British summer is well a truly upon us, as I write I can feel the warming sentation on the back of my neck from a weekend in the sun. So I think it’s about time I made a recipe that’s refreshing and uses my new found favourite soft drink: ginger beer. My personal choice is the Old Jamaican Ginger Beer as it’s not too gingery and doesn’t get the back of my throat as some other brands do.
For a garnish I made some candied ginger which you can leave out but it adds a nice “cocktail bar” touch and I also used basil mint from the garden but standard garden mint will work just as well.
Ingredients
35ml gin
Juice of half a lime
6 basil mint leaves (or garden mint if using)
Ginger Beer
Ice
For the candied ginger (optional)
Thumb sized piece of ginger
100g sugar
pinch of salt
Water
Method
In a cocktail shaker add the gin, lime juice and mint. Using a muddler (or just the end of a wooden spoon) mash up the mint in the liquid to release the flavour. Then add a good amount of ice, place the top on the shaker and shake well for about a minute. In a tall glass add some ice and pour over the gin, lime and mint mixture through a sieve in order to catch the bits on mint. Top with ginger beer and garnish with a slice of lime, sprig of mint and the candied ginger on a cocktail stick, if using)
For the Candied Ginger
To make the candied ginger pieces I used this recipe from Daring Gourmet. I changed it a little as I didnt want that much candied ginger so I only used a thumb sized piece of ginger and changed the amount of sugar to a handful. I also only let the ginger cool down for about 15 minutes as it was ready to be dusted with sugar. But give the recipe a go, it’s well worth doing, plus it leaves 2 by-products of ginger water and ginger syrup.