One of the ways we’ve been keeping our minds hopeful and happy over the past months has been by dreaming of all the breathtakingly beautiful places we plan to visit once we’re all able to travel safely again. Being the ultimate gin lovers, of course, one of our priorities is not just stunning scenery, but a fantastic food and drink scene!
Which is why a trip to Queensland, on Australia’s jaw-droppingly magnificent north-east coast, is firmly on our newly revised bucket lists! And if this list of reasons why Queensland is a gin-lover’s paradise doesn’t convince you to start planning your dream itinerary, then maybe these three cocktails inspired by the incredible landscapes of this rich, vibrant destination will do the trick!
Yes, we’ve taken inspiration from the amazingly diverse and stunning landscapes you’ll find in Queensland - from the crystal-clear turquoise waters of the Coral Sea, to the lush, verdant rainforest humming with vivid tropical flora and fauna, to the sweeping sunset-red vistas of the outback - and come up with three fabulous cocktails that perfectly encapsulate them!
So, for an easy (and delicious!) way to travel Down Under from your living room or garden this Autumn, try your hand at one of these tasty tipples! Cheers, mate!
Cocktail #1: Whitsunday Spritz
A blue sparkling cocktail, with notes of orange and lemon. We’ve used Blue Curacao - a delicious, orange-flavoured liqueur similar to Triple Sec - to achieve a fabulous hint of vibrant blue reminiscent of the stunning azure waters surrounding the 74 idyllic islands of The Whitsundays which reside in the very centre of the Great Barrier Reef. If you don’t have Blue Curacao, the cocktail works just as well with any orange liqueur.
15ml gin
15ml Blue Curaçao
15ml fresh lemon juice
10ml sugar syrup
Sparkling wine (or prosecco), to top up
Twist of lemon zest, to garnish (optional)
Add the gin, Blue Curacao, lemon juice and simple syrup to a shaker along with plenty of ice and shake for a few seconds. Strain into a champagne flute or saucer and top with sparkling wine. Then sit back and imagine you’re sailing through the crystal-clear waters of The Whitsundays, stopping off to discover the magnificent Great Barrier Reef or the pure white sands of Whitehaven Beach.
Note: Blue Curacao is - surprisingly! - a delicious orange-flavoured liqueur similar to Triple Sec, but with a vibrant, ocean-blue colour.
You can buy simple syrup (also known as sugar syrup) in the shops, or you can make your own by gently heating 100g caster sugar with 100ml water until the sugar dissolves and you have a syrup.
Inspired by: The sparkling waters which surround The Whitsundays
It wasn’t hard to find inspiration for this cocktail - in fact, we were spoiled for choice! From the awe-inspiring oceans which are home to the Great Barrier Reef and the paradise-on-earth of the Whitsunday Islands down to the rolling sapphire surf of the aptly named Sunshine Coast, Queensland boasts many of the planet’s most stunning beaches and beautiful coastline.
Work up a thirst for your holiday cocktails with a whale-watching cruise around Fraser Island, a once-in-a-lifetime snorkelling trip, dinner cruise or seaplane flight over the kaleidoscopic corals of the Great Barrier Reef and surrounding tropical islands, or take a dip in the crystal-clear waters lining the chic beach-side bars of Noosa.
Whitsunday Islands, Queensland, Australia.
Cocktail #2: Daintree Martini
Combining the fresh, bright flavours of mint and lime with gin and a little sweet syrup, this is a simple twist on the classic Southside cocktail. We’ve used wildflower honey syrup for added floral notes, and the option of adding Green Chartreuse for a herbal aroma and an added depth of verdant colour to transport you to the rich, lush canopy of the worlds oldest rainforest, the Daintree Rainforest in Tropical North Queensland.
50ml gin
25ml lime juice
15ml wildflower honey syrup*
4 mint leaves, plus one to garnish
1tsp Green Chartreuse (optional)
Add all the ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a coupette or Martini glass, garnish with a mint leaf and serve! Now sit back and be gently transported to the Daintree Rainforest in Tropical North Queensland. Immersed in bird song and frog call, and dewy with mist, here you can truly connect with this incredible ecosystem.
If you can find river mint, try that - it’s native to Australia and used in several Aussie gins! Otherwise regular mint is delicious.
To make honey syrup, simply add four parts honey to one part water and stir until the honey dissolves, then leave to cool. For an added layer of flavour, infuse your honey syrup with your favourite wildflowers, and strain before using!
Inspired by: The Daintree Rainforest
Daintree Rainforest, Tropical North Queensland, Australia.
Think of Queensland, and you probably think of the beach or the outback, right? And yet the land Down Under is home to some of the richest rainforest on Earth. In fact, Queensland’s majestic Daintree Rainforest is more than 100 million years old - that’s tens of millions of years older than the Amazon Rainforest!
Exploring the rainforest is like stepping back in time to days when dinosaurs roamed the earth - take a cruise up the Daintree River to see what extraordinary creatures you can spot, or take a guided eco-walk with an Indigenous guide, then relax with a spa treatment with just the sounds of the rainforest to soothe you!
Remarkably, though, the Daintree is not Queensland’s only rainforest. Further south, you’ll find similarly lush waterfall hikes, spectacular views and ancient landscapes to explore elsewhere - from Lamington National Park near Brisbane to the Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk, where you can stroll through the canopy of trees at a height of 40m!
Cocktail #3: ‘Big Red’ Martinez
Okay, okay, so this is technically one of the most classic gin cocktails out there: the Martinez. This tasty tipple’s warm, bold colours and flavours are just what we want to inspire our daydreams of exploring Queensland’s sweeping outback and the spectacular sight of the sun setting over the dramatic burnished copper landscape in places like the Big Red Sand Dune, the 40-metre-high desert sand dune on the edge of the Simpson Desert way out west in Birdsville.
This cocktail is short, strong, and bold, with a rich, sweet flavour, a little bitterness from the vermouth and Angostura, and a pleasant cherry finish.
35ml gin
35ml sweet vermouth
5ml cherry liqueur
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Orange zest, to garnish
Add all the ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir for about 10 seconds.
Strain into a Martini or coupette cocktail glass and garnish with a twist of orange zest. Now sit back and dream of a road trip escaping to the wide-open plains of the outback.
Inspired by: The Outback
The outback at sunset in Queensland.
Whether you’re a four-wheel-drive enthusiast and adrenaline junkie, or more of a cocktails-over-sunset kind of traveller, it’s impossible not to be inspired by the undulating sand dunes and the sweeping burnt orange plains of the Queensland outback, dramatic and stunning against the cobalt blue skies.
Spend your days exploring remote country towns, discovering Indigenous history and learning more about Australia’s pioneering past as you venture west into the heart of Queensland: the outback.
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