Four fabulous cocktail recipes that are just as easy to make as a G&T! (They are perfect alternatives for those who don't like tonic water!!)

Looking for great alternatives to your standard G&T? How does swapping tonic water for lemonade, ginger beer or elderflower pressé sound? Look no further than Heartsease Farm!

Made on Heartsease Farm in the middle of the Welsh countryside, these sumptuous soft drinks are the perfect way to create incredible gin cocktails with no more effort than it takes to make a G&T. If you’ve tried their Raspberry Lemonade in our September 2021 Cocktail of the Month, Craft Gin Club’s Secret Garden, then you’ll know exactly what we mean.

These four cocktail suggestions really couldn't be any easier or more delicious - all you have to do is pour, garnish and enjoy. Give them a go tonight!

What makes Heartsease Farm’s soft drinks so special?

We spoke to William Watkins, whose family has been working the land at Heartsease Farm for five generations, about the inspiration behind their Raspberry Lemonade, which we sent to Craft Gin Club members in our September 2021 Gin of the Month box, and the rest of their fabulous range.

Can you tell us a bit about Heartsease Farm?

William: Whichever direction you go from here, it’s an hour before you get to the nearest motorway. We’re alongside the Welsh and English border, and it’s an idyllic and very rural part of the world. Our ancestors have farmed around here in the old county of Radnorshire for centuries, and our family has been here on Heartsease Farm since about 1903. We’re surrounded by lots of big hills and valley faces, with our crops in the basin of the valley and a herd of Welsh Black cattle grazing on the hills.

It’s a family-run farm with lots of people from the local community working here. Our farm gives people a chance to stay in the area and have great careers and exciting futures helping us develop the business.

How do you develop the recipes for the drinks in the Heartsease Farm range?

William: We’ve been making drinks for people for a long time now, and we’ve become rather good at it! With any soft drink, it’s so important to get the sweetness-to-acidity ratio right, and we work hard to find that balance.

What makes Heartsease Farm Raspberry Lemonade special?

William: We’re lucky to have very good British raspberries. They grow well here because we have these long late summer evenings, so the sugars in the raspberries have plenty of time to develop.

Finding the right lemons to go alongside them was  the real trick. We looked at several varieties but found that Sicilian lemons work best. The result is a drink that works well as a mixer as well as on its own because it’s just slightly on the tart side rather than being too sweet.

How would you describe the Heartsease ethos?

William: We’ve always felt as a business that it’s important for us to be a force for good. Yes, of course you do need to turn a profit, but if we can’t do something for good as we make our journey through life, what’s the point? This year we have an ongoing charity project with our local hospice, and that touches the lives of a lot of people within our community. We also partner with Prostate Cymru, a Welsh prostate cancer charity – we’ve had members of the community working on the farm who were affected by that.

It’s also Breast Cancer Awareness this October, so we’ll be donating a portion of the profits from our Heartsease Farm Raspberry Lemonade to The Pink Ribbon Foundation. One in eight women get breast cancer – within our family we’ve got a history of it as well and sadly that’s far from unique. We’re incredibly proud to be raising awareness and to collaborate with The Pink Ribbon Foundation.

Try Heartsease Farm Sparkling British Raspberry Lemonade in our September 2021 Cocktail of the Month, Craft Gin Club’s Secret Garden! Find the recipe at this link or by clicking on the image below.