Celebrate World Cocktail Day by mixing up one of these delicious gin cocktails

Happy hour starts now!

Today is World Cocktail Day - a time for thinking about cocktails, making cocktails, and of course drinking cocktails.

Most years, we typically enjoy spending this holiday in our favourite cocktail bar having award-winning mixologists expertly blend together the cocktail of our choosing. But alas, this year, we'll be celebrating from home.

Unlike last year, when our bartending skills left a lot to be desired, the past fourteen months have made mixologists out of us all. From learning how to make the perfect Negroni from none other than Stanley Tucci to putting our own signature twist on the ever-popular Espresso Martini, this World Cocktail Day, we're feeling pretty confident in our ability to whip up delicious cocktails from home.

So, with that in mind, we challenged Daria Caffrey, founder of Dacha Drinks to come up with three gin-based cocktails inspired by World Cocktail Day that we can all create at home.

And before we start, here's a top tip from Caffrey:

If you don’t have a cocktail shaker, you can use a jar with a lid or even a flask will do.

ORANGE & BASIL GIN SOUR

"I foraged for some wild Irish primrose flowers (which are edible) to decorate. As with anything -
don’t eat it if you are not sure 100% what it is! Primrose flowers are everywhere at the moment
and are easy to spot," says Caffrey.

Ingredients:

1 egg white or aquafaba (chickpea juice for a vegan version)
50ml gin
35ml Dacha Orange & Basil mixer
25/30ml lime or lemon juice

Method:

Add 1 egg white or chickpea juice to the shaker with a cube of ice and shake for about 10/15 seconds.
Add a handful of ice to the shaker and the rest of the ingredients and shake again until the shaker gets really cold.
Pour into a glass and enjoy!

RASPBERRY & THYME CLOVER CLUB

"Perfectly sweet and fruity cocktail with a hint of aromatic savoury thyme. Dacha Drinks uses10kg of whole raspberries and fresh Irish thyme to make just 100 small bottles of syrup. Using this, cocktails are extremely easy to make," says Caffrey.

Ingredients:

1 egg white (or aquafaba or chickpea juice for vegan version)️
50ml of your favourite gin ️
20ml lime or lemon juice
20ml dry vermouth
30ml Raspberry & Thyme Dacha mixer

Method:

Add 1 egg white or chickpea juice to the shaker with a cube of ice and shake for about 10/15 seconds.
Add a handful of ice to the shaker and the rest of the ingredients and shake again until the shaker gets really cold.
Pour into a glass and enjoy.

RHUBARB GIN MARTINI

"Irish rhubarb is really the first thing to poke through the soil in the garden in spring. So many people have nostalgic memories about it, my granny used to grow it and I remember scoffing her rhubarb pie as a child. So, this cocktail may just take you down memory lane!" says Caffrey.