Gin and Tonic is my favourite pre-dinner tipple. I like the flavour of gin and find it an easy spirit to drink. My drink of choice as a teenager was usually vodka and as such, I put myself off it, buying cheap local versions, packed with sugary mixers. But I never touched gin when I was younger, so it has remained sacrosanct, and something I’ve thoroughly enjoyed as an adult.

My friend recently introduced me to Sipsmith gin. After looking at their website, I loved their brand and gorgeous design of their bottles. Sipsmith is the first copper distillery to launch in London for nearly 200 years and they have reintroduced the art of handcrafted, small batch spirit production to the capital. I’ve heard that their distillery tour is really interesting, so I’d love to check it out one day and learn more about how they create their gin. Apparently they have names for their three stills – Constance, Prudence and Patience. Love it!

When I found out that they were launching a limited edition Gin and Tonic ice cream with Jude’s, I thought it was just a match made in heaven! They were kind enough to send me a Sipsmith mini gin bottle and some tonic water to experiment with, and I bought some of the new ice cream from Ocado when it became available.

I like that these are two very British businesses working together and combining their products to make something great – it makes me wonder why nobody has thought of this before. I actually didn’t realise that you could freeze alcohol, so perhaps that’s why. But Jude’s have incorporated Sipsmith’s London Dry gin into their creamy Crème Anglaise based ice cream, with a splash of tonic water and lemon. And the result is magical.

I tried it out first as a Gin Float, using a scoop of the Gin and Tonic ice cream, then pouring over a dash of Sipsmith gin and topping up with tonic water. I then tried the ice cream by itself.

Both were incredibly enjoyable. The gin float is very unusual as it tastes like your usual gin and tonic but has more of a milkshake texture to it. I could imagine serving this at a dinner party as a cocktail to go either just before, or with dessert. It’s very refreshing. 

As for the ice cream by itself, it’s just gorgeous. Due to the way it looks, your brain thinks it’s going to taste like vanilla. It’s not too overpowering either, which I sometimes find with food products with alcohol in them. The lemon comes through quite strongly, working perfectly with the creaminess of the ice cream. I’d love to serve this at a dinner party along with dessert – perhaps with a fruit tart or a pavlova. 

If you’d like to give this ice cream a try, it’s available at Selfridges and online at Ocado, RRP £2.95 for a 120ml pot. It’s not the cheapest of ice creams but will certainly give your dinner party dessert that extra wow factor!

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I was provided with a Sipsmith Gin Mini and Tonic Water by Sipsmith and Story PR but did not receive any payment. All views are my own.