Skip to main content

Up your gin cocktail game with fresh fruits and herbs

The fresher your ingredients, the better your drink

Small strawberries in container
Pixabay / Pexels

Anyone who cooks knows the importance of fresh ingredients for the best tasting results — and the same is true of drinks as well. If you want to make delicious cocktails, then using fresh fruits and herbs is a wonderful way to add rich, aromatic flavors to your drinks. One option is to create syrups from fresh fruits, but you can also use freshly squeezed juices for luxurious flavors in your cocktails — and these recipes from Hendrick’s Gin use both.

Strawberry SunSqueeze

Hendrick's Gin

Created by Liz Pearce, Hendrick’s Central U.S. Ambassador

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 parts Hendrick’s Gin
  • .5 part Cardamaro Amaro
  • .75 part Rooibos infused Strawberry Syrup
    • 1 part water, 1 part white sugar, 1 part chopped fresh strawberries, .07 part loose leaf rooibos tea leaves.
  • .5 part Fresh Squeezed OJ
  • .75 part Fresh Lemon

Method:

Recommended Videos

Bring to a simmer for 5 minutes, strain and cool. Shake all ingredients, strain over fresh ice. Garnish with fresh Herbs, strawberries and a cucumber slice and celebrate the flowery and fruity combination of strawberry and Hendrick’s rose flavors.

Carefree Kiwi

Hendrick's Gin

Created by Liz Pearce, Hendrick’s Central U.S. Ambassador

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 parts Hendrick’s Gin
  • .5 part Lillet Blanc
  • 1 part kiwi syrup
    • To Make Kiwi Syrup: in a blender, combine 2c. fresh kiwi pulp and 2 c. chilled simple syrup.
  • 1 part cucumber juice
  • 1 part lemon juice

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a shaker, strain into a snifter glass over ice and enjoy the bursting flavor of kiwi combined with Hendrick’s curious botanicals.

Persephone and Pomelo

Hendrick's Gin

Created by Liz Pearce, Hendrick’s Central U.S. Ambassador

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 parts Hendrick’s Gin
  • .25 part Aperol
  • .5 part Pomegranate Juice
  • .5 part pomelo Juice (substitute ruby red grapefruit if unavailable)
  • .75 part lemon juice
  • .75 part honey syrup

Method:

Combine all ingredients, and chill in the freezer until slushy. Add a few ice cubes to a personal sized blender for single serving, or full sized blender for batched cocktails. Blend until ice is slushy and texture is smooth. Pour into a glass of your choice and garnish with fresh pomegranate seeds and a cucumber slice. Once garnished, enjoy the refreshing and tangy pomegranate flavors that blend in harmony with Hendrick’s Gin.

Georgina Torbet
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Georgina Torbet is a cocktail enthusiast based in Berlin, with an ever-growing gin collection and a love for trying out new…
Prickly pear isn’t just a garnish — it’s your new secret weapon behind the bar
How to utilize the vibrant cactus flower in a good beverage
Prickly pear fruit.

When it comes to great cocktail recipes, a few things are usually present. You need a standup spirit, a good mixer, and often a nice bracing hit of citrus for balance. But what of the more exciting additions like prickly pear that we tend to overlook (or use in different arenas)?

The flowering cactus produces edible fruit that's both wildly colorful and downright delicious. The flavor is a bit like melon or strawberry, sometimes showing a touch of bubble gum or hibiscus. And it's a great thing to have in your cocktail-making arsenal, and not just as a garnish.

Read more
Old Forester is going to up your home bartending game with its new cocktail cherries
Old Forester is launching cocktail cherries
Old Forester

Fans of the timeless Manhattan cocktail know that it isn't finished until it's garnished with a cherry or two. However, if you're taking the time to include a high-quality rye whiskey or bourbon, sweet vermouth, and Angostura bitters, you don't want to use cloyingly sweet, generically red maraschino cherries.

You need a high-quality, flavorful cherry for your cocktail. Especially if a renowned bourbon distillery makes it. Luckily, the folks at Old Forester have you covered. That's because the iconic brand recently announced the launch of the perfect complement to your go-to whiskey cocktail: Old Forester Cocktail Cherries.
Old Forester Cocktail Cherries

Read more
The best wine and cocktail pairings for your charcuterie board
Wine pairings for cured meats
Volpi Foods Meats

As a meat and cheese lover, I'll gladly volunteer to make a charcuterie board for any event. There's something unique about creating a charcuterie board; no two boards ever come out the same. Crafting great charcuterie boards includes selecting the perfect pairings of meats, cheese, and accompaniments. Yet, the ideal evening is incomplete without the perfect cocktails and wines to pair with your charcuterie board. Volpi Foods' CEO, Lorenza Pasetti, shares her best tips and recommendations on selecting wine and cocktail pairings for every cured meat on your charcuterie board.
Why charcuterie and wine pairings matter

Making a charcuterie board comes with many decisions -- from spreads to arrangement to selecting a good variety of flavors. As such, it's easy to miss a key component in making all the flavors come together: your beverage. "Whether it's the delicate, buttery texture of prosciutto or the bold, spiced notes of sopressata, the right wine or cocktail acts as the perfect complement by elevating those flavors, enhancing complexity, and turning a simple tasting into a memorable experience," says Pasetti. "At Volpi Foods, we've spent over a century perfecting the craft of cured meats, staying true to the time-honored tradition of slow aging to develop deep, rich flavors in every bite."

Read more