Mint Junip: Wild Island gin cocktail recipe with Juliettes Interiors

Got a space in your lounge, or dining room, or maybe even your designated bar room that’s just crying out for a new drinks trolley?

But you don’t just want any drinks trolley… it has to be special. Fit all your gin. Be luxurious.

Well, let me introduce this beauty – Juniper – by Juliettes Interiors. I mean, just look at it. It’s got a built-in ventilated cabinet and mini fridge, a walnut garnish board, and polished stainless steel drip tray for starters. I think I am in love and I'm going to buy several Lottery tickets for this weekend.

To celebrate Juniper, the lovely people at Juliettes were looking for a gin cocktail recipe, made with either Wild Island, or Pickering’s 1947 gin, that is worthy of being served at their events over summer, including Salon Privé.

I got busy in my lab (tiny kitchen), and after several recipes, tweaks, start-overs and more, I’m happy with this, the Mint Junip. I was immediately drawn to the Wild Island gin (probably due to the packaging, doesn’t it look great?). I haven’t tried it before, and I like the story behind it. It’s distilled on the Isle of Colonsay, which is one of Scotland’s Southern Hebridean Islands.

The copper still is infused with six native hand-foraged botanicals growing wild on the island: lemon balm, wild water mint, meadowsweet, sea buckthorn, heather flowers, and bog myrtle. And ten further botanicals are used as the base. While there’s quite a lot going on with it, in terms of a floral, citrus character, it can also stand up to complementary flavours, which is why I think it works in my cocktail.

It makes a cracking G+T though, too, with a slice of lemon and a sprig of mint for a garnish.

Mint Junip
Wild Island gin 50ml
St Germain elderflower liqueur 15ml
Cucumber and mint presse 40ml
Apple green tea syrup 15ml
Mint leaves x4

Method
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
Add the gin, St Germain, presse, green tea syrup, and mint leaves.
Shake.
Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a mint leaf.

To make the apple green tea syrup… Boil 150ml of water on the hob. Take the hob off the boil. Add your green teabag. Once infused (five minutes), put the water back on the heat and add 150g sugar. Stir until dissolved and allow to cool.

Vinspire is involved in this competition with Juliettes Interiors, who sent us a bottle of Wild Island and Pickering’s gin in order to come up with a recipe, and asked us to include several links within the post, to the Juniper trolley, the gin, and the interiors homepage. All opinions are still Vinspire’s.