.jpg)
The week before any running event it's important to follow a few simple rules. These include making sure you get enough sleep, checking your kit, and of course staying hydrated. On that note as this is the Halloween Gin Run, and we are, after all ATHLETES, here are our favourite Gin based cocktails to help you stay hydrated and celebrate your fabulously spooky run.
*Please drink responsibly, maybe finish your run with some water first, and then a gin ;o).
Vampires Gin
First up on the list is one for the blood thirsty runners amongst you - be careful to stay out of the sun though.
Ingredients
1kg pink rhubarb stalks
400g caster sugar (don't use golden - it muddies the colour)
800ml of your favourite gin
Method
STEP 1
Wash the rhubarb, trim the stalks and discard the base and any leaves. Cut the stalks into 3cm lengths. Put in a large jar with the sugar. Shake everything around, put the lid on and leave overnight. The sugar will draw the juice out of the rhubarb.
STEP 2
After 24 hrs, add the gin, seal and shake everything around. Leave for about 4 weeks before drinking. You can strain the liquor off through a muslin-lined sieve and transfer to a bottle, but I often just leave the rhubarb and booze in the jar and ladle it into drinks that way. Over time the rhubarb and the gin go a much paler colour – this doesn’t look as dramatic. The upside is you that have to get through it fairly quickly!
Nosferatini
Next up is a gin cocktail for our gin runners who love a horror film. This cocktail takes its name from the classic 1922 Silent Horror Film - Nosferatu, where an evil vampire lures his victims to his Transylvanian castle in the mountains.
Ingredients
50ml of your favourite gin
15ml dry vermouth
2 drops homemade fake blood. We dissolved 7g of caster sugar into 44g of red liquid food colouring.
Method
STEP 1
Add the gin and vermouth to a cocktail tin filled with ice and stir to dilute. Double strain into a chilled small coupette glass (posh name for a wide champagne style glass) and garnish with 2 drops of fake blood.
Eyeball snot-tail
You’ll notice this is a non-alcoholic cocktail. We know for some of our runners, the thought of a stiff gin after completing your challenge is just too terrifying. But, fear not, this is just as much fun.
Ingredients
135g pack lime jelly
700ml apple & pear juice
300ml lemonade
425g can lychees in syrup
10-15 cocktail cherries from a jar
10-15 raisins
You will need
10-15 cocktail sticks
Method
STEP 1
Make the jelly following pack instructions and chill until set. Combine the apple & pear juice with the lemonade in a large jug and chill in the fridge.
STEP 2
To make the eyeballs, drain the lychees and poke a hole in each cherry with one of the cocktail sticks. Put the cherry inside the lychee, then push the raisin into the cherry. Press the eyeball onto the end of a cocktail stick and set aside until serving.
STEP 3
When the jelly has set, use a whisk to break it up into small chunks. Spoon into the cocktail glasses and top up with the apple juice mixture. Put an eyeball into each glass before serving.
Ghostly Gin Fiz
Who doesn't love a little bit of fizz with their gin? This is gin cocktail is perfect for a spooktacular celebration.
Ingredients
50ml gin
25ml lemon juice
2 tsp sugar syrup
ice
sparkling water
lemon slice
Method
STEP 1
Pour the gin, lemon juice and sugar syrup in a cocktail shaker and fill up with ice cubes. Shake well until the outside of the shaker feels cold then strain into a tall glass filled with more ice and top up with sparkling water. Garnish with a lemon slice.
Sloe Death Gin Cocktail
A classic twist on a sloe gin cocktail. So whether you are a fast or sloe runner, in our eyes you are all witches... er we mean winners.
Ingredients
50ml sloe gin
25ml lemon juice
25ml gin
ice (crushed and cubes)
For the juniper syrup
100g white caster sugar
1 tbsp juniper berries
Method
STEP 1
Start by making the juniper syrup. Put the sugar in a small saucepan, then add 100ml water and the juniper berries. Bring to the boil, then take off the heat and gently squash the berries in the liquid using a potato masher. Leave to steep until completely cold, then strain into a sterilised bottle or jar. Will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
STEP 2
Put the sloe gin, lemon juice, gin and 2 tsp of the syrup in a cocktail shaker with a few ice cubes. Shake well and strain into a tumbler filled with crushed ice. Serve immediately.
Bloody Good G&T
For our last cocktail, we thought we'd keep it simple. It is what is says on the tin.
Ingredients
1-2 large tart apples (such as Granny Smith)
a handful of small blueberries
juice of one lime
Gin and Tonic (per cocktail)
1/2 ounce edible fake blood (cherry syrup)
2 ounces gin
2 ounces tonic water
lime wedges
Method
STEP 1
To make the bloody eyeballs. Squeeze the lime and put the juice in a small cup. Peel an apple, then using a large metal melon baller, cut out eyeballs. Dip balls into the lime juice to prevent oxidation.
Using a small sharp object, cut out a circle the size of blueberry. We used a metal pour spout, but a large holed piping tip would also work.
Pop a blueberry in the hole then slice off the excess using a sharp knife.
Use immediately or freeze for later (make sure they don't touch so they don't freeze together).
STEP 2
For the Bloody Good Gin and Tonic
Pour the blood into the bottom of the glass then fill it with ice. Squeeze a lime wedge into the glass then top with two ounces of gin. Finish with two ounces tonic or more to taste.
Garnish with an eyeball. They float, so use a cocktail pick or fork. For extra effect add a small chunk of dry ice to the drink with the ice.
You can join in the Halloween Gin Run fun by signing up here.