the flavour of the alcohol is not masked so greatly. The benefits of this are twofold -

1) You will not drink so quickly and therefore will probably drink less over all

2) Being able to taste the alcohol more, makes it worth investing in a decent bottle of booze (admittedly, this could be see as a negative, but I relish the opportunity to treat myself to something a bit special)

As I discovered last week, when I tested Hendricks gin, there really is a difference in the taste that makes it worth spending that bit more, especially when it comes to making cocktails where the star is really the main ingredient. This first cocktail is a prime example and if you're not too keen on gin, then it's probably not for you, but it comes straight from behind the cocktail bars of LA and if anywhere knows about skinny, it's got to be La La Land. This drink, I actually picked up from an article about Robert De Niro and how incredibly fussy he is about his drinks. Well, fair play to him, I say. If you're going to have a drink, it should be a treat and it should be exactly how you want it. That's why I tend to shy away from public houses, unless they come recommended, as I am not a fan of beer and so many establishments can't even fix a decent gin and tonic, never mind anything more adventurous. That and the fact I just don't get out much, but thankfully, I have my trusty cocktail shaker and an ever increasing arsenal of cocktail recipes to keep Mr TG and I amused.

So here you have it, from the incredibly fussy and undeniably svelte, Robert De Niro...

Gin and Cucumber Martini

Ingredients

1 3/4oz Hendricks gin

10 cm length of cucumber, peeled and diced

Add the cucumber to the shaker and muddle until pulped

Add the gin and a handful of crushed ice and shake vigorously for 1 minute

Strain into a chilled martini glass

Cocktail Glass by Toasted Glass

Well, I have to be honest - this is not an easy drink. By that I mean, it doesn't lend itself to quaffing, in the slightest, but I did feel incredibly grown up and sophisticated whilst drinking it. Plus, your arms get a mini workout, just shaking the shaker for that long. Apparently, Mr De Niro insists that it be shaken for that long to ensure it forms 'frothy chips' - I guess that's the closest to chips you get in LA.

Next up is the slightly more calorific, but infinitely more quaffable Minty Mule. Like a Moscow Mule, but with lots of fresh mint, this cocktail uses Fever Tree ginger beer, which I discovered last week as I was making El Diablos. This ginger beer really is a superior beverage. It's sugar content is greatly reduced from that of normal ginger beer and it uses no artificial sweeteners whatsoever. However, what it lacks in sugar, it more than makes up for by packing some serious ginger. This stuff is really quite fiery, which is great as you don't need to use too much and if you make sure that there's plenty of ice in the glass, you'll use even less.

Minty Mule

Ingredients

2oz vodka

1oz lime juice

6 mint leaves

Fever Tree ginger beer to top up

Add everything apart from the ginger beer to a shaker and half fill with ice

Shake hard for 20 secs and strain into a tumbler, filled with crushed ice

Top up with a little Fever Tree ginger beer

Tumbler on Etsy

I think this is absolutely delicious. There's a nice balance of sharp, sweet and spice and the mint just makes it all taste super fresh and summery.

This next cocktail is a margarita of sorts, which uses a teaspoon of agave nectar to sweeten and the juice of an orange in place of cointreau or triple sec. You can also find a recipe for a Puro Margarita in my Ay Caramba post, which won't cause you to pop any buttons either and is very zesty and fresh.

Skinny Margarita

Ingredients

2oz tequila resposado

1 1/2oz lime juice

1oz orange juice

1 tsp agave nectar

sea salt to rim the glass (optional)

If you wish to salt the rim of the glass, lightly rub it with a wedge of lime  and carefully pull the edge through a small pile of salt

Add the tequila, orange, agave nectar and lime to a shaker and half fill with crushed ice

Shake hard for 20 secs and strain into the prepared cocktail glass

Cocktail Glass by Toasted Glass

I absolutely love this and genuinely prefer cocktails with a bit less sweetness to them anyway - I think the main lesson I'll take from this, is that a little sugar (or agave syrup) goes a long way. Most of the cocktails I have featured over the weeks, could be made with just a little agave syrup instead of so much simple syrup and some, like the Country Thyme cocktail from the Easter Cocktails blog post are already much lower in sugar. That said, it doesn't do to be too rigid about such things, but it's nice to have options.

Our final cocktail today is a Grapefruit and Basil Champagne Cocktail which includes a splash of fizz. Although the recipe does not specify which colour of fizz, I am going for pink as that is what I have in my fridge and I've been wanting to open it for ages, not least because I have some rather fabulous champagne flutes with Flamingos on that are just begging for a spot of pink fizz. Anyway, I digress....

Pink Grapefruit Basil Champagne Cocktail

Ingredients

1 3/4oz Hendricks gin

1oz pink grapefruit juice

2 basil leaves

1 tsp agave nectar

Splash of pink fizz

Add everything but the fizz to a shaker and top up to half way with crushed ice

Shake hard for 20-30 secs and strain into a chilled martini glass

Top up with a splash of pink fizz 

Champagne Flute by Toasted Glass

This is rather wonderful - the basil works well with the botanicals in the Hendricks and although the combination of pink fizz and grapefruit could be bitter, that little teaspoon of agave syrup just takes the edge off. I'm pretty sure that combining wine and spirits in the same glass is just asking for trouble, but seeing as I'll be sharing this one with Mr TG, we'll probably be okay....

I hope this week's post has shown that it is still possible to enjoy a delicious cocktail without piling on the pounds, although, if you insist on drinking them by the bucket load, it's probably not going to help that much. So drink responsibly and enjoy. Have a fabulous weekend x

Ay Caramba.

Gecko Cocktail Glasses by Toasted Glass

To date, this blog has featured all the cocktails I personally wanted to try, which seems like a good place to start. Hence, they have all tended to be zesty, fruity, occasionally with floral or herbal undertones and built around vodka, gin and rum. While this seems to me to be more than enough to work with, I am willing to concede that there is far more to be discovered in the world of mixology and so, like the intrepid explorers of yore, I am donning my pith helmet and venturing out into the jungle of wild and untamed spirits. That said, I am not veering into totally unchartered territory, as all of this weeks picks are indeed zesty and fruity, but I am ringing the changes by making margaritas, which, as I'm sure you know, all feature, tequila.

The very mention of tequila, sends an involuntary shudder down my spine and sadly, not in a good way, but it was not always so and I am hoping, that with the right ingredients, I can rediscover my love of it once again. Let's hope so, because I now have a whacking great bottle of the stuff to get through! Once, in a time before children, before hangovers gained such an intensity as to render all cognitive behaviour, impossible, tequila was an oft time companion in the relentless maradi gras that was my life, but over familiarity does indeed, breed contempt and our relationship has been frosty, to say the least, since 2003. However, cocktail aficionados, assure me that the problem lies, not with Tequlia itself, but with the quality of tequila we buy - although I suspect, my personal issue was one, more of quantity, than quality, but moving on....

Tequila is distilled from the heart of the blue agave, a large succulent plant found in Mexico and must be produced in the Mexican state of Jalisco to qualify as genuine. It is sold as either 100% agave or mixtos, which must be at least 51% agave and the rest being made up of other sugars. There are then five sub categories that the pure tequila is divided into, according to age. For a smoother, more palatable drink (yes please) you should look to buy a 'resposado' or 'anejo' tequila. The 'resposado' has been aged for a minimum of two months, but less than a year, in oak casks and the 'anejo', a minimum of one year, but less than three.

I had wanted to head to Amathus for a bottle of their superb Calle 23 Resposado tequila, but time constraints were such, that I could venture no further afield than my local Tesco, where, by fortune, they had a bottle of Sierra Resposado, complete with amusing, Mexican hat lid, more than adequate, I hope for mixing up a few tequila cocktails.

So, to begin with, we are going to make a margarita. There are so many variations on the basic drink, which consists of tequila, triple sec (or similar orange liqueur), lime juice and salt. This first margarita is called a Puro Margarita and does not use triple sec, but rather, the sweetness comes from the addition of agave syrup, which, if you haven't heard of it before, is a natural sweetener, made from the agave plant and with a much lower GI than sugar. It is readily available in larger supermarkets and of course, health food stores.

Puro Margarita

Ingredients

1 oz lime juice

Zest of  1/2 a lime

Pinch of sea salt

3/4 oz agave syrup

2 oz tequila Resposado

Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker

Half fill with crushed ice

Shake vigorously for 20 secs

Strain into a cocktail glass

Now here's the shocker - it's actually really nice. I could definitely detect tequila, but the addition of lime zest, seemed to pick up a spiciness, I hadn't ever really noticed before, with tequila and the sweet, sour and salt worked beautifully, together. 

So, flush with success, I am moving on to a variation on the theme and making a Cherry Margarita. This recipe calls for 8 cherries and I am using freshly frozen cherries, not least because they appear to  be more expensive, pound for pound, than plutonium, at the moment, but also because they actually break down more easily and the whole thing can be made in a shaker. This recipe also calls for Luxardo's maraschino liqueur, which I purchased as a miniature, to try out, a few weeks ago, from Just Miniatures, and in fact, have almost finished it, so may be investing in a full size bottle soon.

Cherry Margarita

Ingredients

8 frozen cherries

1/2 oz sugar syrup

3/4 oz lime juice

1/2 oz Luxardo's maraschino liqueur

1 1/2 oz tequila Resposado 

Run cold water over the cherries in a sieve and pat dry

Add the cherries and sugar syrup to a cocktail shaker and muddle until the cherries are fairly pulped

Add the remaining ingredients and top up with crushed ice

Shake vigorously for 20 secs and strain into a cocktail glass

Again, I surprised myself by really enjoying this. If I had any criticism, it was that it was a little sweet for my taste and possibly could have benefited from less added sugar, but the colour was so magnificent, I could forgive it that.

This last cocktail is adapted from a daiquiri recipe, favoured by Ernest Hemmingway, but the the rum is substituted with tequila. I like to think that Hemmingway, the alcoholics' poster boy, would have approved. I imagine he would have probably approved, had I substituted the rum for turpentine, in the appropriate circumstances....

Hemmingway Margarita

Ingredients

2 oz tequila Resposado 

3/4 oz fresh lime juice

1/2 oz fresh grapefruit juice

1/2 oz Luxardo's maraschino liqueur

1/4 oz sugar syrup

Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and fill to half way, with ice

Shake vigorously for 20 secs and strain into a cocktail glass

This, I thought, was delicious - sweet, but not cloying and very refreshing. I do believe, Hemmingway would have happily sunk a few of these and no doubt written some outstanding work of fiction, whilst pie-eyed. I, on the other hand, am struggling to finish this post after sharing all these with Mr TG. 

So, in brief, tequila isn't half as dreadful as I thought and I would happily whip up any of these cocktails to entertain guests. Of all of them, I would choose, as my number 1, the Puro Margarita - the addition of lime zest, elevating it from Cheesh and Chong, to Frida Kahlo.

And finally, I couldn't write about tequila, without a nod to the classic, shot, with salt and lime. I find it hard to believe there's a person of drinking age, alive, who hasn't tried this - possibly with disastrous consequences- but, just in case, here it is...

Tequila, Salt and Lime

Ingredients

1 oz tequila Resposado 

1 wedge of lime

1 pinch of salt

Pour the tequila into a shot glass

Take a pinch of salt and put it on the back of your opposite hand

Throw back the tequila shot in one gulp and immediately suck on the wedge of lime

Gecko Shot Glasses by Toasted Glass

Now, I have to be honest and admit that I did not try this one at home, but I did sniff the glass and was surprised to find that I did not retch. I think my days of tequila shots are well and truly over, but I may well make the Puro Margarita, part of my cocktail repertoire.I hope that you get the chance to try these out for yourself and please let me know your thoughts. Drink responsibly and have an amazing weekend x