Cocktail Hour: The HOT Gin & Tonic

It’s the weekend! *fist pump* And if you’re like me, we all know what that means... Cocktails!

Following my Stockholm bar guide on Monday, I’m here to give you the recipe for that INCREDIBLE Hot Gin & Tonic I had at Corner Club.

Laura might have given us some healthy spiced iced latte ideas yesterday, but I’m here to undo all that goodness by introducing you to a drink which involves both gin and double cream. Diet Schmiet. 

The hot, bitter tonic, with a punch of gin, cuts through the chilled velvety cream, making it a drink that is hard to forget; and one that I HAD to recreate instantly when I got back from holiday!

Whilst I was at Corner Club, the bartender explained how he made the unusual G&T (Jakt & Tonic), which used the “Swedish Excellence” Hernö Gin (available from Master of Malt for £30.13 for a 50cl bottle), as well as tonic, cream and freeze dried lingonberries, blitzed into a fine powder.

Unfortunately, lingonberries are pretty hard to come by over here – apart from jars of the sauce you can pick up in Ikea to go with your meatballs – so instead, I used Arctic Power Berries Cranberry Powder (which would also be perfect in the iced spiced lattes!). You can buy a 50g pack from their website for £7.50; trust me, you’ll want to sprinkle it on EVERYTHING once you have some.

I also didn’t have any Hernö Gin to hand (though I really want to buy a bottle as it’s beautiful), so I used a favourite of mine; Plymouth Gin (£23.99 from Master of Malt). It’s smooth and juniper led – typically ‘ginny’ you might say – so perfect G&T material.

Enough now though, it’s definitely time to treat yourself to a fancy hot cocktail... Enjoy! 

Hot Gin & Tonic (serves 1)

Ingredients:

• 30 ml Gin
• 8 ml sugar syrup (approx. 2 bar spoons)
• 100 ml Tonic Water
• 150 ml tub Double Cream
• Pinch of Powdered Freeze Dried Berries 

Method: 

1. Pour the tonic water into a pan, add the sugar syrup and heat gently for 5 – 10 minutes. You want the carbonation to disappear, and the liquid to reduce ever so slightly.
2. Take the pan off the heat, pour the liquid into a jug, and set aside to cool a little. Meanwhile, lightly whip the double cream; you still want it to be quite runny, just thickened a bit. You won’t need all of this, but you can use the rest with some strawberries! 
3. In an Irish coffee glass, or flute of some description, pour in the shot of gin. Add the hot tonic, then carefully pour some of the double cream over the back of a spoon into the glass - as you would a liqueur coffee - so that it floats on the top. 
4. Sprinkle some of the freeze dried berries on top, and serve.