Rose-tinted tipples
Pink drink sales are soaring. So, from rhubarb vodka to rosehip gin, which should you serve for Valentine’s tonight?
PINK champers on Valentine’s Day? Not any more. Sales of other pink drinks — from magenta cocktail mixes to pale pink rhubarb-flavoured vodkas — are soaring. Here, Femail’s drinks expert puts them to the test . . .
A FLORAL TRIBUTE
Eden Mill Love Gin, £22.46, 31dover.com TradiTionally, ‘pink gin’ was a simple cocktail made with regular gin and angostura bitters, which was pale pink in the glass.
These days, it refers to a new wave of pink-coloured gins, usually sweetened and flavoured with red fruits.
This is a brilliant example, although it’s a very subtle shade of ballerina slipper pink — and the gorgeous ceramic bottle means you can’t see the liquid until it sploshes into your glass.
Flavourwise, it’s fabulous. The botanical ingredients include hibiscus flowers and rose, but overall it’s more like a really good gin with a whiff of flowers about it. love it.
ANYONE FOR COLLAGEN?
Collagin Rose, £36.99, notonthehighstreet.com There’s nothing subtle about this pink gin which contains skin-boosting collagen. For a start, it looks like a giant bottle of perfume, and makers young in spirit describe it as a mix of beauty and booze. The colour is practically luminous and the smell more pot pourri than gin. on the palate, it’s sweet, creamy and drinkable.
Clearly they can’t claim this gin will tackle wrinkles, but the sheer fun of it should put a smile on your face.
RHUBARB AND CUSTARD
Chase Rhubarb Vodka, £40, Waitrose Made with early harvest pressed rhubarb, this perky pink vodka has a rhubarb and custard character. The rhubarb is stewed and distilled with vodka made at the Chase distillery, before more fresh rhubarb is added to give a pink tint.
Pretty sweet, but it works very well mixed with tonic water for a Pink V&T — or you can make a Pink Martini by shaking it with dry vermouth.
TOASTING WITH MARSHMALLOW
Pink Marshmallow Moonshine, £17.95, Masterofmalt.com noT strictly pink (the liquid is colourless) — but from the candy pink waxtipped top of the bottle to the bottom, this is one of the sweetest- looking drinks around. and being a liqueur, it is
very sweet. The spirit is made from sweet potatoes and it really does smell and taste amazingly like melted marshmallows. drink in small glasses with a heart- shaped ice cube dropped in each.
FUCHSIA FIZZ BOMB
Flavour Your Fizz Rhubarb Mimosa by Smith & Sinclair, £5.99, Lakeland These look a little like a packet of Berocca tablets, but rather than fixing you the morning after the night before, these tablets are designed to colour and flavour your drinks pink.
each tube contains ten tablets and, when dropped into your glass of fizz, adds instant froth, sweetness and tartness.
They lack natural flavour but if you’ve got a dodgy bottle of old sparkling wine lying around, this’ll transform it.
A FLAVOUR OF WEST SUSSEX
Nyetimber Rosé MV, £39.99, Majestic There are plenty of great english sparkling wines around, but our rosé wines are relatively few and far between.
Made in the same way as champagne using classic champagne grapes — Chardonnay and Pinot noir with a dash of Pinot Meunier — this one from West sussex is worth splashing out on with delicate red fruit flavours and a whiff of brioche to it.
BUBBLE GUM GLITTER
Fox & Foreman Rhubarb & Rosehip Shimmer Gin Liqueur 20cl, £6 until next Monday (normally £7), Tesco There’s a lot going on in here for such a little bottle. at first glance it looks like another pink liqueur. But give it a shake and it shimmers with gold.
on its own, this is almost unbearably sweet; add it to a glass of prosecco, however, and not only does the gold shimmer look fantastic, the flavours of rhubarb and rosehip really do come through.
like your drinks shimmery and pink? you’ll love this.
WHAT A RUM ICE LOLLY!
Be My Valentini 35cl, £10, M&S This isn’t just any Valentine’s cocktail; this is M&s’s new premixed cocktail.
Made from a blend of white rum, cranberry juice, lime juice and orange peel with other flavourings including apple, cherry, radish and sweet potato.
overall, it’s a mishmash, tasting like a melted icelolly save for the heat of the rum. But it’s definitely a conversation starter and the colour is so bright, you’ll see it with the lights down low.
HELEN McGINN’S new book, Homemade Cocktails (Robinson, £10.99) is out now.