Drinks Review plus Cocktail Recipes with Kokoro Gin Liqueur*

What we thought of the Kokoro Gin, and how to make our two tasty cocktails. 

Firstly the Kokoro Gin, comes in a beautiful shaped bottle and the liquid inside has a violet haze and looks so pretty. Its flavoured with blueberry and lemongrass, which I thought wouldn’t actually work as I thought the the lemongrass would over power the blueberry, however, somehow the sweetness of the blueberry really compliments the sharp notes of the lemongrass, along with the undertones from the gin itself. The Kokoro gin has a pretty distinctive taste, however, as a liqueur is, of course, blended with other flavours, so perhaps not quite as obvious. But the fruit that gives it such a unique taste

A simple way to enjoy this would be with either a Ginger Ale, (I would avoid Ginger Beer as I think this would take away from the taste of the liqueur), or poured into the base of a champagne glass and topped with champagne or your favourite sparking wine. You could also take it the classic way with a tonic, or even as quite a short drink over ice and just topped with soda water, there are quite a few options for you to make this if you don’t have time to make the cocktails, if you perhaps don’t have the ingredients.

For our first cocktail, I have created an adult slushy. I absolutely love a slushy, and what’s more fun that adding a bit of Kokoro Gin to it.

To make our Blueberry Kokoro Slush, see the ingredients and method below.

Blueberry Kokoro Slush 

50ml Kokoro Blueberry & Lemongrass Liqueur
1/2 cup of frozen blueberries
1/2 of ice
25ml of lemon syrup (see below how to make yours)

Place all the ingredients into a blender, and pop onto the smoothie setting. Blend until you have a slushy like consistency. One blended and crushed, pour into a high ball glass with a sugared rim (or any other tall glass you may have) and serve with a few frozen blueberries placed in the top of the drink and a full slice of lemon.

This cocktail is so refreshing and works so well with the Kokoro Gin Liqueur – its mellow with the strong flavour from the blueberry, but is lifted with the taste from the Gin.

My next cocktail is a twist on a Pina Colada, instead of using pineapple, I am going to use a homemade blueberry and lemon syrup and some coconut milk. You need to mix the blueberry with lemon, as otherwise it falls flat in flavour. The lemon helps to bring out the flavour of the blueberry, and adds the zing you would get from a classic Pina Colada from the pineapple.

Blue-Bina Colada

50ml Kokoro Blueberry & Lemongrass Liqueur
50ml blueberry lemon syrup (the recipe for this is below)
100ml of iced water
150ml of Coconut milk

Place all the ingredients into your prepared round seemed glass, give it all a really good stir and serve with a blueberry and glacé cherry and a half slice of lemon all on a wooden pick (see our photos for exactly what is meant by this). *the fact you make this with iced water (water with the ice melted into it) your drink will be the perfect temperature.

Mmmmm, well this is such a great twist to a Pina Colada, which is one of my favourites, but I don’t often have it as its very sweet. This is a subtle version but has the lemon with the blueberry to elevate it. Believe it or not the blueberry and coconut work really well to make this a great alternative to this classic drink. Plus the fact that the rum has been swapped to gin, is an added bonus!

Lemon Sugar Syrup 

Juice of two Lemons
The zest of one lemon (be careful not to get any rind as it makes it bitter)
1 cup (you can use any small cup if you do not have a cup measure)
1 cup of sugar

Place all the ingredients into a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved – try not to stir it until you think the sugar as fully incorporated into the water.

Leave it to cool and then place in a jar, where it can be stored in the fridge for a few days.

Blueberry Lemon Sugar Syrup 

Juice one Lemon
The zest of one lemon (as above)
1/2 cup of blueberries – frozen is best
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water

Place all the ingredients into a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved – try not to stir it until you think the sugar as fully incorporated into the water. Once cooled push the mixture through a sieve to remove the big pieces of blueberry.

Then place in a jar and store in the fridge for a few days. Ready to use for your cocktails.

Where can you buy your Kokoro Blueberry & Lemongrass Gin Liqueur in time for Mother’s Day? 

You can get your bottle here.

How much is Kokoro Blueberry & Lemongrass Gin Liqueur? 

It costs £20.50 for a 50cl bottle (plus £5 delivery), but you can buy three smaller 20cl bottles of the Gin Liqueur in all three of their flavours for £37.50 with free delivery. This would also make a great gift if you can’t decide which flavours your mum would prefer.

About Kokoro 

Kokoro was started by the nephew of a great explorer, climber, wrestler and all-round worldly man often referred to as Old Nic. Uncle Nic went to live in Japan and whist there, he purchased a piece of ancient Japanese forest. He restored the forest to its former glory and began to re-introduce native species of plants and trees and once been home to this historic land. Once he has all the species growing naturally again  he kindly donated it back to the people of Japan.

In this forest is where Old Nic’s nephew, James Nicol and co-founder of Kokoro, was first introduced the the Sansho berry, that grew on these ancient fields. A historic preservative used for thousands of years within Japanese cooking. This berry seemed perfectly destined to be blended in the flavours of a good quality gin. With the help of James Nicol’s brother-in-law, Barry Darnell, together they found a way to incorporate the Sansho berry, and create Kokoro’s distinctive flavour profile.

Kokoro now not only has the essence of Japan, but also a little piece of the forest where the idea behind this gin was first discovered. So if you would like to have the quality of a British Gin, so carefully coordinated with the flavours and spirit of Japan, Kokoro’s is the perfect find.

*We were sent the bottle of gin in return for a feature. All opinions are our own.