My wifes parents kindly brought round a bottle of Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin for me when we had them over for Sunday dinner a few weeks ago. I have seen the Gunpowder Gin advertised on numerous occasions in various shops and supermarkets and was on my list of gins that I was keen to try, so was very pleased when they brought me this. The Gin is made by distilling some of the botanicals are by hand in copper pot stills, before vapour infusing the remaining botanicals in a vapour basket. The spirit is then given time for resting and maturing before being bottled, labelled and packed by hand ..read more

With Summer only round the corner, and the first bit of enjoyable weather that we had in 2018 over the past weekend, we thought it would only be right to make a few summery cocktails to get us ready for the warm weather. And we’re starting off with The Pomegranate Fizz. Ingredients 50 ml gin 50 ml pomegranate juice 25 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice 25 ml sugar syrup Soda Water Ice Cubes Pomegranate seeds and fresh rosemary to garnish Method Top up a cocktail shaker with ice and add the lemon juice, pomegranate juice, sugar syrup and gin into a shake together Top a tall glass up with ice c ..read more

I had the joy of picking up a bottle of Ableforth’s Bathtub Gin last week and can see exactly why it’s been won multiple awards. Ableforth’s use a traditional method of Cold compounding to create their gin, only They first distilling the gin in a Copper pot with juniper, coriander and other fragrant botanicals, by their partners at Langley Distillery. Then a portion of it is infused with another six botanicals, that are too delicate to survive the traditional distillation process, before being blended back in, allowing them to shine through, giving this gin its distinctive taste. This process ..read more

I had the pleasure of receiving and trying some Strane Gin a few weeks ago. Strane Gin is made by Smögen Whisky a small craft distillery on the Swedish coast. Since 2010 Strane Gin have been in the malt whisky business but in 2014 broadened their portfolio of superior craft products and have included gin. Hence the birth of Strane a London Dry Gin. Smögen Whiskey and Strane Gin are still personally distilled and blended by the owner, former lawyer Pär Caldenby. Smögen use a wood fired 100 litre pot still making small batches of 45 litres of gin. Pär distils three separate ..read more

The Bramble, a blackberry based gin cocktail created by London bartender Dick Bradsell in the 1980’s. Bradsell is also famed for inventing the Espresso Martini. There are several versions of The Bramble recipe out there and I decided to try a few, but the best by far I have decided to share with you. Ingredients 5 blackberries 1.5 fluid oz (1 gigger) Gin 1 fluid oz of freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/2 fluid oz of sugar syrup 1/2 fluid oz of Crème du Mure (Blackberry liqueur) Soda Water Ice Cubes Blackberries and rosemary to garnish Method Combine the lemon juice and the five blackberries in ..read more

I had the pleasure of trying X Gin a few months ago during a visit to The Gin Vault in Birmingham City Centre with a friend. And, as a man who enjoys his chocolates nearly as much as he enjoys his gin, this was a drink sent by the gods. X Gin has been created by Xolato, Belgian chocolate makers, a gin infused with cocoa beans,, Pietmonte hazelnuts, Avola almonds, wild Madagascan chilli peppers and vanilla pods. The creators of X Gin explain the story of how the Aztec Mayans believed that the brewed drink made from cocoa beans was a nectar of the gods that could offer superior intelligence and ..read more

I picked up some Bulldog London Dry Gin this weekend after seeing it on offer in Tesco’s. Brought to the market just over 10 years ago by Anshuman Vohra a former investment banker for JP Morgan. He wanted to bring a bold and distinctive gin to the market, which at the time he felt was over saturated by Vodka and “outdated” gins. Bulldog Gin took its inspiration from Sir Winston Churchill and his British “Bulldog Spirit”. Bulldog originated just outside of Manchester, at G&J Greenhall Distillery who are famous for making their own gin and vodka brands for over 250 years, as well as market ..read more

During last weeks trip to M&S Food, I also picked up a bottle of The Botanist Islay Dry Gin, which has been on my list of gins to try recently. The Isle of Islay, located in the southern Hebrides, is home to 8 working whisky distilleries and The Botanist Gin is uniquely the first and only Islay Dry Gin. This gin made from 22 locally harvested botanicals which are hand picked by an expert foraging team. The gin is then slow “simmer” distilled, over 17 hours in their Lomond pot-still “Ugly Betty”, working at low pressure and not rushed, the botanicals slowly releasing their signature aromat ..read more

My journey into discovering more about different gins and tonics on the market has got me questioning where gin came from, whats its’ origin and whats its’ story. Gin is a liquor which comes from its predominant flavor from juniper berries. The earliest gin was made as a herbal medicine during the Middle Ages, however Gin as we know today has been developed based upon an old Dutch liquor Jenever. And, came to Great Britain when William of Orange, the leader of the Dutch Republic occupied English, Scottish and Irish thrones in the late 17th and early 18th century. Today, Gin is one of the most ..read more

This month I have decided to try Brooklyn Gin. My wife and I took a trip down to our local M&S Food where to look for a rarer gin to try out this month. I spent a little time mulling over which gin to choose and my wife suggested that I try this because the bottle was “pretty awesome”… I have to say this is definitely a gin I’m going to keep stocked in my drinks cabinet at all times. This gin has only been around for 8 years and has already won awards, and deservingly so. The founders Emil Jattne and Joe Santod set out to produce a hand crafted, high quality, small batch gin. Hand cutting ..read more