Grow it. Pick it. Mix it.

There’s something rather lovely about stepping outside to pick the finishing touch for a drink.

The Queen of Seed Cocktail Garden contains five easy-to-grow plants chosen for their flavour, fragrance and ability to turn a simple drink into something a little more special.

Mint, basil, lemon balm, borage and thyme can all be used freshly picked in cocktails, mocktails and summer drinks. Grow them in the garden, in pots or together in a sunny little drinks garden close to the kitchen.  Here are a few ideas for using your harvest.

Mint

Fresh mint is probably the ultimate cocktail herb. Pick young leaves as you need them and give them a gentle clap between your hands before adding to drinks to release their fragrance.

Try it in: Mojitos, Pimm’s, Mint Juleps, iced tea and homemade lemonade.

Simple Mojito

You’ll need:

50ml white rum
1 lime
A small handful of fresh mint
2 tsp sugar or sugar syrup
Soda water
Ice

Squeeze the lime into a glass and add the sugar. Add the mint and gently muddle – don’t pulverise it. Fill with ice, add the rum and top with soda water.

Make it alcohol-free: Leave out the rum and add a little more soda water or sparkling lemonade.

Basil

Basil might not immediately spring to mind for drinks, but its fresh aromatic flavour is brilliant with gin, strawberries, lemon and lime.

Try it in: Gin cocktails, strawberry coolers, lemonade and fruit-based mocktails.

Gin Basil Smash

You’ll need:

50ml gin
25ml fresh lemon juice
15ml sugar syrup
A good handful of fresh basil
Ice

Gently muddle the basil with the lemon juice and sugar syrup. Add the gin and plenty of ice, shake well and strain into a glass over fresh ice.

Make it alcohol-free: Replace the gin with tonic or sparkling water and add a few crushed strawberries.

Lemon Balm

Lemon balm has wonderfully fragrant leaves with a fresh lemon flavour. Pick the younger leaves for the best flavour.

Try it in: Gin and tonic, sparkling water, lemonade, fruit punches and summer mocktails.

Lemon Balm Fizz

You’ll need:

A handful of fresh lemon balm
½ lemon
Tonic or sparkling water
Ice

Gently crush the lemon balm in the bottom of a glass, squeeze over the lemon and add plenty of ice. Top with tonic or sparkling water.

For a cocktail version, simply add 25–50ml gin.

Borage

One of my favourites for a summer drink. Borage produces beautiful star-shaped blue edible flowers and has a subtle cucumber-like freshness.

The flowers look gorgeous floating on drinks or frozen into ice cubes.

Try it in: Pimm’s-style summer cups, gin drinks, cucumber coolers and sparkling water.

Borage & Cucumber Cooler

You’ll need:

A few slices of cucumber
Fresh lime
Tonic or sparkling water
Ice
Fresh borage flowers

Add cucumber and a squeeze of lime to a glass, fill with ice and top with tonic or sparkling water. Finish with freshly picked borage flowers.

Add gin if you fancy turning it into a cocktail.

Thyme

Fresh thyme brings a subtle savoury, aromatic flavour to drinks and works particularly well with lemon, berries and gin.

Try it in: Gin cocktails, lemon drinks, berry coolers and homemade syrups.

Lemon & Thyme Gin

You’ll need:

50ml gin
Fresh lemon
2–3 sprigs of thyme
Tonic water
Ice

Fill a glass with ice, add the gin and a good squeeze of lemon, then top with tonic. Gently rub a sprig of thyme between your fingers to release the oils before adding it to the glass.

For an alcohol-free version, simply leave out the gin.

A little tip ….

You don’t need huge quantities of any of these plants. Pick regularly and little and often – it encourages fresh new growth and gives you tender leaves for your drinks throughout the season.

Borage flowers can also be picked and frozen into ice cubes when you have plenty. They look rather fabulous dropped into a summer drink.