In this post, we'll cover some of the short mixed drinks and cocktails we enjoy the most, sometimes adapted to highlight characteristics of our gins. Some of these things have been learned working with world class bartenders over many years.
The Martini
50ml Dyfi Original, Pollination, Hibernation or Navigation Gin*
10ml Dry Vermouth (eg Noilly Prat)
Lots of ice
Mixing glass and cocktail stirrer
Strainer
Martini glass or wine glass (chilled)
Twist of lemon peel, or an olive
One of the greatest of all cocktails, and a true acid-test for any gin.
Load a mixing glass with ice, and add the alcohols. Then stir, not only to chill the drink, but also to dilute it to taste. With our gins (except Navigation), mixing the proportions above, without dilution, will provide a drink at 40% abv. Try different stirring times of 15 seconds, 30 seconds and 45 seconds (or longer), and see where your preference lies.
Once stirred, strain into a chilled glass. If you want a citrus influence, twist some lemon peel over the glass to release some oils, and either discard, or drop in the drink for even more lemon. If you want a more savoury note, add an olive (normally on a cocktail stick).
Once open, keep your dry vermouth in the fridge, and don’t expect it to last forever. Make more martinis.
Experiment with the ratio of gin to vermouth to find your preferred ‘dry’ (less vermouth) or ‘wet’ martini. You can make your Martini into a Dirty Martini by adding a small dash of olive brine (from a jar of good quality olives) to the mixing glass at the beginning.
*Navigation Gin is about 25% stronger than the other ones we do, so you might want to adjust your Navigation Martini ratio accordingly.
Pink Gin
50ml Dyfi Original, Pollination, Hibernation or Navigation Gin*
A few drops shaken from a bottle of Angostura bitters
Lots of ice
Mixing glass and cocktail stirrer
Strainer
Martini glass or wine glass (chilled)
Spiral of lemon peel to garnish (optional)
With the huge rise in popularity of pre-coloured gins (which in fact happen AFTER any distillation), its easy to forget that Pink Gin (aka Gin & Bitters or Gin Pahit: Pahit being Malay for Bitters) is a proper mixed drink in its own right.
Shake a few drops of the bitters into the chilled glass. Swirl the glass to coat the bottom, and discard any excess bitters.
Load a mixing glass with ice, and add the gin. Then stir, not only to chill the drink, but also to dilute it to taste. Try different stirring times of 15 seconds, 30 seconds and 45 seconds (or longer), and see where your preference lies.
Once stirred, strain into the bittered glass. It will create a drink with a ‘pink’ hue. Garnish with a spiral of lemon peel on the edge of the glass if you wish.
*Navigation Gin is about 25% stronger than the other ones we do, so you might want to adjust your Pink Navigation ratio accordingly.
The Gimlet
50ml Dyfi Original, Pollination, Hibernation or Navigation Gin*10ml Rose’s Lime Cordial
10ml fresh squeezed lime juice
Lots of ice
Cocktail shaker (or mixing glass and cocktail stirrer)
Strainer
Old Fashioned glass or chilled Martini or wine glass
Wedge of lime to garnish
The Gimlet is a short drink: punchy, sour and bracing.
Load a shaker or mixing glass with ice, gin and the lime juice and cordial. Shake or stir briefly and vigorously.
Strain into either a chilled Martini glass, or an Old Fashioned glass over ice. Garnish with a wedge of lime.
*Navigation Gin is about 25% stronger than the other ones we do, so you might want to adjust your Gimlet Navigation ratio accordingly.
The Negroni
2 parts Dyfi Original, Pollination, Hibernation or Navigation Gin*
1 part Campari (or Cynar makes an interesting alternative)
1 part Red Vermouth (eg Punt e Mes, Dolin Rouge, etc)
Lots of ice
Mixing glass and cocktail stirrer
Strainer
Tumbler (Old Fashioned) glass
Twist of orange peel
Negroni is a short drink, and gorgeous before or after a meal. It can be modified into a longer drink by serving in a gin ‘copa’ glass and adding soda to taste.
Load a mixing glass with ice and then add the alcohols. Stir 10 to 20 times (the more you stir, the more you dilute the drink. Not good or bad, just do this to your own taste).
Load a tumbler with ice, and strain the drink over. Garnish with a twist of orange peel, and marvel at how such a simple drink tastes so good.
Compared to most classic Negroni recipes, this uses more gin, so you taste the gin itself in the finished drink.
Don’t forget vermouth is a fortified wine, so it won’t last forever once opened. And very cheap vermouth is a bit of a false economy.
*Navigation Gin is about 25% stronger than the other ones we do, so you might want to adjust your Navigation Negroni ratios accordingly.
The Clover Club (or Dyfi Club)
40ml Dyfi Original Gin
15ml fresh squeezed lemon juice
15ml raspberry juice*
15ml dry vermouth
Half an egg white
Lots of ice
Cocktail shaker
Strainer
Chilled coupe glass
The Clover Club was created in 1896 for the eponymous club in Philadelphia. Credit to this version to Tristan Stephenson (author of the Curious Bartender’s Gin Palace), which is probably as close as you’ll get to the original. Although see below* if you’d like to give it a more curious twist.
Load a shaker with all ingredients but without ice and shake vigorously. Then add plenty of ice and shake again to chill. This first 'dry shake' increases the ‘sherbet’ effect of the egg white.
Strain into a chilled Coupe glass.
*Tristan’s method for raspberry syrup is to take 250g fresh raspberries, 2g salt and 250g caster sugar, mixed and placed in a ziplock bag or mason jar, and place overnight in a fridge. Then add 250ml water, and place into a saucepan of water at 50 C for 2 hours. Then strain (ideally through muslin). To extend the life of a batch, add a splash of gin.
An alternative, which we'll call a Dyfi Club, is to use bilberries (whinberries) instead of raspberries. A splash of Sloe Gin increases the life of the syrup and intensifies the flavour. Bilberries are one of the finest of the Dyfi’s foraged fruits, so makes for a more local result.
The Bramble
40ml Hibernation Gin
20ml fresh squeezed lemon juice
20ml sugar syrup
20ml blackberry syrup
Ice cubes and crushed ice
Cocktail shaker
Tumbler (Old Fashioned) Glass
Short straw (not a plastic one!)
Dick Bradsell, also the creator of the Espresso Martini, created The Bramble in the late 1980s at London's Fred's Bar.
You can buy blackberry syrup, but its more fun to make your own. Follow the method for raspberry syrup above, using blackberries.
Load a shaker with ice cubes, and shake all ingredients, excepting the blackberry syrup. Strain into a tumbler heaped with crushed ice. Then pour the syrup over the centre of the glass. Pop in a short straw, and optionally garnish with a couple of blackberries and a twist of lemon peel.
