Spring Cocktails with Underground Spirits

September 27, 2020

Each year in Canberra, Australia there is a wonderful Spring festival, Floriade.

For the past couple of years I’ve been commissioned to work with local distillery Underground Spirits, to create a special cocktail based on their special release gin they create for each year’s festival.

Previously I’ve run gin and tonic workshops and created pretty and delicious cocktails like last year’s Lady of the Lake.

Image credit: Spoon Full of Canberra
The 2019 Floriade Cocktail I created.

So this year I got to work with their new pink gin which is a distillation based on fresh raspberries and finger limes among the botanical mix. If you’re new to Underground Spirits, have a read of my review of their original releases here and to get an insight into their unique distilling process which emphasises purity.

Being a delicate and fragrant gin, I could see it would work in a variety of cocktail settings but needed to make sure it wasn’t lost in the mix. So I created two!

The Spring Fling

SPRING FLING

With the beauty and warmth of Spring here in Canberra, thoughts often turn to romance. Here’s a great date night cocktail with just a hint of spice and aromatics to help you get acquainted with someone you like, and plenty of natural chemistry in a glass. 

  • 45ml Underground Spirits Floriade Gin
  • 15ml Triple Sec
  • 5ml lime juice
  • 1/3 red chilli thinly sliced and de-seeded
  • Fresh Lime

Shake and strain into chilled cocktail glass and garnish with half lime slice on the rim.

Marion’s Sundowner

MARION’S SUNDOWNER

The national capital owes a big debt to Marion Mohony Griffin who’s artistic work helped make possible Canberra. She was actually someone who preferred sipping healthy carrot juice to anything alcholic! But I’d like to think I could have persuaded there to take a sip of this easy drinking number as something she might enjoy after a day’s creativity. 

  • 45ml Underground Spirits Floriade Gin
  • 15ml Aperol
  • Soda Water
  • Blood Orange
  • Basil leaf garnish 

Add Gin and Aperol over ice in a tall glass, stir well, then add soda to top and  garnish with a slice of Blood Orange and two fresh Basil leaves

Decorate with your favourite Swizzle stick! 

Option > switch your soda for Prosecco!  You can also make this as a punch bowl for friends by scaling up the amount. 

See the Video

Local film maker Avon Dissanayake captured me creating two cocktails recently with the new Underground Spirits gin al fresco style. Enjoy.