We held an English garden party and celebration of gin on Sunday, a little knees-up we called An Afternoon in Mansfield Park. All I have to say is cheers to our guests! What style! What grace! What hats! What seersucker! And what a way you have with a cocktail shaker, fair totty!
A full set of photos is here. Thank you to Laura for taking gorgeous ones, including the shot of gin and botanicals you see above. Our new friend Kin, a private chef and blogger, took the delightful Polaroids below (a sure-fire way to make yourself party MVP).
Thank you, Kin and Janis for helping to put out a trio of tea sandwiches and homemade scones with farmer’s market strawberries and cream. Meat and vegetable pies and pasties rounded out the oh-so-very-British menu (would you believe there were real! live! Brits! in attendance and they were mightily impressed).
The cocktails we served with recipes are below because even if you could not attend on Sunday we care for you and want you to enjoy refreshing gin drinks all summer long.
God save the Queen and God save Gin!
Tom Collins
2 oz gin (Beefeater or Hayman’s Old Tom)
1 oz lemon juice
2 tsp superfine sugar or ½ oz simple syrup
Soda
Add all ingredients except soda to a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into rocks glass over ice and garnish with a lemon wheel. Serve.Summer Fruit Cup
1 ½ oz Plymouth gin
4 strawberries
3 basil leaves
¾ oz lemon juice
½ oz simple syrup
Combine all ingredients in cocktail shaker &shake vigorously without ice. Add ice & shake again. Double-strain into highball glass over ice & garnish with strawberry & basil leaf. Serve.
Gin-Gin Mule1 ½ oz gin (Tanqueray or Beefeater)
¾ oz simple syrup
¾ oz lime juice
1 oz house-made ginger beer
4 leaves mint + garnish
Add all ingredients to shaker and shake vigorously with ice. Double-strain into rocks glass over ice and garnish with mint (and candied ginger if you have some). Serve.
Last Word¾ oz gin (Tanqueray or Junipero)
¾ oz lime juice
¾ oz green chartreuse
¾ oz maraschino liqueur
Add all ingredients to shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Serve.
The perfect way to spend a scorching hot summer afternoon. There is nothing like a gin cocktail to cool you down, my personal favorite was the Gin-Gin Mule. Thank you to Nora & Mayur for hosting such a lovely event, and to Brian for stealing my sister’s camera and taking lots of lovely photos.
