Recipe

• 6 parts Scarborough Fair gin

• 1 part dry vermouth

Shake or stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Put three olives on a sprig of rosemary (or a cocktail stick) and add.

Claire made some gin just before Christmas and called it Scarborough Fair – she took vodka and added juniper berries, along with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme for about 24 hours before straining and bottling.It makes a lovely gin and tonic, but a good way to test a gin is to see how it goes in a dry martini, so here we are.

It goes very well! There's a massive overpowering hit of herbs, but it's recognisably gin, and the salty olives go very well with the savoury flavours. I imagine it would go nicely with meat or roast potatoes, for obvious reasons. But even on its own, it's a delightful treat, and I'll be encouraging Claire to make more.

By the way, Sherry is a good substitute for vermouth – it's what we did at my mum's at Christmas.