Proof

You’ve baked banana bread, you know every answer to ALL the Zoom pub quizzes ever held and the annual Spring clean has happened 4 times over. Running out of ideas to entertain yourselves, anyone?

Lockdown life comes with definite highs and lows, it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions for everyone. But if there’s one thing to be celebrating it’s VE Day 75 and the chance for another Friday bank holiday. Like us, you may have over-ordered the gin on your Click & Collect shop so, why not toast 75 years of peace in Europe with some of these ways to pimp your G&T and make things a little more interesting!

 

Pink Raspberry & Lime

Handful of raspberries (frozen ones from your freezer work too!)

50ml Pink gin (Manchester raspberry is ace!)

125ml tonic (Fevertree or locally available brands)

Fresh lime or Pink grapefruit

Loads of Ice

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Muddle the raspberries. Add ice to your glass or cocktail shaker along with the raspberries, gin and tonic. Squeeze in some lime juice and stir or shake for 30 seconds until the drink is mixed and nice and chilled. If you’re feeling really fancy (let’s face it, it’s the little things right now), garnish your drink with fresh raspberries and a slice of pink grapefruit. If you don’t have any pink gin, just use your usual tipple.

 

Rosemary & Lemon

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

50ml gin

125ml tonic

Fresh lemon zest and juice

Ice

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Press the rosemary a little in the glass. Add ice along with the gin, tonic, a long lemon zest and a few squeezes of lemon juice. Stir for 30 secs and leave for a minute until the drink is really chilled and the rosemary has infused.  Run a rosemary spring around the rim of the glass and serve as a garnish skewered through a nice lemon slice.

 

Cucumber, Lime & Basil

Half a lime

Quarter of a cucumber

3 fresh basil leaves

50ml gin

125ml tonic

Ice

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Use a vegetable peeler to make cucumber ribbons and place in a tall glass, adding ice. In another glass or cocktail shaker, add the lime, gin, basil leaves and a few chunks of the cucumber. Muddle these ingredients together and then use a strainer (small tea strainer will do!) to pour into your glass with the cucumber ribbons and ice. Top up with tonic and garnish with a couple of basil leaves.

 

Blueberry & Mint

Handful fresh or frozen blueberries

5 mint leaves

Fresh lime juice

50ml gin

125ml tonic

Ice

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Lightly muddle your blueberries and a few mint leaves in a glass. Add some ice, your chosen gin, tonic, a few squeezes of lime and stir until the flavours have infused and the drink is nice and chilled. Use the mint leaves as your garnish.

 

None of these ingredients to hand? Just pimp up your gin & tonic with any herbs from your garden or whatever you can forage on your daily walk (wild garlic…?) or add a different citrus, grapefruit is delicious! Use frozen fruits as ice cubes, grapes are a good one, or put sliced fruit into ice cube trays and fill with a little water to freeze. If you really want to have some fun, make some boozy ice lollies – just don’t overdo the booze and it will freeze! Strictly for adults only.

And we were joking about the wild garlic….although, these days anything goes.

Enjoy and stay safe xx

Hello,

Due to the ongoing health crisis affecting all of us, Proof is closed until further notice.

We are so sad that it has come to this but we hope the collective action and sacrifices made by the most able in society will help the most vulnerable and bring about a swift end to this situation.

We will be back in action as soon as it is permitted and we look forward to that day.

In the meantime, we have launched a Crowdfunder page so customers can support us over the months ahead. You are also able to buy a drink for an NHS worker to redeem when normal business has resumed. Please, have a read and share: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/proof-chorlton-supportus

We have two fantastic deals available all through JANUARY!

SUNDAY to THURSDAY, enjoy an amazing discount on your bar tab: Spend £30+ for -30%.

Every FRIDAY & SATURDAY, you can buy two Foolproof Cocktails for only £10!

Come down soon!

“Why don’t you get out of that wet coat and into a dry Martini”

If you had a Martini for every time you had a wet coat in Manchester, in January, you’d spend most of it in a hazy gin daze. And whilst that sounds appealing this time of year, those New Year resolutions would most certainly get forgotten. And we don’t need any less encouragement on that front already…

One resolution we’ll definitely keep though – queue: brownie salute – “I pledge to drink more gin for Ginuary.” Sorry Dry-January-ers, we just can’t do a month without a bit of Mother’s Ruin…and especially not the month of the blues. So, this week, we’re showcasing a classic cocktail recipe, the Martini.

Ingredients

10ml dry vermouth (we love Dolin)

50ml of your favourite gin (we love Manchester Gin, Silent Pool Gin and Portobello Road Gin)

Method

Chill your Martini glass – preparation is key!

Stir vermouth through ice in a mixing glass for 30 seconds and discard the liquid (for a wet Martini, leave half in the glass).

Add the gin and stir for dilution. After 2 mins or so, taste & continue to stir if necessary.

Strain into your chilled glass.

Garnish with a twist of grapefruit, lemon or olives.

For those of you who like it dirty, add spoonful of olive brine to taste. Or, fancy pickling your palate? Make a Gibson using a cocktail onion garnish.