A cocktail couple from a true Ginbassador for our Gin of the Month Burleigh's!

After Craft Gin Club Members taste their Burleigh’s Distiller’s Cut this month, we’re sure that all will become ambassadors, spreading the good word about such a fabulous gin. Just the same, every spirit needs its own official brand ambassador, the one person that carries the torch of tipple. 

Burleigh’s Gin found its torch bearer in August 2015 in Nottingham barman, Henry Yates. With 12 years in the industry, Henry has set up quite a few bars including the nationally-recognised Boilermaker which won Best Drinks Venue this year at the Nottingham Food and Drinks Awards and whose cocktail menu consisted of Henry’s concoctions. 

Now, as the gin’s Brand Ambassador Henry is mixing cocktails with Burleigh’s, including the four cocktails on these pages that Craft Gin Club Members can enjoy with their Distiller’s Cut. Cheers!

The Distiller’s Garden

This drink is a twist on the classic gin garden, an ever-popular drink usually made with cucumber and elderflower. The grapefruit bitters bring out the fresh citrusy notes on the palate, and the addition of fresh celery compliments the slightly peppery finish of Distiller’s Cut. The drink makes use of some classic English ingredients – freshly-pressed apple juice for acidity and length, rosemary to tie the lighter flavours together and the aforementioned celery. 

This vegetable although indigenous to the UK was first cultivated for use in cooking here by Marshall Tallard, a French prisoner of war under house arrest in Nottingham following his capture at the Battle of Blenheim in 1704. Tallard discovered celery growing wild whilst walking through the marshes outside the city and, recognising it from home, took some back to plant in the gardens of Newdigate House.

Ingredients:      

• 50ml Burleigh’s Distiller’s Cut
• 15ml fresh lemon juice
• 60ml fresh pink lady apple juice
• A dash of Fee Bros. grapefruit bitters
• 1 teaspoon rosemary sugar
• A 5cm stick of organic celery

50ml Burleigh’s Distiller’s Cut

15ml fresh lemon juice

60ml fresh pink lady apple juice

A dash of Fee Bros. grapefruit bitters

1 teaspoon rosemary sugar

A 5cm stick of organic celery

Method: Add the celery and rosemary sugar into the bottom of a cocktail shaker and muddle together. Pour over the liquid ingredients and shake briskly with ice. Serve over cubed ice in a rocks glass with shaved apple and a sprig of rosemary.

Blackberry Shrub

September is blackberry season and this recipe is a great way to make the most of it. Wild blackberries are found in the hedgerows and bushes surrounding our distillery on Bawdon Lodge Farm in Charnwood Forest. Shrubs, also known as drinking vinegars, are a forgotten way of preserving the flavours of a glut of seasonal fruit to be enjoyed later in the year. The simple blackberry shrub in this recipe is a perfect partner to tonic water, and the base recipe can be adapted to whatever seasonal fruit is to hand. The drink in the picture is made with a gooseberry and lavender shrub that I made in July.

To make the shrub you will need freshly-picked blackberries, caster sugar and some good quality organic cider vinegar. Pick, wash and weigh your blackberries. The ratios for this recipe are 2:1:1 fruit:sugar:vinegar. Spread the berries in a large container and sprinkle over the sugar. Cover and leave in the fridge for 3-5 days. The sugar will draw the juice from the berries and you will be left with a brightly coloured syrupy consistency. Bring the vinegar to boiling point in a pan and add the contents of the fruit container. Keep heated above 80 degrees for 10-15 minutes then remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. Pass the shrub through a fine sieve and bottle, ready to use.

Ingredients:

• 50ml Burleigh’s Distiller’s Cut
• 35ml Blackberry shrub
• Fever Tree Naturally Light tonic water

50ml Burleigh’s Distiller’s Cut

35ml Blackberry shrub

Fever Tree Naturally Light tonic water

Method: Pour ingredients over ice into a highball glass or similar. Garnish with seasonal fruit and a lemon zest twist.