Bring on the Daisy Cocktail

Christmas time is party time. But, when it comes to celebrating yuletide by sipping on a cocktail or two, how many of us really know the story behind what we’re drinking?

The harsh fact is that many of the recipes and methods used to produce many of our favourite tipples are shrouded in so much secrecy that is hard to know how to feel about drinking them.

There are very few spirits in the market that one can be sure are produced without exploitation. For example, the fair trade foundation only lists four spirits in its directory of products; three rums, two made by Papagayo and one made by Utkins, and just the one vodka, produced by the Fair Trade Spirits Company.

All of these, however, are not readily available across bars, off-licences and wine shops in the UK.

The solution to this problem is to go for spirits which are produced right here in the UK. And of course you have a lower carbon footprint then too. In this country, the spirit choice becomes one between whisky and gin.

When it comes to mixing a cocktail, gin is the spirit to go for. Its softer character makes it much more suited to mixing and blending with other ingredients in a cocktail.

This is not to say that you can’t do this with a whisky. It is simply that, through time, bartenders have come to treat a high end whisky as a product to be served straight, or with a little water or ice. On the other side, high end gins have become viewed more as a spirit to be played with.

Gin has played a key part in the evolution of cocktail making. Drinks such as the Gin Martini, Tom Collins, Gimlet, Pink Lady or Gin and Tonic (yes, it is a cocktail) are all classics which are held in high regard by bartenders and punters alike.

 The combination of gin and lime used in a Gimlet was in fact the initial inspiration for my very own seasonal creation which I have produced in honour of Daisy Green (see below).

The gin used in my own creation may be one that is already on the radar of many of those in the North East of England. The brainchild of local lads Andy Haddon, Jim Golightly and John Boyle, Jack Cains Premium Gin is produced by Northumbria Spirit Limited.  The inspiration for the project comes from the story of 19th century maverick, Jack Cain.

An infamous smuggler and illicit distiller, after settling in the Tyne Valleys he produced and distributed in my local north east England.

Today, Jack Cains gin begins life with a a pot stilled gin produced to a centuries old recipe, coming off the still at over 90% abv pure spirit. This potent substance then goes though a process of cold infusion of hedgerow botanicals and a little bit of magic.

Pure Northumberland spring water is then added to bring the spirit to the required drinking strength of 40% . The infusion gives the gin its unique flavour and softer character with particular elderflower notes.

For Jack Cains Premium Gin the cold infusion process takes about a week. For the fruit Gins (Sloe and Damson) fresh fruit, also sourced locally where possible, are steeped in their premium gin and left to infuse for three to four months.

Although not possible from the start, Northumbria Spirit plan to bring a full still process to the north east as soon as possible. In preparation for this, the company have students at Newcastle University looking into ways in which they can make his north east distillery as green as possible.

Andy in fact has strong green credentials himself. While a director of Option C he helped bring Option C’s car club to Newcastle and uses this system to transport Northumbria Spirit products around the north east. Andy says,

“Jack (Cain) himself was probably as green as you can get. Running his spirits around by a horse and cart. We’re just trying to go back to how things were and find better ways of making gin.”

Northumbria Spirit plan to produce other innovative spirits including unusual gins and maybe even a whisky. They have made a clove gin for Christmas which is being used by the Centre For Life in their ‘Clovetini’at their ‘Science of Christmas Spices’ event.

Meanwhile, those of us in the north east can enjoy Jack Cains Gins’ at several drinking establishments across the region, including my own workplace Popolo, many of which also offer Fentimans organic tonic for anyone wishing to enjoy a fully north eastern G&T.

For those of you outside of the north east I would recommend several other UKmade gins which are becoming more and more popular. Such as Hendricks Gin, produced in GirvanScotland, a small batch gin which is infused with cucumber and rose petals. This is not to say that we should stray away from some of the more popular brands of gin which are more widely available.

In fact several spirit producers in the UK are making great strides to clean up the production of their products. Not least the biggest of them all, Diageo, the worlds biggest beer, wine and spirits company and the UK’s biggest gin producers with both Gordons and Tanqueray on their books.

At their Camdenbridge Distillery (where both Gordons and Tanqueray are made), Diageo is currently constructing a £65 million bio-fuel factory which will convert ‘spent wash’ (a by-product of the distillation process) into steam and electrical energy.

They claim that this facility will provide 96% of the thermal steam and 80% of the electrical energy needed to produce the spirits made at Camdenbridge.

So come on everyone; support your UK drinks makers; try some gin; and have a very merry Christmas.

The Daisy Green cocktail

Ingredients
60ml Jack Cains Premium Gin
3-4 organic sage leaves (homegrown if possible)
Barspoon Bramley Apple Sauce – Homemade is the best option but in keeping with the north east theme I have used Coquet Valley’s apple sauce
15ml freshly squeezed lime juice
Sage leaf for garnish

Method
1) Pre-Chill a Martini glass.
2) Gently muddle apple sauce and sage in boston glass (or cobbler tin).
3) Add spirit and lime juice.
4) Shake this mix with ice cubes. Requires a long shake for a little more dilution.
5) Fine strain into martini glass. If you don’t have a specific fine strainer for cocktails then any fine sieve will do.
6) Add a sage leaf on top to garnish.

Image above by Michael Warwicker