Blackberry botanical gin and tonic
Recipe and image courtesy of Megann Evans for Fresh Aussie Berries | fresh berries.com.au
Serves: 1
- 60ml gin
- 120ml good quality tonic
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- 3 fresh blackberries (keep 1 for garnish)
- Ice
Fill a gin glass (we recommend a cut-glass tumbler) full with ice. Add gin, tonic water and then stir. Top with a sprig of rosemary. Smash 2 fresh blackberries between your fingers until the juices release, place into the glass, then top with a fresh, whole blackberry.
Aussie summer mango spritz
Recipe courtesy of Australian Mangoes | mangoes.net.au
Makes: 10
- 2 mangoes
- 4 cups ice
- 500ml Aperol, chilled
- 750ml bottle Prosecco, chilled
- 750ml soda water, chilled
Mango syrup
- 2 mangoes
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup water
For the syrup, peel and roughly chop mango flesh. Place into a blender or processor and blend until smooth. Transfer to a saucepan. Add sugar and water. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, boil gently 3 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve into a jug. Set aside to cool. Pour into a sterilised bottle. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Peel and dice the flesh from mangoes. Divide ice among 10 glasses. Spoon 2 tablespoons of mango syrup into each glass. Top each with 50ml Aperol and 75ml Prosecco. Top with diced mango then soda.
Passionfruit and watermelon margarita
Recipe courtesy of Australian Passionfruit | aussiepassionfruit.com.au
Serves: 4
- ½ cup fresh passionfruit pulp (7-8 fresh passionfruit)
- 500g watermelon flesh
- ¼ cup (60ml) lime
- 120ml silver tequila
- 60ml triple sec (orange liquor)
To serve
- Ice
- Watermelon
- Lime wedges
- Coarse salt
Blend watermelon flesh until very smooth. Pass juice through a sieve if desired, discarding any solids. Add watermelon juice, passionfruit pulp, lime juice, tequila and triple sec to a jug with a handful of ice. Stir well. 

Pour salt onto a small plate to ½cm depth. Run a lime wedge around the rim of a glass and dip immediately into the salt. Fill the salt-rimmed glass with ice, repeat lime and salt rim with remaining glasses.
Divide margarita mixture across the glasses, garnish with watermelon and lime to serve.
Tip: For a mocktail alternative, omit the tequila and triple sec, add ¼ cup (60 ml) fresh orange juice and 1 cup (250 ml) sparkling water. Skip step 3, as the salt is not required.
Alcohol alternatives
If you don’t drink alcohol, or you’re catering for someone who doesn’t, never fear! We’ve got you covered in that department, too.
Alcohol-free cocktails: Local Canberra brand, Altina Drinks, specialises in ‘zero-proof’ cocktails, so all the mixing is done for you – all you have to do is serve! Sit back, relax and enjoy! Stockists: altinadrinks.com
Mocktails: The humble mocktail doesn’t get the credit it deserves, in our opinion! Treat your guests (or yourself) to a delicious alcohol-free-creation – check out Pinterest for a myriad of ideas or try your hand at the mocktail version of the passionfruit and watermelon margarita.
No-alcohol ‘spirits’: Growing in popularity, non-alcoholic ‘spirits’ are designed to take the place of their alcoholic counterparts, great for use in cocktails if you want a specific taste. Lyre and Fluere are two examples of these.
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