Monin Gin syrup  

No, I haven’t gone mad… I know this isn’t technically a gin but I think it deserves to be reviewed the same as any real gin would be.

Monin is known for making all those lovely syrups that you can put in your coffee – vanilla, caramel, cinnamon and gingerbread to name a few, but when I realised they did a gin flavoured syrup I had to try it.

This is marketed at people who like the flavour of gin but don’t want the alcohol. Monin say is great in cocktails, makes a pretty good G & T and can be added to your favourite cup of black tea to give it that extra gin-ness that we all crave… The one thing they don’t suggest to put it in is coffee…
I started off by having a small shot of it. I wanted to see if they really had captured the botanicals that make up a gin. This is how Monin describes the syrup on their website:

Gin is used in many cocktails, in which it brings some floral, spicy and citrus touches.
From this legendary spirit, MONIN developed a surprising syrup, bringing you delicate botanical flavours, along with juniper berries, light coriander and even citrus oil aromas

Firstly, it’s sweet..and I don’t mean a nice square of dairy milk sweet. I mean teeth rotting sweet! I think even the most die hard sweet tooth would find it a bit too much (while I write this I can feel the sugar rush kicking in). Once you got over the initial sweetness you get a nice citrus flavour and then right at the back a subtle dryness and a hint of juniper.

Next, I added a little bit of tonic to the mix. Well, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Yeah there’s no alcohol which is a bummer, but it does sort of taste like a G & T! Light, sweet (but thankfully not as sweet as when neat), citrusy and well… good! You still get a little dryness in the background and the juniper is still there too. Now that’s not to say it’s a replacement for the real thing but I could see this going down very well served chilled on a hot day.

I haven’t had time to try with tea yet, I need to go and buy some good black tea, but when I do I shall update this review. Oh, and, I’m also going to try a shot in my morning coffee!

In conclusion, this is pretty good! Makes a sort of Gin and Tonic and due to the sweetness could be used as a replacement for sugar syrup in cocktails. Again I’ll need to experiment, but hey, what cocktail wouldn’t be enhanced by a little splash of Juniper.

Score (in a ‘this isn’t a gin but it’s good’ sort of way): 9/10

Price: £5:00 – £10:00 depending on size.

Available from: https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/14722/monin-gin-flavour-syrup