Mikkeller gin & tonic with strawberries and blood orange

We just had quite heavy thunderstorms here, so I thought it would be nice to think about more sunshiny things. Actually not really, as I really like thunderstorms and this time I even managed to stay semi-dry, so can't complain. Anyway when it was warmer and sunnier a while ago I made these gin & tonic drinks with local fresh strawberries and blood orange that had kept in fine condition in the fridge. Now I've definitely run out of blood oranges. I used Mikkeller gin that is a special thing to have and I buy a bottle maybe couple of times a year. I really like it, it's really brilliant quality with nice artwork. It makes me miss Copenhagen again!

So here's the drink and the ingredients for one glass were about the following:

4 cl Mikkeller gin

200 ml tonic

2 strawberries sliced

½ blood orange sliced

Have further a good week, almost weekend now!

Your VegHog

2nd blog anniversary + G&T with L&B

I almost missed the blog anniversary this year, even though it's only the second one! It was always in the back of my mind that I'd want to make a special post for it in January. However, time then flew and before I knew it, the 7^th was here. The lack of time and preparation made me choose a quick option to mark the occasion and I thought that a celebratory drink could be a nice idea (more my style than a cake any day).

The idea for this Lemon and basil gin cocktail came when I was flicking through The Forest Feast again and saw the Lemon-Basil Mojito (p. 70-71). Since I had just purchased a new bottle of Kyrö Distillery Company's good rye gin called Napue (my review here), I decided to go more into the G&T direction today. So I just threw gin, tonic water, lemon wedges, fresh basil and ice together without any further measurements. It became a very refreshing drink – simple and good!

Hereby I raise a glass to you all, my lovely readers, and thank you for reading my blog, commenting and being nice! Let's hope that there will be many more anniversaries as I'm really enjoying the blogging.

Thank you!

Your VegHog

Rose cocktail

This summer heat forced me to make a cocktail that is low on alcohol content (you can also make this fully free of alcohol, if you prefer), as I needed desperate cooling down after the trip to the shops. It's extremely humid today and there might be thunderstorms later on.

I wanted to combine some flavours of the summer in this drink. I have admired the Fentimans lemonades and tonics on the shop shelves with the nice dog logo, and now I finally bought the rose lemonade and used it for this cocktail.

This is all you need for a quick refreshment:

500 ml sweet pear cider

275 ml rose lemonade

1 tbsp rhubarb cordial

Ice cubes

Rose petals

Mix the drink in a large jug and add the ice cubes and rose petals – done! 

Squeeze in one lime's juice for additional punch.

Keep cool!

Your VegHog

Mojito

It's Mojito Monday! What do you mean there's no such thing as a Mojito Monday? Well, then we'll just have one now anyway.

Mojito is a much loved refreshing cocktail by many, one of its big fans was the American author Ernest Hemingway, and The VegHog also belongs to the club.

A Mojito normally contains five ingredients: rum, mint, lime, fizzy water and sugar. These are the ones that I also used without measuring, just throw them all into a jug and enjoy! Just be a little careful with the rum, or make it alcohol free if you prefer.

This is today's post in its brevity, no further explanations needed!

Your VegHog

P.S. Happy St. Patrick's Day with this green drink!

Watermelon and gin cocktail

Just when I promised you autumn recipes I'm coming with something that couldn't be more summerly: a watermelon and gin cocktail. Of course this drink can be enjoyed in any season, so I decided to post it instantly. It was quite a good mix for a refreshing cocktail and so wonderfully red – try it!

½ medium watermelon

1 lime

200ml gin

200ml tonic

Ice cubes

Squash the watermelon with a blender and pour the liquid through a sieve to remove the seeds. Add the juice of a lime, gin, tonic and ice cubes and there you have it!

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Pineapple, coconut and gin cocktail

Fancy a refreshing cocktail? On a hot day make a pitcher of this drink, which basically is a fruity gin & tonic. It's quite exciting to use a fresh coconut as well for a change. Good luck with opening it!

A few ingredients are needed:

Pineapple juice

Juice of one coconut

1 lime

Tonic water

Gin

Ice cubes

Put ice cubes and approximately equal amounts of gin, pineapple juice and tonic water to a pitcher. 

You can make the cocktail stronger or milder on gin after your own taste.

Add coconut juice and press lime to the drink. Use a few lime slices as decoration. 

Mix all well together and prepare to be refreshed.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Pink grapefruit & gin cocktail

It's time for a little drink after all that heavy cooking and baking, and also my last drink related article was a while ago. I'm not the best friend of cocktails being more of a cider hog but sometimes a refreshing cocktail can be nice. So let us mix a G&G cocktail and practise for the summer for it'll come one day. One could even claim that this is a fairly healthy drink with all those vitamins but maybe I don't want to exaggerate.

Take:

Gin

Fresh pink grapefruits

Fresh lime

Crushed ice

Press juice out of the pink grapefruit and lime. Pour some gin into a nice glass and then grapefruit and lime juice on it. You can regulate the alcohol amount easily according to your preferences and taste. Crush some ice to go with it, mix and enjoy!

I can't wait until it's warmer and I can enjoy this outdoors.

Until the next time!

Your VegHog