Gin O'Clock!

The FatSteak Club isn’t just about food, a good drink adds so much to a meal. An aperitif to sharpen the appetite, a well-matched wine to lift a dish or something sweet and sticky with a rich dessert.

Following on from our collective look at Rum, we now turn our attention to Gin. It’s fair to say that Gin has a reputation, after all, it wasn’t called Mother’s ruin for nothing. Gin has had somewhat of a renaissance over the last decade with a bewildering choice available. Here we explore some our our favourite ways of drinking this juniper heavy spirit.

Negroni - Mike Pitts

Fruity, bitter and full of body, the Negroni is the FatSteakClubber’s aperitif of choice at one of our Meat Ups. We’re of course more fruity, cheerful and full bodied. The following measures are for a small one - go 50ml of each for a proper warm up.

• 25ml gin (I prefer to use Seville Orange Tanqueray to amp the orange-ness)

• 25ml Campari

• 25ml sweet vermouth (worth using a quality one)

Method. Add all ingredients to a tumbler with ice and stir. Garnish with an orange peel twist and rub some extra peel around the rim to leave a trace of orange oil. Serve with the waft of cooking meat in the vicinity.

Raspberry Collins - Mike Pitts

This is a great one for the summer. Bright, fresh and refreshing.

• 4 raspberries

• 50ml gin (Plymouth works well)

• 25ml Chambord (raspberry liquer)

• 25 ml fresh apple juice

• Raspberry and rose soda to taste (plain soda would be fine)

Method. Smash the raspberries in the bottom of the glass with a spoon then add the gin and Chambord. Stir in the apple juice and top with soda to your taste (~100 ml).

Gimlet - Adam

This is a new discovery for me. I’ve drunken many a Gin cocktail in my time but this one easy super simple and matches plenty of Gin with lime, which I also love. Like all good cocktails, this one packs a decent punch.

These are my preferred ratio’s, I’ve played around with a few based on various ‘research’. Just make sure that the Gin ratio remains at least 50%.

• 3 parts London Dry Gin

• 1.5 parts lime juice (fresh or bottled)

• 1 part sugar syrup

• Ice cubes (Small or lightly crushed)

Put everything in a shaker, and shake well and our into a, ideally chilled glass and garnish with a slice of lime if feeling fancy.

Bramble - Dave B

A traditional Bramble doesn’t usually have any fresh fruit, but as we know five a day is important, so this cocktail helps achieve your goal! A light, not too spicy gin is great, this was made with Chapel Down. If you have a fancy crushed ice maker this is an easy cocktail, if not, grab a plastic bag, a rolling pin, and get bashing!

• 6 fresh blackberries

• 50ml gin

• 25ml lemon juice

• 25ml sugar syrup

• 12.5ml Creme de Mure

Put the berries in a heavy rocks glass and muddle to get all of the juice out. Fill the glass two-thirds with crushed ice. In a cocktail shaker add some ice cubes, the gin, lemon juice, sugar syrup, and Creme de Mure. Give it a good shake to chill and strain into the glass. Top up with crushed ice if there is some room left, and add a fresh blackberry to garnish.