Category: Drink Recipes

Follow the links for simple drink recipes.   Or have a look at the Recipe Index for lots of other brilliant easy recipes!

Yes, there are drink recipes as well as food recipes on this blog.   I have a few non-alcoholic cordial recipes but most are for gin-based liqueurs using seasonal ingredients.

I started making flavoured liqueurs a few years ago and was really impressed by the flavour and by how easy they are to make.  You just put some mid-range gin in a jar with sugar and your flavourings, wait for a month or so and you have a delicious liqueur.  Much cheaper than shop-bought products!  They are also a great way to preserve the flavours of seasonal ingredients.

Drinks – alcoholic

Drinks – non-alcoholic

Rhubarb Gin Cocktails

Cocktails in the garden
Rhubarb gin cocktails

Rhubarb Gin Cocktails

Back in April, I made a batch of home-made Rhubarb Gin.  I was interested to experiment with a range of flavour combinations and so made several versions:  plain Rhubarb Gin, Rhubarb and Vanilla Gin, Rhubarb and Orange Gin and Rhubarb and Ginger Gin.   It is really easy to make your own Rhubarb Gin but it does take a month or so until it is ready to drink.  If you don’t have the time, inclination (or rhubarb!) to make your own, there are a number of great Rhubarb Gins available now.

Products from Amazon.co.uk

My home-made Rhubarb Gins all taste great on their own but, as I love cocktails, I thought I’d have a go at creating a few using the different flavours.    I gathered together a few willing volunteer tasters and the following were unanimously agreed to be the best of my Rhubarb Gin cocktail recipes.

Bottles of rhubarb gin
Rhubarb gin

Rhubarb Gin cocktail recipes

The method is the same for all the cocktail recipes – pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice to mix and cool then pour into a glass and enjoy!

If you like cocktails, and want to experiment with them at home, I would really recommend that you buy a cocktail shaker.  Shaking the mix of liquids in your cocktail over ice means the result will be properly combined and icy cold.

Products from Amazon.com

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Rhubarb gin

Rhubarb in the Garden

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 5
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 1 serving 1x
  • Category: Cocktails
  • Cuisine: English
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Description

This is a lovely summery cocktail which is a delicate pink colour.  I made it with my Rhubarb and Vanilla Gin but plain Rhubarb Gin is fine.  If you can’t get Rose Lemonade, you can use ordinary lemonade and add a couple of drops of rosewater.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 50 ml Rhubarb and Vanilla Gin
  • 50 ml Rose Lemonade (such as [amazon_textlink asin='B01BMBAZ2S|B003JGUS0E|B00XUKANQI|B00612E3PO|B00AKFNWGY' text='Fentiman's' template='ProductLink' store='tastebotanica-21success|tastebotanica-20|tastebotani0c-21success|tastebotani0a-21success|tastebotani01-21success' marketplace='UK|US|IT|FR|DE' link_id='4ca3a3b3-68b2-11e8-a0c1-55ca867c4624'])

Instructions

Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice to mix and cool then pour into a glass and enjoy!

Keywords: rhubarb gin

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Cocktails in the garden

Rhubarb Gimlet

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 1 serving 1x
  • Category: Cocktails
  • Cuisine: English
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Description

I love lime so a Gimlet is one of my favourite cocktails.   This one, which I made using my plain Rhubarb Gin,  has a fantastic sweet-sour tang.    To make sugar syrup you just need to put equal volumes of sugar and water in a pan, heat until the sugar dissolves and then allow to cool.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 50 ml Rhubarb  Gin
  • 25 ml fresh lime juice (half a lime)
  • 20 ml sugar syrup

Instructions

Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice to mix and cool then pour into a glass and enjoy!

Keywords: rhubarb gin, rhubarb gimlet, cocktail

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Rhubarb Martini

  • Author: Tastebotanical
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Description

This is a really simple cocktail but somehow the combination tastes quite sophisticated.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 65 ml Rhubarb and Orange Gin
  • 10 ml dry vermouth

Instructions

Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice to mix and cool then pour into a glass and enjoy!

Notes

I made it with my Rhubarb and Orange Gin.  If you just have plain Rhubarb Gin, you can at 10 ml of an orange liqueur (such as Cointreau).

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Cocktails in the garden

Rhubarb and Ginger Warmer

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 1 serving 1x
  • Category: Cocktails
  • Cuisine: English
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Description

The  “warmer” in the title refers to the heat from the ginger –  I still make it icy cold in the cocktail shaker! 

Ingredients

Scale
  • 50 ml Rhubarb and Ginger Gin
  • 50 ml ginger wine (such as Crabbies)

Instructions

Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice to mix and cool then pour into a glass and enjoy!

Notes

I made it with my Rhubarb and Ginger Gin but it tastes just as good made with plain Rhubarb Gin as the ginger wine provides sufficient gingeriness!

Keywords: rhubarb gin, cocktail, ginger wine

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Making rhubarb cordial
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Elderflower Gin

Elderflower gin
Elderflower gin

 

Elderflower Gin

Gin and elderflowers
Gin ingredients – elderflower and lemon

Elderflower Gin

Many people, including me,  use these fragrant flowers to make Elderflower Cordial but they can also be used to make beautiful floral-flavoured Elderflower Gin.  Unlike some flavoured gins, such as Rhubarb Gin, which take a number of weeks to mature before they can be drunk, Elderflower Gin is ready the next day!   It is great on its own or with a mixer, such as tonic, or with sparkling wine.

Elderflowers are a good starting point for new “foragers” as they are so widely available and easily recognisable.   They are the blossoms of the elder (Sambucus nigra) which is a small tree or shrub commonly found in woodlands and gardens throughout the UK.   The small creamy-white flowers are arranged in big clusters and bloom in late May or early June.   In autumn, they turn into purple elderberries which also have a range of culinary uses.

Elderflowers
Elderflowers
Equipment

Jam jar

Elderflower cordial
Picked elderflowers
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Elderflower gin

Elderflower Gin

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 500 ml 1x
  • Category: Gin
  • Cuisine: English
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Description

Add the scent of early English summer to your cocktails with this home-made Elderflower Gin.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 6 elderflower heads
  • 1 strip peel from an unwaxed lemon
  • 1 tablespoon of caster sugar
  • 500 ml gin

Instructions

  1. Wash the elderflower heads to remove any insects.
  2. Put the elderflower heads into the jar together with the lemon peel and caster sugar.  Add the gin.
  3. Allow to infuse for 24 hours.
  4. Strain through a sieve lined with muslin or kitchen paper into a clean jar or bottle.
  5. The gin will keep for approximately one month.

Keywords: elderflower gin

Gin and elderflowers
Elderflower Gin
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Bottles of rhubarb gin
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Elderflower Cordial

Elderflower cordial
Preparing to make Elderflower Cordial

Elderflower and lemon cupcakes

Elderflower
Elderflower and lemon cupcakes

 

 

 

 

Rhubarb Cordial

Rhubarb ready to be made into rhubarb cordial
Freshly-cut rhubarb and jars

This is a companion to the recipe for Rhubarb Gin and offers an alternative for those who do not like gin or who do not drink alcohol.  Children love it too although sometimes more when they are not told that it has rhubarb  in it!   There are many recipes for Rhubarb Cordial but this is the very simplest and requires minimal skill or time to make although you do need to leave it overnight before you can enjoy it.  It is very versatile and can be used to make non-alcoholic drinks or used as a flavouring in alcoholic cocktails.   It can also be used as a flavouring in cooking when making cakes and puddings.  As with the Rhubarb Gin, you can add additional flavours to your taste – some are suggested in the recipe but feel free to improvise!

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Rhubarb jam

Rhubarb Cordial

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 10
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 1 litre 1x
  • Category: Cordial
  • Cuisine: English
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Description

Sweet and zesty Rhubarb Cordial is an easy way of capturing the flavour of rhubarb for use in drinks and food recipes.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 kg rhubarb stalks
  • 600 g caster sugar
  • 1 litre of water
  • Juice of 1 lemon

Ingredients (variations)

  • If you wish to try different flavours you could add one of the following additions: 1 vanilla pod  or other spices (cardamon and star anise go well with rhubarb) or 5 slices of fresh root ginger

Instructions

  1. Wash the rhubarb stalks thoroughly.  Cut into 3 cm pieces.
  2. Put the rhubarb pieces, sugar, water and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to the boil.   Then allow to simmer for 10 minutes until the rhubarb is very soft.
  3. Take the saucepan off the heat and allow the mixture to cool.
  4. Strain the mushy juices through a muslin-lined funnel into a bowl or jug.  It takes a while for the juice to filter through and the process can be done overnight in your fridge.
  5. The juice that has filtered through the funnel is your Rhubarb Cordial and is ready to use.
  6. The Rhubarb Cordial will keep in a sterilised bottle in your fridge for around a month.  Alternatively, you can freeze it – best to do this in ice-cube trays – and it will keep for up to six months.

Notes

To sterilise your bottle, you can wash in warm soapy water, rinse thoroughly and then dry off for around 15 minutes in an oven set to 140C/120C fan/gas 1.

Rhubarb Cordial is very versatile and can be combined with soda or tonic to make a non-alcoholic drink or added to a glass of prosecco or added to gin or vodka as a flavouring for cocktails.  It can also be poured over vanilla ice-cream to make a quick pudding and used as a culinary ingredient to add flavour.

Keywords: rhubarb cordial

 

Rhubarb - pink and green and fresh
Rhubarb stems – beautiful!

Rhubarb Gin

Zesty orange and ginger - beautiful ingredients
Ginger and Orange – ready to add flavour to Rhubarb Gin

Rhubarb Gin

Traditionally used to make rhubarb crumbles or rhubarb fools, its sweet and sour taste makes a wonderful flavouring for gin.   Love it or hate it, rhubarb is now in season.  Cheap to buy in the shops and probably over-abundant if you have a rhubarb crown in your in your garden.

In the past few years, there has been an increase in the popularity of flavoured gins, including rhubarb, produced by niche producers and selling for a premium in supermarkets.  I think home-made and traditional is best in terms of both flavour and price, so why not try making your own?   It is  simple to make and, if you do it yourself, and you can play with flavour combinations to produce fantastic variations such as rhubarb and vanilla gin, rhubarb and ginger gin or rhubarb and orange gin.    You may think about other combinations – it is all about producing something that suits your taste!

(If you don’t drink alcohol – or are looking for a drink to suit teetotallers or children – check out my recipe for Rhubarb Cordial)

Rhubarb Gin

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Bottles of rhubarb gin

Rhubarb Gin

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 800 ml 1x
  • Category: Gin
  • Cuisine: English
Print Recipe

Description

Adding the flavour of fresh rhubarb to gin creates a fantastic drink that is good either on its own or as a base for cocktails.

Ingredients

Scale

Ingredients (basic recipe):

  • 1 kg rhubarb stalks
  • 400 g caster sugar
  • 800 ml good quality gin

Ingredients (variations)

  • If you wish to try different flavours you could add one of the following additions: 1 vanilla pod or 5 slices of fresh root ginger or 5 pieces of thin orange peel

Instructions

  1. Wash the rhubarb stalks thoroughly.  Cut into 3 cm pieces.
  2.  Mix the rhubarb pieces thoroughly with the sugar in a large bowl.
  3.  Spoon the rhubarb and sugar into a sterilised jar.  Leave for 24 hours to allow the rhubarb to macerate in the sugar and   release its juices.
  4.  At this stage, you can add additional flavour ingredients if you wish.   Simply add a vanilla pod, fresh root ginger slices or   thin orange peel (taken from an orange using a potato peeler avoiding the pith) to the jar.
  5.  Add the gin to the jar of rhubarb and sugar.  Shake thoroughly to ensure it is mixed.
  6.  Leave in a cool, dry, dark place for four weeks.
  7.  At the end of that time, the gin is ready to drink!    You can strain the gin into sterilised bottles through a muslin cloth held in a funnel and it will keep for approximately six months.  Alternatively, you can leave the rhubarb pieces in the gin but, if you do this, you must drink it quickly as it will turn bitter after a couple of months.

Notes

Although it only takes 20 minutes preparation time, you will need to allow 24 hours for the rhubarb to macerate  in the sugar and, once you have added the gin, it will take a further four weeks to allow the flavour to develop.

Rhubarb Gin can be drunk on its own, combined with soda or tonic or used as a based for Rhubarb Gin Cocktails.   It is also good poured over vanilla ice-cream to make a quick pudding.

Keywords: rhubarb gin

Rhubarb in jars with sugar and gin - just have to wait four weeks to taste
Jars of Rhubarb, Sugar and Gin
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