We chat to Mikey Ball - the founder of Ballin’ Drinks and Creative about the use of New Zealand ingredients, being behind the bar and making drinks. After a decade working overseas at award-winning cocktail bars like London's Milk and Honey, Mikey now works with hospitality businesses across New Zealand to bring a fresh perspective to the way they work.

Leftover gin lying around the house? Highly unlikely. But say if you did and just for fun - here are some useful ways you can use this oh-so-versatile spirit. Great way to use up those gifted bottom shelf gins.

So, just what is jenever? Let's take a look at the differences between gin and jenever and where you can sample the spirit of Schiedam - the home of jenever with some iconic brands.

Turning away from traditional gin botanicals, distiller Miko Abouaf tells us about how his adventures with honey, vanilla and tonka led to the creation of Pink Pepper Gin.

Ice is an ingredient that’s easily overlooked and arguably the most important ingredient in a modern cocktail. Big Ice cubes are prized for their efficacy and style.

Baby it's cold outside. These cozy gin cocktails are sure to warm you up from the inside out.

The revival in the popularity of gin, or “ginaissance”, has more Gin bars opening up across the country. Here are a few of the most exciting gin-centric bars in our capital cities.

Boozy doughnuts, what more could we want? These gin jam doughnuts are the ultimate indulgence for us gin lovers. Best served with a gin and tonic or dry martini to really balance out all that delicious sweetness.

Gin and cheese - yes please! As we know, gin and cheese are two of life's great pleasures and finding the perfect match can be a heavenly and exciting adventure. Gin varietals range from floral, citrus, herbaceous to juniper forward in flavour depending on the botanicals used. The flavours of these botanicals (juniper, citrus peels, cardamom, cassia etc) make gin an excellent pairing for cheese and when paired well they will compliment a wide variety of cheeses. Here are a few suggestions for good pairings from our gins to your favourite cocktails. Yum!!