The British summer isn’t always a steady stream of azure seas and cloudless skies, but when the sun comes out we know how to celebrate. A good rum cocktail will bring a Caribbean glow to any celebration. So, with the help of Tanya at Lovely Greens, we’ve put together a perfectly Pink House way of celebrating those long summer evenings with a hint of Britain built in.
Back in the days of rum smuggling, barrels of the sweet stuff were weighed down in the shallows of the south coast to be collected when ‘the coast was clear’. In order to mask the taste of any saltwater that might have seeped into the barrel, Tanya tells us how “some forgotten genius figured out how the saltiness could be disguised with sugar and spices” - and lo! - the inimitable SHRUB was born.
Order yourself a rum and shrub in any Cornish pub and they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about. If you’re further afield and feeling inventive you might want to make your own or buy some from Phillips of Bristol. Mix your Shrub 50:50 with a rum of your choice and you have your very own Pirate of the Caribbean, or - as we like to call it - Pink House Special! If the weather proves favourable make a Caribbean island of your garden, don your best Pink House piece and lounge, cocktail in hand, to your heart’s content.
But maybe keep a Pink House brolly on hand for that sense of perpetual summer... on even the darkest of days!