Gin-based cocktails
Always producing a healthy margin, cocktails have become a popular drink on both sides of the bar counter. But gin-based cocktails are becoming a more personalised affair with consumers brand-calling their gin cocktail and not just being happy with any old mixer in their G&Ts.
Different-coloured mixers, for example, can produce a variety of pleasant colour effects in a gin cocktail.
Similarly the move to a more sweet style of gin with less of the Juniper-forward on the tongue is helping attract more people to the gin category.
The provenance of the gin has also become a consideration as have the unique flavours and compositions that make up the gin’s overall character.
But on top of this there’s the sheer variety of garnishes being witnessed in some gin cocktails and G&Ts; some bartenders even pay more attention now to the style of the ice they use in their gin cocktails.
Most can be made fairly simply.
In some cocktails gin has found itself substituting for other spirits in the Margarita where rum has been ousted and the result has been a Margatini – or one can turn a Whisky Sour into a Gin Sour through the substitution of gin for whisky.
All this has only added to gin’s sales momentum, placing it as the third-most-popular spirit after vodka and whiskey here.
In the UK flavoured gins claimed four of the Top 10 brands by value in the first month of the on-trade’s reopening there last year .
Indeed, gin-based cocktails comprise as much as a third of the world’s best-selling cocktails.
Here in Ireland gin sales were up 40% in the year to the 25th of April according to NielsenIQ while they were up 37% this year to the 25th of April and by 21% in the eight-week period to the 25th of April.
Off-trade figures only, naturally….
Ravenrock Gin
Ravenrock Gin is a premium organic Irish-distilled gin filtered through Silurian-aged sandstone and infused with a local blend of Rowanberries and wild organic Irish Heather.
This recent addition to Dundalk Bay Brewery and Distillery’s drinks portfolio has an unusual-shaped bottle and has environmentally-friendly packaging (including its glass lid) – one of the many reasons the company achieved Origin Green Status with Bord Bia for sustainability.
Distilled in Dundalk, County Louth, it’s inspired by the jagged rocks off the coast of Dundalk Bay looking onward to the vista of the Cooley Mountains where many of the botanicals (such as Heather) are foraged. Other botanicals range from sun-dried Egyptian Orange, Indian Cardamom and a secret eclectic mix of organically-sourced botanicals from all over the world.
Ravenrock is best mixed with a premium tonic and served with a wedge of Orange and ice in a fishbowl glass.
Last January Ravenrock, a 100% Irish-owned independent company, added a further addition to its spirits range in welcoming Ravenrock Premium Distilled Irish Organic Vodka, distilled and filtered five times through Irish silver for supreme purity and exceptional quality.
Discover more at www.ravenrockgin.com.
Facebook – www.facebook.com/ravenrockgin
Twitter – www.twitter.com/ravenrockgin
Instagram – www.instagram.com/ravenrockgin
Linkedin – www.linkedin.com/dundalkbaybreweryanddistillery
Graham Norton Irish Gin
Distributed by Barry & Fitzwilliam, the award-winning Graham Norton Irish Clear and Pink Gins from West Cork Distillery are close to Graham’s home town.
Distilled using 100% Irish grain, both draw their flavours by combining 12 botanicals including Angelica, Fuchsia flowers, Orris roots, Rosehip, Basil and Liquorice root.
Graham has even created his own cocktail, Ginsecco – Graham Norton Frizzante Prosecco topped-up with a dash of his own pink gin and Strawberry garnish.
For Graham Norton’s Own Irish Gin G&T perfect serve, enjoy with Indian Tonic Water, lashings of ice and fresh Lime to garnish.
For Graham Norton’s Own Irish Pink Gin, substitute the Lime for red berries.
Graham Norton’s Pinksecco
50ml Graham Norton’s Pink Gin
50ml Soda water or Lemonade
25ml Graham Norton’s Prosecco Ice
A handful of favourite seasonal berries
Method: Fill large glass with ice, add GN Pink Gin & Soda water/Lemonade, top-up with Prosecco and garnish with berries.
Graham’s Own Pinktini
A pale, pink take on a classic Martini with a twist of citrus for added zest…and it’s best served shaken, not stirred!
- 75ml Graham Norton Pink Gin
- 10ml Dry Vermouth
- slight peel of Orange zest
- handful of ice to shake with.
Method: Pour Gin and Vermouth into shaker, add handful of ice. Pour into Martini glass, add slight peel of Orange zest (only touch needed for extra zing, don’t go overboard!).
Silks Gin
Boann Distillery’s inaugural gin release, Silks Irish Dry Gin, is composed with 14 distinct botanicals, three of which are hand-foraged from the Cooney family apple orchards at the foot of the Hill of Tara – Apple blossom from the trees, honey from the beehives and Elderflower from the hedgerows.
These are macerated for 24 hours before distilling with vapour infusion in a copper pot still.
This unique combination of botanicals and distillation technique creates a floral forward contemporary style gin with bright citrus aromas.
Rich and silky smooth on the palate with Orange peel, fresh blossom and notes of Apple complementing the Juniper backbone.
The Silks name is inspired by the colourful jockey silks worn at Bellewstown Racecourse, which can be seen from the family distillery in Meath.
Perfect served in a classic G&T with a slice of red Apple or in a ‘Silks Apple Bees Knees’ cocktail, a twist on the classic serve.
Silks Apple Bees Knees
Ingredients:
60ml Silks Irish Dry Gin
30ml Lemon juice
30ml Apple juice
30ml Honey syrup
Apple slice and Sage to garnish
Method – In a cocktail shaker filled with ice add the gin, Lemon juice, Apple juice and honey syrup. Shake to combine and strain into a glass.
Garnish with an Apple slice and Sage leaf.
For further information visit www.boanndistillery.ie @silksgin on Social Media
The gin is distributed exclusively in Ireland by Barry and Fitzwilliam.
Glendalough
The Glendalough Distillery in the Wicklow Mountains crafts spirits to evoke a sense of place, an appreciation of the wild flavours within and a recognition of what it took to put them there.
With every sip, Glendalough Wild Botanical Gin gives you a ‘Taste of The Wild’ Wicklow mountains, made from wild flora foraged in the peaks surrounding the distillery and capturing the essence of Glendalough.
The wild botanicals are picked at peak freshness daily by the distillery’s forager Wicklow native Geraldine Kavanagh. Glendalough is one of the few distilleries in the world to employ a full-time forager.
The wild botanicals are painstakingly slow-distilled to tease out delicate flavours in very small batches of less than 250 litres.
Glendalough Distillery has won ‘Ireland’s Gin Distillery of the Year’ at the New York Spirits Competition 2021 and Sustainable Distillery of the Year (Icons of Whiskey 2021).
Glendalough Wild Botanical Gin has won multiple global awards including a Double Gold in the San Francisco World Spirits Awards 2021, International Wine & Spirits Competition and the Irish Gin Awards.
Wicklow 75
40ml Glendalough Wild Gin
20ml fresh Lemon Juice
10ml Simple Syrup (1:1 hot water to sugar)
Prosecco
Garnish Lemon twist
Combine all above in a shaker of ice. Shake, then strain into glass and top-up with prosecco and garnish.
Bombay Bramble
Bombay Bramble, a new creative expression of gin bursting with natural flavours, is inspired by the classic Bramble cocktail but with a modern twist. This lively addition to the brand’s growing range of premium gins offers a tantalising taste experience and eye-catching colour created with a 100% natural rich fruit infusion.
Easy to mix and perfect for cocktail experimentation, Bombay Bramble is the first flavoured distilled gin from the brand and is set to add a twist of crimson colour and flavour to the classic G&T and a host of creative cocktails this year.
Instead of using artificial flavours, colours or additional sugar after distillation, freshly-harvested Blackberries and Raspberries are used to create a rich fruit infusion, capturing their essence when they’re most ripe.
Bombay Bramble is then created by marrying the brand’s vapour-distilled gin with the 100% natural berry infusion, giving a distinct colour and flavour.
This process allows the botanical and Juniper notes to shine through for a more sophisticated taste.
Bramble & Sonic
Bombay Bramble provides the ideal base for a lighter option for those wishing to enjoy a drink under one unit of alcohol. Here a reduction of tonic also lowers the overall sugar content further and instead uses soda water for a light refreshing finish.
Ingredients.
- 25 ml Bombay Bramble
- 75 ml Soda Water
- 75 ml Tonic Water
Garnish
- Lemon wedge
Method
- Build over cubed ice in a highball glass
- Garnish with a fresh Lemon wedge.
