Sorry to break the news but summer is so last season! At Gintime we’re embracing the chilly weather with some delicious autumnal cocktails. Adding bitters, spices, and autumn flavours such as pear, apple and plum to your cocktails is a sure way to keep cosy. As we munch the last British strawberry, department stores across the land are decking the halls with bells and holly. So too, when it comes to gin there’s nothing like a bit of forward planning: our Damson and Spiced Quince gins will be ready for the festive season if you make them now. If you have some wild damson or quince trees near you, get picking! Otherwise these fruits can be found in many local greengrocers. There’s no better drink to grace your hip flask as you hit the slopes this winter or to sip by a roaring fire. You may have a measure or two left in your gin bottle after making these but never fear: to celebrate the turning of the leaves our friends at Beefeater have given us some delicious Autumn cocktail recipes.

Damson Gin

• 500g washed damsons
• 180g white sugar
• 1 75cl bottle gin
• 1 litre Le Parfait jar, sterilised

Prick each damson a few times with a fork and place in the jar with the sugar. Fill the jar with gin, up to one inch from the top, making sure all the damsons are covered. Shake regularly for the first couple of days to make sure the sugar dissolves. Leave in a cool dark place for at least three months or no longer than one year. Strain the liquid through a muslin cloth and bottle.

Spiced Quince Gin

• 500g grated quince
• 180g white sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 6 cloves
• 1 inch knob root ginger, sliced
• ½ vanilla pod
• 1 75cl bottle gin
• 1 litre Le Parfait jar, sterilised

Place the quince, sugar, spices and vanilla in the jar and top up with gin, up to one inch from the top, making sure all the ingredients are covered. Shake regularly for the first couple of days to make sure the sugar dissolves. Leave in a cool dark place for at least three months or no longer than one year. Strain the liquid through a muslin cloth and bottle.

Bittersweet Symphony

• 50ml Beefeater infused with Wild Sloes
• 75ml Fresh White Grapefruit Juice
• 10ml Campari
• 5ml Seville Orange Marmalade

Beefeater infused with Wild Sloes : To make this, prick 250g of Sloes with a needle. Then add 100g of castor sugar and cover with a bottle of Beefeater Gin. Then leave to infuse for 3 months. The earliest it should be used is Christmas. (If you cannot wait that long it is possible to speed up the infusion process by placing the ingredients in a tightly sealed preserving jar and putting them through several cycles in a dishwasher without detergent)

Shake all the ingredients on rock ice and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of grapefruit.

Elizabethan Lover

• 60ml Beefeater infused with Quince
• 10ml Rosehip Syrup
• 10ml Fresh Lime Juice
• 1/2 Cox Orange Apple
• Dash Orange Blossom Water
• Dash Egg White

Beefeater infused with Quince: Finely grate a whole quince, including the skin and core, then cover with a bottle of Beefeater and add 50g of castor sugar. Leave to infuse for 2 months before using. (One can speed up the process as above).

Shake all the ingredients on ice and double strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with fresh grated nutmeg.

Spiced Citrus Fizz

• 50ml Beefeater Lemon and Tangerine Shrub
• 20ml Negus (Spiced Port)
• 10ml Gin Spiced Sugar
• 100ml Prosecco

For the Beefeater Lemon and Tangerine Shrub place the zest and juice of 2 lemons and 4 tangerines in a pan with 100g of jam sugar. Then bring to the boil and simmer until it starts to thicken. Then add 500ml of Beefeater Gin and bottle.

To make Negus take 600ml of Port add the juice and zest of 1 lemon, 125g of castor sugar and 1 litre of boiling water. Then liberally grate in some nutmeg. Then allow cooling and straining before use.

For the Spiced Gin Sugar infuse 1 star anise, 6 crushed juniper berries and 20 coriander seeds, along with the zest of a lemon and tangerine in 200ml of boiling water. Then add 400g of castor sugar, dissolve and allow to cool. After 24 hrs strain through muslin before use.

Carefully peel the whole zest of a lemon in a spiral and place in a sugar rimmed champagne flute. Shake the sugar, port and Beefeater shrub on ice and strain into the garnished flute. Top up with the Prosecco.

Autumn Orchard Lightning

• 60ml Beefeater Blackberry Shrub
• 100ml Perry
• 100ml Pear and Apple Juice
• 25ml Beefeater Gin
• 1 inch stick of cinnamon
• 1 wheel of lemon studded with 6 cloves

To make Beefeater Blackberry Shrub put 450g of Blackberries in a pan with 100g of chopped Bramley Apple and 100ml of water. Bring to the boil and simmer to release the juice of the apple and blackberries. Then strain off the juice and add 150g of jam sugar per 300ml of juice. Re-boil this and add 500ml of Beefeater Gin. Then bottle.

Heat all the ingredients in a pan until boiling then pour into cups to drink. Sweeten to taste.

Sid James Flip

• 50ml Saffron Infused Beefeater Gin
• 25ml Pedro Jimenez Sherry
• 10ml Spiced Sugar (as before)
• 1 whole egg

To make Saffron infused Beefeater, infuse 5-6 strands of Saffron in a bottle of Beefeater overnight and then strain.

Lightly beat the egg in a bowl. In a pan heat the Gin, Sherry and Sugar until almost boiling. Then add a small amount to the egg and stir. Then add the rest little by little so as to avoid scrambling the egg. Finally when all the egg is incorporated pour the mix from one pan to another to mix and serve while still hot. Dust with grated nutmeg.

P & P Purl

• 200ml Hix IPA
• 100ml Hix Oyster Ale
• 25ml Beefeater Gin
• 3 tablespoon of Ginger Syrup (taken from a jar of stem ginger in syrup)

Warm the ingredients in a pan until piping hot and then pour into a tankard and grate over nutmeg.