This grapefruit and green tea gin cocktail is an ideal thirst-quencher for sunny spring days

Our resident mixologist, Maria, was so enamoured of the refreshing Mangajo Sicilian Lemon and Green Tea Pressé we included in our April 2020 Gin of the Month box that she decided to create her another of her very own gin cocktail recipes with it!

The result is a deliciously refreshing take on the traditional Tom Collins, combining grapefruit cordial with the zingy flavours of lemon and cooling notes of Japanese green tea.

Here, we’ve included Maria’s suggestion for homemade grapefruit cordial, for a truly fresh taste. Of course, you could always use store-bought cordial instead.

(That said, at time of writing we’re experiencing lock-down across the UK, so making your own cordial could be a fun way to spend an hour indoors AND a great way to preserve your citrus fruits when you can’t get out to buy fresh items from the shops!)

Either way, we’re sure you’re going to enjoy this delightful, refreshing gin cocktail on those sunny spring evenings. Chin chin!

*To make your own grapefruit cordial, you’ll need:

Wash and peel the grapefruits, keeping the zest refrigerated. Juice the grapefruits and lemons and add one part lemon juice to two parts grapefruit juice (for instance, 200ml grapefruit juice with 100ml lemon juice).

Add equal part caster sugar to your fresh juices. (So for example, for 300ml combined grapefruit and lemon juice, add 300g sugar.) Stir well until the sugar has dissolved. (If using granulated caster sugar, you might want to warm the juice in a pan very gently, but without bringing to boil, to help the sugar to dissolve).

Finally, add the grapefruit peel to your your cordial and leave the mixture to infuse for 4-6 hours before straining. Your cordial will keep in a cool, dark place or the refrigerator.