Gin, Elderflower & Summer Fruit Cocktail

I’ve decided I need to drink more cocktails. They are delicious, refreshing and offer that wonderful feeling of reckless abandon when a few too many have been consumed – what is not to love?

Summer in Sydney provides the perfect weather to sit outside and sip on cocktails, and we’ve been doing a lot of that lately. Scotty’s drink of choice is the negroni and we seem to go through endless bottles of gin, vermouth and campari as he is slowly converting all of our friends to the negroni cause.

Negroni’s aren’t to my taste however, and while I am a lover of gin (as evidenced here, here and here) I prefer my cocktails a little less potent and a lot more refreshing.

I recently became the custodian of a new generation Power SodaStream (thanks SodaStream!). Already the proud owner of an epically old SodaStream that still did the job but looked ancient, the new SodaStream now sits on our bench top instead of hidden in the cupboard like the old one used to be.

I should mention upfront I’ve never used a SodaStream for anything other than sparkling water. I’m not even sure what the flavours taste like, so I’m not going to write about that. What I am going to say is that sparkling water has a special place in my heart. As a child, I was never ever allowed soft drink. My mother didn’t keep it in the house and we never got it as treats – it’s not really an Italian thing. As such, I’ve never had much of a taste for the sugary sweetness of cola or lemonade.

What I was allowed, as a special ‘treat’ was soda water. Mum always kept it in the downstairs fridge in little bottles and I used to run down with excitement when I was allowed to have one.

We have always had a SodaStream because the amount of sparkling water we consume as a result of my love of soda water meant a never ending stream of empty plastic bottles. Lessening my contribution to plastic waste is definitely a prime motivation for having one. My second motivation is being able to control the bubble in my water. I’m a big old fat bubble soda water drinker and being able to charge my water multiple times till the bubbles are so big they tingle your nose when you drink makes me giddy with happiness.

But, back to the cocktail. It’s been stinking hot here in Sydney the past couple of weeks so I’ve been preparing for the heat by freezing all sorts of summer fruits. I’ve got peaches, pineapples, watermelon and berries individually packed and frozen to make refreshing treats when the desire hits.

Last week during a proper 40°C (104°F) scorcher, I got out the blender and made myself a rather delicious gin, elderflower, watermelon and raspberry cocktail that turned out to be so delicious, I drank far more of them than should be allowed and instantly knew I had to share it with you. It’s one of those “can’t believe there is alcohol in this” cocktails and you’re going to love it!

Chew Town was not paid to develop this recipe, but was gifted the Power SodaStream with thanks. To read Chew Town’s disclosure policy please visit the About page.