Recipe

• 1 part Pimm's No 1

• 3 parts lemonade

• Strawberries

• Oranges

• Cucumber

• Mint

Chop up the fruit and put it in a glass.  Pour over the Pimm's, then the lemonade, stir gently, and fill with ice.

It's actually warm outside at last, and that has to mean Pimm's.  This drink is a beautiful cool oasis on a hot day, and goes down very nicely, glass after glass, preferably outdoors in the afternoon sunshine.  I actually drank this one alone, which was pretty sad, but I look forward to drinking plenty more with friends over the next couple of months.

Consider using a pint glass. Don't go crazy – you only need perhaps 60ml Pimm's/180ml lemonade, but a pint glass leaves plenty of room for ice and fruit.  Better still, make a hell of a lot more, in a big jug, bring it into the garden and pour it into small glasses as needed over a few hours.  If there's leftover fruit in the jug, you can totally use it again a couple of times if you want to refill the jug without chopping new fruit.  But if you want to keep it overnight, put the whole jug in the freezer to keep it sort of fresh.

Eat the fruit as you go, it goes all carbonated and amazing.