GIN'S reputation has been through many peaks and troughs through the ages, from William Hogarth's Gin Lane depicting the "evils" of consuming the juniper-based spirit to it being used in tropical British colonies to mask the bitter flavour of quinine, which was used to combat malaria.

And with the country now awash with artisan gins from a multitude of distillers, tomorrow is World Gin Day, celebrating the 110 brands we have to choose from today.

It will be the ninth World Gin Day since it was founded in 2009.

Gin is the type of spirit that can be sipped neat or mixed to make some of the most marvellous cocktails or a simple, but ever so satisfying gin and tonic.

According to spiritbusiness.com the three best selling gin brands are Beefeater, Bombay Saphire and Gordons.

Andrew Arnold-Bennett, owner of Shed 1 Distillery in Ulverston, produces small batch, big flavour gins in a small shed in his backyard.

He said: "When is comes to gin, the world is your oyster.

"My flavours are often bigger and smoother, perfect to be sipped and bold enough to be mixed."

Mr Bennett will be putting some recipes on his website for the perfect gin cocktails to enjoy this weekend.

The three gins Shed 1 Distillery create are: Cuckold's Revenge, Giggle in the Ginnel and Fancy Frolick.

He said: "Giggle in the Ginnel is perfect when the nights are drawing in and it's getting colder, it is great for warming you up.

"Our Fancy Frolick should be enjoyed in a tall glass with lots of tonic and ice in the summer."

Shed 1 Distillery pride themselves on being Cumbria's and possibly the UK's smallest gin distillery.

Here we would share with you some recipes for gin cocktails and a gin and tonic loaf cake.

Gin and tonic loaf cake:

4 eggs (weighed in shells)

Equal weights of: butter, caster sugar, and self-raising flour

2 lemons

8-10 shots of gin

150g granulated sugar

Dash of tonic water

Mix all the ingredients together apart from the granulated sugar and tonic water, bake for 55 minutes at 180C. Once cooled mix together granulated sugar and tonic into an icing and layer over the cake.

Vesper Dry Martini:

You will need - 60ml dry gin, 20ml vodka, 10ml lillet blanc.

Negroni:

You will need - 45ml dry gin, 25ml campari, 25ml sweet vermouth.

Corpse Reviver:

You will need - 25ml gin, 25ml triple sec, 25ml vermouth, 25ml fresh lemon juice, 4ml absinthe.

Hanky Panky:

You will need - 50ml gin, 50ml sweet vermouth, 5ml frenet branca, 10ml freshly squeezed orange juice.

Basil Smash:

You will need - 50ml gin, 1 bunch basil leaves, 25ml fresh lemon juice, 15ml sugar syrup.

French 75:

You will need - 45ml dry gin, 10ml freshly squeezed lemon juice, 5ml sugar syrup, topped up with champagne.

Blogger Emma Stokes, known as Gin Monkey, took over World Gin Day in 2013 and has been driving the celebrations forward ever since – sharing her enthusiasm for gin.

It’s all about getting people from across the globe together to drink gin, whether that’s in a cocktail, gin and tonic or even neat.

What's even better is it's Sunday after so you have all day to recover.