Club Botanical – A gin subscription with a difference

I have a confession to make… I am awful at garnishes. I never have any in, and if I do I always forget and just get on with the drinking! Now I know you are probably all shocked, I myself have spent ages going on about the importance of garnishes and have event sent drinks back when they are garnished incorrectly, but in the privacy of my own home, I just don’t tend to bother!

Enter Stage right… Club Botanical

Club botanical hope to save lazy people like me from having boring G&Ts by supplying you each month with a selection of botanicals and garnishes to make your drinks shine! Each month you receive a selection of carefully selected botanicals and garnishes with details on how best to pair them… they suggest the type of gin and the tonic that will get the most out of the flavours provided in the box.

What’s more, they are trying to be as environmentally as possible. All of the packaging and materials they use are biodegradable and compostable and eco-friendly and can be recycled, composted or reused. Each box also comes with some straws which are crafted from REPA that is made from ground seashells, non-toxic and 100% biodegradable.  The bags that garnishes come in are recyclable too – made from an innovative, plant-based material, high-quality Polylactic Acid from Corn meaning they are 100% compostable.

The July Box

I was lucky enough to receive Julys box. The first thing I liked… the box can fit through (most) letterboxes! That might seem quite a minor issue to most but for me its a bonus… there is nothing more annoying than having to collect parcels from the post office.  Anyway, I digress… let’s get back to Club Botanical.

As I said, the box it comes in is quite compact. think the size of a hardback book but not as think and you get the idea! Inside I was presented with a nicely printed card (more on that later) and my garnishes. Each individually wrapped and then the whole thing wrapped up in orange tissue paper.

The Botanicals and Garnishes

In the July box, I received –

•  Apple
• coconut
• Lavender
• Juniper Berries
• Lime
• Pineapple
• chili
• Corriander

Now, straight off the bat, I was impressed.  6 different ingredients to add to my G&Ts each of which would be a good garnish on their own or even better when mixed up. On the card I mentioned earlier they also include 3 suggests for how you can use the botanicals. For example, mixing a floral gin with elderflower tonic and garnishing with lavender, Juniper and apple slices to make what they refer to as a J’adore La Lavande.. a homage to Lavender, juniper and apple! I also like that they are not alienating the none gin lovers who might buy this box. For each of the gin/tonic/garnish combinations they suggest, they also suggest an alternative spirit which is nice.

In conclusion

I am really impressed with Club Botanical! If like me you are lazy and never seem to have botanicals or garnishes to hand its a great subscription to have. I am also pretty fond of it because it allows you to experiment. I can use my own collection of gins that I already know and love, and bring a new meaning to them with different botanical/garnish combinations.

It is worth the £10 a month price tag? Yes, I think so!

You can find out about Club botanical, and join the club, here or get social with them on Facebook and Instagram!

TGB