- The Spirit
What’s On Our Summer Entertaining Wishlist
Nothing hits like summer entertaining. “A quick pop-in” becomes an impromptu cocktail hour, lunches roll languidly into dinners and a late-night swim with friends beats laying under the aircon any day. And best of all, it doesn’t take much to host a fabulous, laid-back affair.
Skip the matching dinnerware and tea lights to line the footpath, and instead set your sights on elevated essentials that make any casual get-together feel a bit more special — think a fancy picnic rug, cute-but-quirky glassware and delicious drinks, like a citrusy gin that takes tradition and gives it a twist.
Here, everything you need to be the summer host with the most this season.
A versatile spirit
Every good barbecue starts with a great drink, and there’s no time for a G&T quite like summer. Enter Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin — a modern Australian gin that dials the orange up (actually, it’s distilled with whole fresh organic oranges and a hint of Australian lemon myrtle) and it goes just as beautifully in a zingy Southside as it does simply poured over ice, mixed with tonic and garnished with a fresh orange slice to bring out its citrusy warmth. And now that it’s only $66 (down from $80), there’s inarguably no better time to pick up a bottle.
A good cocktail shaker
Whether you want to try your hand at that Southside or consider a Greyhound your specialty, a good cocktail shaker is essential. The tart grapefruit notes of the latter make it the perfect cocktail for amateur mixologists to take Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin for a spin — add a shot and a half to a shaker with three shots of grapefruit juice and a teaspoon of sugar syrup, shake with ice and then strain over fresh ice in a short glass.
A drinks dispenser
If you’re entertaining a crowd, no one wants to be shaking cocktails in the kitchen all afternoon. Invest in a four or five-litre drinks dispenser, fill it with a batch cocktail and your guests can help themselves. Our Summer Gin Punch makes use of Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin and pineapple juice for a fruity and refreshing sip that’s minimum effort and maximum impact.
A nice-ish ice bucket
Little swaps can fancy-up a regular barbecue. Take a large stainless steel bucket or bowl and fill it with ice and drinks to make a chic swap for the classic white-lidded Esky option. Your local homewares shop will have one, or scour a vintage store for something with a little more character.
Floor cushions
Floor cushions instantly set the mood for relaxed entertaining, inspiring a bohemian atmosphere that feels so right for the summer season. Just be sure to grab some made from weather-resistant fabric, so you won’t need to worry about the covers getting wet, marked or spilled on.
A fancy picnic rug
Who wants to sit at a table when you could recline on a plush picnic rug, toes in the grass and gin fizz (made with Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin, of course) in hand? Save yourself the hassle of setting a table and instead, invest in an extra-large woven picnic rug that you can lay out in the backyard and toss a few pillows upon. It’s the perfect seating arrangement for food you have to eat with your hands — think burgers and sticky honey soy chicken wings.
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