The Sun is finally out this spring and it's the perfect time of year to go foraging. With the long weekend stretching out ahead of us, why not take easter as an opportunity to gather some seasonal stock to go with your cocktails.

Many people don't realise the wealth of tasty plant life that surrounds us (even in the most urban areas), and so haven't considered the idea of foraging. Best-selling author “the other” Andy Hamilton suggests that this is because “Our world has taken a turn towards being scared of anything that does not come to us wrapped in cellophane”. Wise words, and words that embody the problem people have when foraging: We fear to trust our own survival skills, and feel ill-prepared to take on nature unaided. After all most people will happily munch on a mushroom that came from a supermarket but would fear to eat the same mushroom growing wild.

So to help us overcome our fear of the natural world I've compiled a few straightforward ingredients and recipes which can be foraged during the spring! Before we begin, however, there are two very important things to remember:

-Always ensure that all pans, bottles and equipment used is sterile
-Never eat something unless you're sure you know what it is (apps like ForageUK and foraging websites are great ways to double check your ingredients).

So lets get started!

These first three are all very basic and don't require any ingredients that can't be foraged or purchased from the average supermarket.

A note on measurements: To keep things simple we've used a pint glass to measure our foraged ingredients. Fill each pint to the line with uncompressed plant matter (leaves / flowers etc).

Beech:
Beech trees are a great way to start your foraging as you're only after a small amount of it's leaves, and also they are visually distinct trees. You can harvest these trees for most of the year but the leaves are freshest around April and May.

“The Beech Leaf Noyau”
A simple & tasty punch.
1 Pint of young Beech leaves,
700ml Gin,
225g Sugar,
150ml Brandy,
280ml Water

Method
First put the beech leaves into a jar before adding gin over the top. Leave this mixture in a dark place for around 3 weeks, shaking it occasionally. Next you need to add the sugar to heated water until completely dissolved, and strain the beech liquor into a large mixing container. Now you can add the brandy and the sugar water to the liquor and mix it thoroughly before dividing it into bottles. After bottling store for a minimum of 3 months before drinking.

Notes
If this is your first time making Noyau I would recommend experimenting a little by adding the brandy at the bottling stage with a different ratios of brandy in each, this will allow you to test the ratio of brandy that's best suited to your pallet.

If you like the look of our recipes and you would like to see more, please head over to our blog. There you can find lots of ways to use foraged ingredients.

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