Ladies and gentlemen, its going to be ok. We’ve got a little something up our sleeve thats going to make those aches and pains of overindulgence fade away - or at least ease up a little:  The Wheadon’s Gin Red Snapper.

The first version of anything isn't often the best - it's a starting point from which refinements and improvements are made.  This is certainly true of the brunch favourite, the Bloody Mary.  The Bloody Mary was first created in Paris in 1921 by Ferdinand "Pete" Petiot, the bar man at the infamous Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, using vodka and canned "tomato juice cocktail".  When Petiot moved to New York in the  1940s to run the bar at  the King Cole Room at the St. Regis Hotel, his most famous cocktail recipe came with him.  Vodka was in short supply in the states so he began using gin instead, and gin's botanical and spice elements trade-off well against the tomato juice and create a more complex cocktail. The Astor family who owned the St Regis deemed Petiot's original name too low-brow for their establishment, and so the updated cocktail was also given a new name: The Red Snapper.

When everybody else is reaching for a Bloody Mary to offset the over-indulgence of the festive season, start the year as you mean to go with a great gin cocktail:

Ingredients:

• 50ml Gin
• 25ml fresh Lemon juice
• 150ml fresh Tomato juice
• Salt and Pepper
• 3-4 dashes of Tabasco
• 3-4 dashes of Worcester Sauce
• Celery stick and lemon slice to garnish

Method:

Fill a Boston cocktail mixing glass with ice and add the gin and lemon juice, and top up with tomato juice. Season and add the tabasco and Worcester Sauce, then cover with the tin part of the cocktail shaker and shake well. Use a straw to test the seasoning and adjust if necessary. Strain into a highball glass and garnish with the celery stick and slice of lemon.