I use vermouth in cooking all the time – anything which looks in danger of being in the least bit dry gets a liberal slosh of red, pink or dry white according to its basic flavour, but the pink Martini goes into many things and it has a resinous flavour which adds depth.

However, it’s not, in my view, so good to drink, so I use Belsazar pink vermouth for this cocktail. Belsazar vermouth is a relatively new brand, founded by a trio of German bon viveurs Maximilian Wagner, Philipp Schladerer and Sebastian Brack. The factory is in Berlin and the company uses only wines from the south Baden region of Germany.

The Belhazar rosé is particularly suited for use in a light summer drink such as this. The colour comes from pink grapefruit, orange blossom, Seville oranges, raspberries and redcurrants.

An alternative to this version with tonic (which I like because I think the bitterness of the tonic makes it an interesting drink) is to substitute sparkling wine and a splash of soda.

How to make a Pink And Tonic

For two cocktails

• 150 ml/⅔ cup tonic water (1 small tin)
• 80 ml/⅓ cup Belsazar vermouth, rosé
• 80 ml/⅓ cup ice cubes
• you could experiment with a couple of drops of orange bitters…Dr Adam Elmegirab’s Spanish bitters would be good

1. Put the ice cubes into the glasses first, then add the vermouth and top up with tonic.