Like our food menu, our drinks list seeks to minimise wastage while at the same time highlighting the best produce of the season. And this drink is no different, pairing leftover open white or sparkling wine with at-its-peak rhubarb.
Serves1
For the rhubarb wine cordial (to make about 12 drinks; optional)250g rhubarb200ml dry white or sparkling wine200g caster sugar4gblack peppercorns3 bay leaves5g dried hibiscusCitric acid, or lemon juice, to taste
For the drink40ml dry gin– we usePlymouth15ml dry triple sec– we useMouse Kingdom’s Orange Marmalade Quad Sec, because they’re local to us in Manchester50ml rhubarb wine cordial(see above and method), or shop-bought rhubarb juice50ml soda water, or to taste
If you’re making the cordial, wash the rhubarb stalks, then chop them into 5cm lengths and put in a pan filled with 250ml water. Cook on a gentle heat until it’s falling apart, leave to cool, then strain through muslin. (At the restaurant, we add 1ml Pectinex and leave for 45 minutes before straining again, to aid clarification, but that’s entirely optional.) Alternatively, just use a shop-bought juice such asCawston Press’s apple & rhubarbinstead.
Pour the rhubarb juice into a clean pan, add the wine, sugar, peppercorns, bay and hibiscus, and stir gently over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Fine strain, leave to cool, then add citric acid or lemon juice incrementally to taste, until the cordial is bright and tart; taste it first, though, because it may not need any at all. Decant into a clean bottle or jar, then seal and store in the fridge for up to a week. If you like, rinse and dry the bay leaves to use as a garnish later.
To build the drink, measure the gin, triple sec and cordial into a shaker, add ice and shake hard. Fine-strain into a highball glass filled with fresh ice, top with soda stir to combine and serve.
Grace Oatway, beverage manager,Pip, Treehouse Manchester