Pickle Shack’s lavender and dianthus-flower gin

Serves 4

For the gin

— 2 sprigs lavender — 10 dianthus flowers,

greenery removed — 200ml gin

For the blackcurrant syrup — 50g sugar

— 10 dianthus flowers, or more if you like, greenery removed

— 1 punnet of fresh blackcurrants, washed and trimmed

To serve

— 300ml tonic water

— ¼ cucumber, finely

julienned or sliced — lavender sprigs, to garnish — dianthus flowers,

to garnish

Add the lavender and flowers to the gin and leave it for approximately two days in the fridge or until you are happy with the taste (it should be floral with notes of clove – you can add more flowers for a stronger taste). Strain.

Add the sugar to a small pan with 50ml water and bring to the boil, then take off the heat and add the dianthus flowers. Leave to infuse for 10 minutes then strain through a sieve, discard the petals and pour the syrup over the blackcurrants back in the pan. Return to the heat and simmer until the blackcurrants soften and some of them burst, approximately three minutes. Transfer to a bowl and chill in the fridge until cold.

To serve, add the gin, blackcurrant syrup and tonic water to a jug and stir well.

Add ice to four glasses and garnish them with the cucumber and a sprig of lavender, then pour over the cocktail mix, making sure each glass gets some blackcurrants.

Garnish with some dianthus flowers and serve.