‘I don’t Like gin….’

‘…It tastes like perfume..’

‘….it’s the tonic I don’t like..’

When I talk to people about gin, 50% of the time I hear the above comments. It seems like gin might be the Marmite of Spirit world with either people hating it for loving it.

I always ask these gin haters to tell me what gins (and tonics) they have tasted before and invariably they have had a sub-par G&T down the local pub with a cheap gin and even cheaper tonic.

Now, I am not saying that you need to spend a lot of money to like gin, the likes of Gordons and other standard gins have their place in the gin world – I myself have two bottles of Gordons and a bottle of Bombay in my collection and I do enjoy a G&T made with them from time to time when made correctly…or in other terms..A Perfect Serve

What is a perfect serve? I’m glad you asked!

A perfect serve G&T should be…

1. Served in a Coppa glass or similar. Gin needs some space to breathe due to the delicate botanicals and so some swirling space is a necessity.
2. The Glass should be packed full with well-frozen ice. This means that the ice will melt more slowly and not water down your G&T. A top tip is to save all your plastic takeaway tubs, wash them out, fill with water and then freeze for about 2 days. You can chip up the block in the nice, large, slow-melting icebergs to keep your drink cold.
3. A double measure of gin (50ml) topped up with your favorite tonic. You can’t go far wrong with a nice Fever-Tree tonic -my personal choice in
   the Fever-Tree Mediterranean tonic. I find the lemon, thyme and rosemary notes in this tonic compliment the majority of gins nicely.
4. Drink… surely you can’t go wrong with that one.

There are many more factors that should be considered when starting out with gin, but if you follow the steps above you’re on the right track to a long and happy relationship with this Juniper based spirit.

Thanks for reading 🙂