Recipes — Cocktails

Recipe by Laura Ruth Smith

Seabuckthorn Margarita

With its citrussy-sour flavour, seabuckthorn lends itself particularly well to a refreshing margarita!

Makes one (scale up for more)

INGREDIENTS:

• 50ml Tequila
• 25ml Triple Sec
• 25ml Buck Russian

Garnishes: Maldon sea salt, lime wedges

METHOD:

1. Put all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with lots of ice. Give it a good hard shake for about 30 seconds. The outside of the shaker should be frosty!

2. Run a lime wedge around the outside of the rim of our glass, then roll the rim in the sea salt.

3. Double strain the mix into the glass and enjoy.

Tip: Alternatively, use sugar on the rim of the glass for a sweeter version, just like Haribo!

 Recipe by Laura Ruth Smith

Spiced Elderberry Gin

A beautiful autumnal gin made with wild elderberries - found in abundance at this time of year. Once it's ready, it makes a lovely personalised gift when decanted into bottles.

Top it up with champagne and you have a fabulous winter cocktail!

Makes approximately 1 litre and keeps for several months.

INGREDIENTS:

• 500g elderberries (remove all stalks, leaves and green berries)
• 1 litre gin (London dry is best, or one that isn’t heavy in botanics)
• 2/3 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 100g sugar
• lemon or orange peel

METHOD:

1. Put all dry ingredients into a large, sterilised sealable jar.

2. Pour over the gin, seal the jar and give it a good shake.

3. Store in a cool dark place for 2 months, giving it a shake around once a week.

4. Once infused, strain through a muslin cloth (or coffee filters work just as well) and decant into sterilised bottles.