The perfect summer drink, rhubarb cordial tastes amazing mixed with cold water and icecubes, with sparkling wine or as a midsummer cocktail. So simple to make and a perfect present to give away, I tap mine into smaller bottles complete with handmade labels. All you need is plenty of rhubarb, sugar, lemon and water and you’re ready to go. And it's such a pretty colour!

This recipe makes about three litres of finished cordial (can easily be halved if you don’t have a kilo of rhubarb)

You’ll need

· 1 kg rhubarb washed and chopped into smallish pieces

· 1,5 litre water

· 400 grams of sugar

· The juice from one lemon

Method

Simmer the rhubarb pieces with the water for 15 min, don’t stir. Drain and throw away the rhubarb (I just used a normal sieve).

Pour back the rhubarb juice in the pan and add the sugar and lemon juice. Heat it to boiling point, making sure the sugar has dissolved.

Remove from the heat, let cool and pour into clean bottles.

You can freeze the cordial in plastic containers for extra longevity. As this rhubarb cordial is a bit more subtle in taste than other cordials, use a bit more than normal when mixing with water but this is of course just a question of taste. Enjoy!