I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and have not over indulged too much. The next leg of celebrations is here with New Years Eve. To help inspire you to create some fabulous and indulgent cocktails I have teamed up with Hawthorn's Gin to share with you a few special recipes that you can amaze your guests with. These are all incredibly tasty and I have even included a pick me up at the end for New Years Day should you need it!

Hawthorn Gin is an award winning single distilled gin produced in a vintage copper pot still in the heart of England. It is created with 100% British wheat and ten botanicals from around the world. The Gin has been described as

“Zesty and bright, with spice and coriander up front, as well as a touch of pepper in the middle, which then makes way for a fresh, yet dry leafy juniper finish.”

when it won silver at the International Wine and Spirit competition in 2014!

Wishing you all a very happy and productive New Year and hoping that 2016 brings you all new exciting adventures and much happiness along with the challenges and demands that life throws your way.

Hawthorn’s Gin Gin Mule

Ingredients

50ml Hawthorn’s Gin

15ml lime juice

15ml sugar syrup

6 mint sprigs

50ml ginger beer

1 splash soda water

Preparation

Muddle the lime juice, syrup and mint sprigs at the bottom of a mixing glass. Add Gin and shake. Pour over ice in a high ball glass, top with ginger beer and a dash of soda.

Cranberry Ginger Fizz

Ingredients

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup water

1 cup fresh cranberries

1 lemon, cut into wedges

½ orange, cut into slices

1½ cup Hawthorn’s London Dry Gin

1 cup chilled Ginger Ale (or Ginger Beer for a more pronounced ginger flavour)

4 mint springs

Preparation

Bring sugar and water to a boil in a medium saucepan, stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; pour off all but one cup of syrup, reserving any extra for another use. Heat the syrup to a boil and then reduce heat to medium. Add the cranberries and simmer for 2-3 minutes until they just begin to burst. Remove from heat and let cool in syrup. Place 2 Tablespoons drained cranberries and 6 Tablespoons cranberry syrup in a large pitcher; add the lemon wedges and orange slices. Using a muddler or wooden spoon, vigorously mash the fruit. Stir in gin and let steep for at least 5 minutes. Strain into a medium pitcher. Fill 4 glasses with crushed ice and ¼ cup ginger ale. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and then pour half the cranberry mixture into the shaker and shake vigorously for 10 seconds, strain liquid into two glasses. Repeat. Mound additional ice on top of each glass and garnish each one with 3 candied cranberries and a mint sprig

Pomegranate & Rosemary Gin Fizz

Ingredients

¼ cup gin

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp rosemary simple syrup (1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 1 sprig rosemary. Boil water until

sugar dissolves, remove from heat, add rosemary and let sit for 15-20 minutes. Remove

rosemary and refrigerate simple syrup)

2 Tbsp pomegranate juice

Club soda, chilled

Rosemary sprigs and pomegranate arils for garnish

Preparation

Mix gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and pomegranate juice in a shaker with ice and shake vigorously 10-12 times then pour over ice in a lowball glass top with club soda and stir gently. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary and a large spoonful of pomegranate arils!

Hawthorn’s Nutty Punch

Ingredients

50ml Hawthorn’s Gin

25ml amaretto

85ml apple juice

15ml lemon juice

15ml sugar syrup

cinnamon sticks to garnish

Preparation

Put the ingredients into a shaker with ice and give it a good shake to get some air into the drink – this helps to blend the apple, gin and amaretto nicely. To lift the sweetness of this cocktail, add 15ml of lemon juice. pour into a glass over crushed ice. Add two cinnamon sticks and stir the drink with them several times to give a delicate background cinnamon taste.

Vitamin Pill (New Years Day Recovery Drink)

Ingredients

25ml Hawthorn’s Gin

1 freshly squeezed orange

1⁄2 a squeezed lemon

25ml sugar syrup

2 dashes of orange bitters sugar to rim the glass

Preparation

Juice the orange and squeeze the lemon into a shaker with some ice. Run a slice of the orange around the rim of the glass and then upturn it into the sugar to create the sugar rim. Add the Gin and sugar syrup to the shaker with a couple of dashes of bitters. Shake vigorously and pour into a short glass over ice. Slap the rosemary garnish to bruise the leaves and release the oils.

If you want to get yourself a bottle of Hawthorn Gin you can purchase a bottle online from www.hawthornsgin.com you can also follow them on Facebook.com/hawthornsgin or on twitter.