Forget the Pimm’s and strawberries & cream and grab yourself a Gin Smash this Wimbledon!
Summer is here – hopefully someone tells the weatherman! – and we have the perfect gin cocktail for you to enjoy while watching the world’s best tennis tournament. Forget the strawberries and cream – we have a Raspberry & Mint Smash to tickle the taste buds and help you through those tense five set matches. This is an awesome gin cocktail for Wimbledon but frankly we’d have one at any time of the year. The Raspberry & Mint Smash is perfect for showing off our Copeland Raspberry & Mint gin, which is distilled right here in Donaghadee using raspberries and mint leaves grown in County Down. At 37.5% alcohol by volume, this is a proper gin with a great juniper-forward taste and hints of sweet raspberry and tangy mint.
To make your Gin Smash
First, you’ll need a cocktail maker – any type will do – and a strainer. You can pick one up in any good hardware shop or even your local supermarket. We like to serve our Smash in a rocks glass (sometimes known as an Old Fashioned glass) which is normally cut glass, short and has a wide brim and heavy base.
You need sugar syrup for this recipe which you can buy from most supermarkets, but you can also make your own at home quickly and easily between tennis matches. Just heat 100ml of water and 200g of caster sugar in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves and let it cool. You can make the syrup in advance, when you’re bored(!) and don’t worry if you make too much – you can store it in a jug in the fridge for several weeks.
Muddle about 6-8 mint leaves in the base of the cocktail shaker together with 4-5 raspberries (basically push and mash them gently with a spoon or a pestle if you have one). Add in 20ml of freshly squeezed lemon juice and 20 ml of the sugar syrup you made earlier, together with 50ml of Copeland Raspberry & Mint gin. Add a good handful of ice and shake until ice cold – about 10-12 seconds should do it.
Strain out the cocktail mix into a rocks glass filled with ice and garnish with 1 or 2 raspberries and a freshly picked mint sprig.
Careful now, this is a strong one, be sure to calm your inner McEnroe while watching your favourite player! New balls please!
Ingredients for your Raspberry & Min gin smash:
- 4-6 Raspberries
- 6-8 Mint Leaves
- 50 ml Copeland Raspberry and Mint Gin (available from our website, SuperValu/Centra stores, Tesco NI stores or from your local off-licence)
- 25 ml lemon juice
- 25 ml sugar syrup
Garnish with a sprig of mint
A good seat to watch all of the Wimbledon centre court action…..
