Eight deliciously refreshing summer drinks to get you through the last few days of summer

The Cocktail Bar

Rose flavours, healthy sodas and enough gin cocktails to sink a ship, here are the latest concoctions to keep you cool.
Serve over ice and sip in the shade.

Fentimans rose lemonade

It doesn’t hurt to have rosy-fresh breath every once in a while and if you ever want a drink to make you feel like you’re consuming a yummy cocktail when you’re not, this is it. The perfect combination of sweet and sharp, Fentiman’s rose lemonade is one of those rare rose-flavoured offerings which doesn’t taste like a mouthful of perfume, making it a lovely edition to the fridges of Britain.

Find your nearest Fentimans stocklist at www.fentimans.com

Ice ice Lolly

While you’re at it, mix four parts of Fentiman‘s rose lemonade with one part of gin (use Slingsby Rhubarb) and a dash of agave syrup, put it in some lolly moulds (with some fresh raspberries for the aesthetic) and hey-presto, you’ve got a new boozy dessert.

Slingsby advise not going too heavy on the gin, or else your lollies wont set. If you’re looking for another gin hit, pair your lolly with a Slingsby G&T.

Slingsby Yorkshire Rhubarb Gin, £39.99 from www.spiritofharrogate.co.uk

Tanqueray London Dry Gin Rosemary & Vermouth Highball

You can’t go wrong with a classic, and Tanqueray and tonic certainly is that. However, as gin cocktails rise in popularity, Tanqueray have invented some gorgeous options to pair with various foods.

‘The meaty spice of Tanqueray’s London Dry Gin juniper coupled with the bitter cacao and coffee notes of Belsazar Red are a match made in heaven for robust, meaty steaks.’ says Jack Sotti, Tanqueray Brand Ambassador.

How to make it:

● 40 ml Tanqueray London Dry Gin

● 20 ml Belsazar Red Cordial

● Top with rosemary soda

● Garnish with a sprig of rosemary

Tanqueray London Dry Gin Basil & White Grapefruit Highball

Something for the vegetarians among us, this is genuinely refreshing and easy to rustle up at home, especially if you’re the type to grow herbs in your garden.

How to make it:

40 ml Tanqueray London Dry Gin
20 ml fresh pressed grapefruit juice
10 ml sugar syrup
1 sprig basil
Slice of fresh grapefruit
Top with soda

Craft cocktail cans from That Boutique-y Gin Company

If you’re too time-pressed to make a gin cocktail (what a busy life you must lead) then That Boutique-y Gin Company has you covered with their new cocktails in a can. Crack open a pineapple gin mule by the pool, or try a cherry-cola gin. With recyclable packaging which wouldn’t look out of place in an office environment (work drinks, anyone?) you can start your evenings early. Maybe even at lunch time.

Get the Pineapple Gin Mule and others for £2.75 each from www.masterofmalt.com

Genie Drinks live sodas

Soda is notoriously unhealthy, but Genie Drinks have done away with the guilt-factor to produce a fleet of sainty soft drinks which are 100% vegan and actually help you maintain a healthy gut. Made in the UK, the sodas come in Lemon & Ginger or Original Orange.

Genie Drinks also make 100% vegan Kombuchas, so if you want to add some health to your barbeque without eating the limp salad which wilted in a hot car on the way over, this is the way to go.

To buy Genie Drinks’ Live Sodas (£25 for 12 bottles) or their Kombuchas (£28.80 for 12 bottles), visit www.geniedrinks.co.uk

Sea Buck’s Cornish tonic water

Everybody’s favourite mixer has seen a few new versions, but none more carefully-contrived than a beautiful St Ives offering, made from Cornish spring water infused with quinine-producing cinchona bark and sea buckthorn berries.

It’s a fair match for a stiff gin, producing an elegantly-wild flavoured beverage.

Sea Buck Tonic Water for £1.30 from www.drinksfinder.co.uk

Bristol Distilling Company’s 77 Blush Gin

We’ll be honest — being sent a new drink with a cocktail recipe occasionally proves… well, let’s just say a little hit-and-miss. But we were enormously and pleasantly surprised by this one using the Bristol Distilling Company’s 77 Blush, a grapefruit and rose-flavoured gin liqueur.

Not only was it utterly delicious, it was also brilliantly simple: a slosh of the booze, a slosh of soda water and a slosh of Cawston’s apple & rhubarb juice and it was ready to go.

Bristol Distilling Company’s 77 Blush, £14 until 19th August for 50cl, www.tesco.com

Bonus – a food pairing for your nightly tipple

We’ve paired drink with food, now it’s time to pair some food with drink. A new range of biscuits provide the perfect pre-dinner snack with whatever beverage takes your fancy.

Try the parmesan, toasted pine nuts and basil with Prosecco, whisky or blonde beers and ciders and opt for the pecorino, rosemary & Scottish seaweed with gin & tonic and gin cocktails (maybe one of the options listed above?) for the perfect marriage between biscuit and alcohol. You’re welcome.

Find The Drinks Bakery biscuit range online at www.amazon.com