Gin Obsessions

Drinks by the Dram – Have yourself a Boozy Little Christmas

I love sweets, but I’m not a massive fan of chocolate, so your standard chocolaty advent calendar really doesn’t cut it with me. Thankfully, for the last few years I have managed to avoid any chocolate because I’ve been lucky enough to have a gin advent calendar to tuck into instead!

Drinks by the Dram was launched in 2010 as a way of offering whisky enthusiasts and connoisseurs the…

ISGD 2020 – Wild Island Gin

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a massive fan of Scottish gins. Having two Glaswegian parents and four Scottish grandparents I will always describe myself as Scottish…despite the fact that I was born in England, technically I’m full of Scots blood, right? My gin collection is filled with a very large number of gins from north of the border and that number is only going to keep going up!

As an…

ISGD 2020 – The Orkney Distillery

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a massive fan of Scottish gins. Having two Glaswegian parents and four Scottish grandparents I will always describe myself as Scottish…despite the fact that I was born in England, technically I’m full of Scots blood, right? My gin collection is filled with a very large number of gins from north of the border and that number is only going to keep going up!

As an…

Burrell’s Dry Gin – Burrell’s Breeze

Well my lovelies, you all know how much I love a gin with a good story and in Massingberd-Mundy it would seem I’ve stumbled upon a pretty good one.  

In the heart of the Lincolnshire Wolds, set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, you will find the South Ormsby Estate.  Comprising of four villages, the estate boasts idyllic landscapes, beautiful buildings and a huge dose of history and…

Jaffa Cake Gin – Negroni

When I was contacted by Atom Brands and asked if I fancied trying their Jaffa Cake Gin, I’m not going to lie, I was a little dubious.  I immediately heard chants of “#StopFuckingWithGin” ringing in my ears and was worried this could be a very sticky, sickly, sweet drink.  However, knowing that Atom Brands were behind it really boosted my confidence (they are also responsible for Ableforth’s, Drin…

Chapel Down Bacchus Gin – Garden of England Cocktail

Chapel Down

I was absolutely thrilled to be invited to the first, private, ‘Gin Masterclass’ session with Chapel Down’s very own Managing Director, Mark Harvey a couple of weeks ago.

Made with a grappa and wheat base spirit, the botanicals in Chapel Down Bacchus Ginare designed to mirror the flavour profile of the Bacchus grape; including juniper, coriander, elder-flower, orris, angelica,…

It’s pretty crazy to think that we’ve now spent almost 100 days in lockdown.  I know it has been eased and we’re able to do much more, but I for one am missing the pub.  With no end in sight just yet, we’ve got to look at the positives. We’ve all become much more tech savvy, video calls seem to be pretty commonplace now and we are undoubtedly going to be a gazillion times more intelligent based on the endless quizzing.  Although I’m not really a big quiz fan.  They tend to make me feel rather stupid and spending hours on end feeling increasingly less intelligent isn’t really my idea of a fun Friday night!

Thankfully, I have found a different and pretty awesome way to spend some of my evenings, which involves friends and gin!

Sipping Rooms Virtual Gin Tours and Tastings

The lovely folks over at Boutique Bar Brands have created Sipping Rooms and have been teaming up with some on the biggest and most exciting names in the gin world to enable distillery tours and cocktail masterclasses to go ahead, despite us all being stuck at home.

These distillery tours are happening fortnightly through Zoom which connects gin lovers directly to the Distillers themselves, in their distilleries.  Although there is no obligation, you are invited and encouraged to buy a bottle of gin ahead of the tasting using exclusive discount codes from Gin Kiosk so that you can fully enjoy the experience.

The evenings follow a structure which begins with introductions and a neat tasting of the gin with tasting notes from the distiller. You’re then guided on how to create the distiller’s perfect serve before being taken part way round a virtual tour of their distillery.  Next up is a cocktail masterclass followed by more nosing around the distillery.  Then time for a second cocktail before the opportunity to grill the distillers in a Q&A session.  By this point everyone has enjoyed a few gins and there’s time for a general chit chat and catch up with friends.

Want to know what’s even better?  These events are completely free!  You sign up through Design My Night and can either opt for a free ticket, which will gain you entry to the tour without any ginny treats, or you can choose to buy a ticket plus bottle of gin, meaning you can join in fully with the tasting and cocktail masterclasses.  You’re sent through the cocktail recipes in advance to give you the opportunity to get the ingredients in, then all you have to do is wait…and try your best not to finish your bottle of gin before the event comes around!  To add a little more incentive, during each event their is the opportunity to win a bottle of gin, all you have to do is be the first to identify the secret word.

So far tours and tastings have been hosted in collaboration with Slacombe Distilling Co, Tarquin’s Cornish Gin, Downton Abbey Gin, Greensand Ridge Distillery and we’ve even crossed timezones to meet with Manly Spirits Co who are located in Sydney, Australia.  The next event is happening on Wednesday 1st July, where Alex Wolpert (Founder) and Tom Hills (Head Distiller) from East London Liquor Co will be showing off their distillery.  If you purchase a bottle of gin for this event, you get an extra ginny treat as you will also be delivered two of their new G&T cans absolutely free!

If you are a gin fan, which I’d imagine you would be or you wouldn’t be reading my blog, then this is definitely a great way to keep yourself entertained whilst we await our freedom.

Looking forward to seeing you at the next event!

**If you have missed any of the events, you can watch again through Sipping Rooms on-demand tastings.

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Personalised Bottles from Brentingby

It’s no secret that since the launch of Brentingby Ginback in September 2018 Bruce (the founder) and I have become pretty good friends.  Our relationship is such that Bruce knows my Hubby and I would tell him if we think his gin sucks, even better is that he’s totally ok with it and welcomes the feedback.  Thankfully I haven’t tried a dud one yet, although Hubby and I do have our favourites and…

I’ve had messages asking me about the marshmallows featured on Day 30 – Quirky of my Gin A Day May images.  So breaking with tradition, but maintaining a firm ginny link, here’s a little bit more about the brand and a rather tasty discount code for you guys to use too!

Bonboosh is a family business, made up of husband and wife team Amanda and Steve and their 15 year-old daughter, who is affectionately known as Pipsqueak.

Back in 2017 Amanda was made redundant from a role in the corporate world so focused her attentions on experimenting in the kitchen as a very welcome time filler.  She had been working on and tinkering about with a marshmallow recipe and after tasting one of her new creations, Steve announced “Blimey, you could sell these!” Which was apparently rather fortunate, because Amanda had in fact already decided that she didn’t really fancy working for anyone else again.

With that settled, it was time to focus on the business name and branding.  I have it on good authority that this was all settled in the early hours of a Sunday morning, with the assistance of our old friend Gin.  Gosh she is a useful friend to have, isn’t she?

Operating out of their kitchen, in a slightly too small cottage, in a village in north Hampshire, Amanda began experimenting with different ingredients and flavours.  The strapline for Bonboosh is “braver with flavour” meaning it was very important that there wasn’t just a hint of this and a subtle shade of that, tastes had to be bold, striking and identifiable.  Apparently it is for this reason that they haven’t yet been able to release a strawberry flavoured marshmallow.

Marshmallow experimentation has not come without it’s trials and tribulations, mango and ginger can stop gelatine from setting, (who knew) and apparently alcohol can make the mix collapse.  This doesn’t surprise me so much, it has at times been known to have a similar effect on me.  When experimenting with gin, Amanda had to tweak and re tweak the process to get the gin flavours to work…or at least that was her excuse at the time for the depletion in their gin collection.

Some of their early creations included Candyfloss, Choccy Mint, Choc’n’Salted Caramel and London Gin & Elderflower, with Gin & Elderflower and Salted Caramel remaining two of their most popular marshmallows ever since.

It’s all well and good knowing the background, but are they actually any good.  Well, Hubby and I tucked into out fluffy treats and this is what we found.  For starters, he loved the mint chocolate chip ones which was fortunate, because I had already devoured the entire packet of candyfloss ones myself.  Based on the flavours, my hopes were high for the ginny flavoured ones.  First up were the Gin & Elderflower and I was genuinely surprised and impressed to taste some juniper in them, as it’s not often the case with quirky gin products which hit the market.  The Gin & Rhubarb ones were a little more rhubarb heavy but there was definitely still some juniper in there.  Overall I was impressed…and full, and fast descending into a sweet treat coma.

The Bonboosh ethos is that smiles are good.

“We have fun making marshmallows, it makes us smile, and we want our lovely customers to smile when they enjoy eating them. We are all about spreading the Happy, one marshmallow at a time.”

Well, they definitely made me smile, so mission accomplished.  

Times are pretty crazy at the moment and many small businesses such as this one heavily rely on food festivals, craft fairs and summer fetes, none of which are currently running.  So, if you have a sweet tooth, please do go and visit the Bonboosh shop.  They have such a great range of fluffy goodies and if you enter the code GINOBS10 when you are paying then you will receive a 10% discount off your first order.

Happy munching

This cocktail is a twist on a delicious gin classic and I must say I enjoyed it rather a lot.

A few weeks into lockdown, a friend who lives just around the corner dropped a bag of delicious homemade goodies at our front door.  Inside were homemade scones and blueberry jam.  The accompanying note read…

“I might have gotten a little carried away with the vanilla”

The previous week she had spoiled…

Gin A Day May 2020

After it’s roaring success last year, Gin A Day May was back with a vengeance this year, encouraging people from around the globe to rise to a rather fun social media challenge.  The brainchild of the lovely Sarah Miller aka Gin A Ding Ding, Gin A Day May encourages people to respond to a prompt each day by posting a picture or video on their social media channels.  The world is pretty crazy…

In the top left corner is St Lawrence Church “The Golden Ball” on West Wycombe Hill

Pretty incredible, right? Not only are the walks which we do around here absolutely stunning but the hedgerows are teaming with blackthorn bushes.  Blackthorn bushes are where we all get our sloe berries from.  If you’re not all brushed up on your botany or plant classification, the bushes blossom around March or April and looks like this.

Blackthorn Blossom

Blackthorn Blossom

Blackthorn Blossom

The rule book says berries are ripe and ready to pick after the first frost of winter, usually sometime around late October to early November, but if the berries are big to bursting then I’d say go for it!  Hubby and I keep our eyes peeled on our Autumn walks for the first signs that the sloes are ready to be picked, and when the time is right we head out, armed with bags, for a couple of sloe walks.

The Recipe – More of a rough guide!

You’re going to need around 500g of ripe sloe berries to make a litre of gin – ish!  Think about it in terms of the bottle or container you’re going to use, you’re going to half fill it with sloes, then fill it to the top with gin.

Sloe berries need to be pricked before they can be soaked, there are a few ways to do this, you could prick as you pick, using a thorn from the blackthorn bush, pop them when you get home using a cocktail stick or similar or you could put them in a tub in your freezer which will cause the skins to split and save you a lot of time and stabbed fingers.

You can make your sloe gin directly in a bottle, but I tend to make my ginfusions in kilner jars then decant into bottles once it’s ready.  Either way, it’s important to sterilise these bits and pieces first which is really easy to do.  Pre-heat your oven to 160°C/gas mark 3.  Wash your jars/bottles, pop them onto a baking tray and into the oven for about 10 minutes or until they are completely dry.  If your container has a metal or rubber seal/lid, sterilise them by soaking them in boiling water.

What gin you use really depends what you’re in the mood for.  Just remember you’re going to be adding to the flavour of the gin you choose.  So, if you use a not so yummy gin, you’re going to make some not so yummy sloe gin.

Right, now we’re good to go.

Fill your chosen vessel half full with sloe berries (or 500g of berries)

Top up with gin (or 1 litre of gin)

Pop the top on, give it a shake and leave it for 3 months!

Yup, sorry chaps, but all good things come to those who wait.  You could drink it sooner, but the longer you wait the better it’s going to taste.  I tend to visit mine and give it a little shuggle, just so I feel I’m doing something.

Once you’ve left it, forgotten about it, remembered it and gotten really excited about it again you can do the final couple of steps before enjoying it.  Firstly, fine strain it into a bottle, I do this using a funnel lined with a muslin, (goodness knows I’m overrun with these at the moment,) you could use something like coffee filter paper, a clean piece of cloth, anything which you don’t mind becoming stained and will allow the liquid to pass through.

I learned this next tip from the gorgeous Gin A Ding Ding.  Don’t add your sugar in the beginning, wait until this point then add sugar syrup (equal parts sugar and water combined in a pan) to bring the sloe gin up to your desired taste…she is such a clever sausage!

Sloe Gin and Rhubarb Gin

There you have it, the only thing left to do is to drink.  Hubby and I tend to go all in and have it neat, but if you’re not feeling so brave it tastes great with bitter lemon or Fever Tree Sicilian Lemonade.

I got a little carried away and tried my hand at rhubarb, blackberry, quince and fig infusions.

rhubarb

blackberry

fig and quince

As a general rule, the softer the fruit the less time it takes for the flavour to infuse into the gin.  With rhubarb, remember the gin will take on the colour of what has been put into it, so the pinker the rhubarb stalks, the pinker your gin.  Also, rhubarb is quite bitter so you ideally want to steep it in sugar overnight before adding the gin.

Happy ginfusing

  The gorgeous Jed taking pictures for me with his proper camera – Thank you Jed

6 weeks into lockdown and it got me thinking back to the beginning of November last year, just before Torin was born.  I worked up until 39 weeks and only stopped then because it was the October half term holidays.  When everyone went back to work the following Monday and I was left twiddling my thumbs at home, I really wasn’t a very happy camper at all.

I found my pre-baby maternity leave…

My reentry into writing couldn’t have been better timed as it seemed to perfectly coincide with being contacted by the lovely folks at Cantium Gin, who asked if I was interested in tasting, reviewing and featuring their gin on my blog.  Yes please!  Even more exciting for me is the story behind the name, and we all know how I love a good story.

Although I am a teacher, I didn’t actually do a degree in education, I instead spent my three years of studying at the University of Nottingham, reading Classical Civilisation.  For those of you who haven’t heard of it, it’s basically Ancient Greek and Roman history.  I must confess I do prefer the Greeks to the Romans but I promise that won’t influence my opinions of this gin, but where on earth am I going with this?  Well, you’ll soon find out…

A G&T has always been the go to drink for Kevin Andrews, the brain behind the Cantium brand.  After working tirelessly on the recipe for over a year, he reached his goal of producing a contemporary gin which in his eyes not only made a cracking G&T, but also tasted great neat.  After receiving positive feedback from friends and family Kevin had another hurdle to overcome.  As we know all too well, these days there’s a lot of gin out there and it can therefore be hard to stand out in such a saturated market.  Kevin’s take on it,

‘if you’re going to join this party you better bring something new…’

Cantium Gin takes it’s name from the Roman word for Kent, (…this is the point I started geeking out,) which is where Cantium Head Quarters is based.  Roman influence doesn’t end there as the distinctive Cantium logo is inspired by the design of a Roman mosaic tile which was found in Lullingstone Villa, a mere stones throw away from Cantium HQ.  Just to keep up with the Roman feel the Roman numerals MMXVIII also feature on the bottle, that’s 2018 for those of you who aren’t fully versed and rehearsed in this stuff, the year the brand was established.  

The bottle itself is particularly striking and eye-catching, with a pure, brilliant white background which acts as a stark contrast to it’s black logo and lettering.  This is most definitely a bottle which will stand out from the other gins on a bar shelf. 

Now, here is where Cantium Gin really is bringing something new to the table.  The bottle is not so much a bottle at all, but is in fact a reusable, stainless steel flask.  Once you have finished it’s contents, the flask can be used to keep your cold drinks cold and your hot drinks hot…whether or not these future contents are gin related is completely up to you!  Climate change is undeniably an incredibly important subject at the moment, with many of us trying desperately to reduce our use of single use packaging and focus more on sustainability and recycling and this is most definitely a rather fun and interesting way of doing it.  If you do for some reason tire of your flask, it can be returned to Cantium who will donate them to be used in the winter months by their charity partner, Warming Up The Homeless.  (One thing to note about this flask is that it is easily marked, my rings for example have made a few scuffs on it, so do take care to wrap it in something if you’re going to chuck it in your bag for the day.)

Now all of this sustainable packaging and helping the homeless sounds pretty fabulous, but at the end of the day it’s the gin we’re here for, so, here goes…

Castle Farm – When the Roman Empire conquered southern Britain, they introduced lavender.

Cantium Gin is created using 13 botanicals including blackberries, hops, cobnuts and lavender, all of which are locally sourced from within the Sevenoaks and Maidstone areas, meaning that every mouthful of your Cantium Gin is designed to give a real flavour of the Garden of England.  At first sniff I thought this was going to be quite a floral gin, but each time you go back another layer seems to appear.  The gin has a deliciously smooth and creamy mouthfeel and seems to hit every flavour combination with layers of floral, fruity, citrus and a hint of spice.  It’s quite enjoyable neat over ice, then when mixed with tonic it opens up even further allowing for some real orange notes to push through.  I found the gin to have quite a long finish, leaving me with a warm spice for quite a while between gulps *ahem* delicate sips.  I found the orange and spice quite reminiscent of Christmas and I’m quite keen to try Cantium out in some form of warm, mulled concoction.  It is most definitely a very pleasant a decidedly quaffable gin which firmly sits in the contemporary** category.  

So what does the future hold for Cantium Gin?  In short, lots.  The Spring will see two more additions joining the Cantium family, in the forms of Rubesco, a pink gin infused with Kentish strawberry and housed in a pink flask.  Rubesco is a very clever choice of name for this gin as it is a Latin verb meaning to turn red or blush.  The second offering will be Alternagin, an alcohol free spirit designed to trick your taste buds.  Plans are also afoot to set up a scheme whereby if customers have finished their Cantium but want more, they will be able to exchange their used Cantium flask for a discount against their next purchase.  The biggest future plan however lies in production as Cantium Gin is currently third party distilled, using the recipe which Kevin has created.  The long term goal is to build a dedicated Cantium distillery in Kent, which Kevin says will be established in time, once the company grows.

So there you have it, a yummy gin in sustainable packaging, what’s not to like?  Head over to the Cantium Store to order you bottle, priced at £40.  There are other goodies available, including gin glasses and also a Cantium Cup, made from the same material as the flask and designed to keep your gin cooler for that little bit longer.

Thank you so much to Kevin and Katie at Cantium for their delicious gin and having patience with me while I juggled writing and being a mum.  I wish you every success for the future.

Cantium Gin Flask was gifted

**A contemporary gin’s predominant flavour is not that of juniper.  Juniper should always be present, but other botanicals or flavours such as floral, herbal, citrus or spice will be more dominant.

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2017 Calendar

As a child I remember being really excited by my advent calendar, mostly because it meant that I was allowed to eat a piece of chocolate before my breakfast every morning, something which was unheard of in our household, even when it was Easter!  As a grown up I’m not really much of a chocolate fan, sweets yes, chocolate I can give or take…gin on the other hand.  Who in their right mind would turn down a gin?!

2018 Calendar

The premise is exactly the same as with your average kids calendar.  Each day you open a new door but instead of merely a picture, chocolate or piece of Lego being encased in the cardboard and plastic tomb, you will find a 30ml dram of delicious gin!  Big difference, unless it’s a weekend or your day off, I would have to advise against partaking in your liquid gold before breakfast…it could land you in all kinds of trouble!  That Boutique-y Gin company have an incredibly vast and varied range of gins, including some which have been created in collaboration with other distilleries, ones which are designed to really capture nostalgic aromas and some which have even been over 24km above the earth, up in near-space!

Now I love a good surprise, especially at Christmas, but this year I’ve taken a hit for you guys and I’ve seen the list of gins which feature in the 2019 calendar…my oh my you are in for a treat!  A fantastic combination of some new, exciting and exotic offerings mixed with some of my absolute favourites which have become staples on my gin shelves.  Although I know what is in the calendar in general, thankfully I don’t know which gin is behind each door, so my excitement levels are still piqued!

2019 Calendar

  The 30ml dram bottles are beautifully labelled with small versions of the artwork featured on the larger bottles.  If you’re into crafting these little beauties could be turned into candle holders or a cute little garland…I did make one with my drams from a couple of years ago, but I can’t for the life of me find the picture anywhere, so dram pictures are just going to have to suffice!

Your daily Christmas tipple can be enjoyed as a standard G&T or as a cheeky little cocktail.  Historically Boutique-y have added an “Advent Serves” section to their website and social media accounts, which gives details of cocktails which can be created using the gin of the day.  Last year I created a blood orange and cumin margarita using the World Gin Day – 7 Continents Gin, which was rather scrummy even if i do say so myself!

30ml 7 Continents Gin 60ml Fresh Blood Orange 20ml Lime juice A dash of sugar syrup (optional) Salt and cumin rim by running a lime around the rim of glass and then dipping into the mix.

So if you think you’re going to need, or just perhaps fancy a gin related treat each December day in the run up to Christmas you need look no further.

“But how much is that going to set me back?!”

I hear you cry, well I shall tell you!  The That Boutique-y Gin Company advent calendar is currently available from Master of Malt for £49.95!  And, if you’re feeling guilty for buying it, super generous then fear not, you could always be extra nice and treat someone special to one of the other Boutique-y goodies which are available, including alternatives for your favourite whisky lovers.

So all that’s left for me to do now is wait…wait for Christmas, wait for Ginvent and wait for this baby!  My patience is most definitely being tested, I should probably just take a leaf out of Juniper’s book, she seemed to have the right idea last year…

…waiting for Christmas 2018!

That Boutique-y Gin Company Advent Calendar was gifted

The box in question in “The Gin Box” from Denmark based, 1423 – World Class Spirit.  I tried desperately to be good and not sneak a peek online to spoil the surprise, and I’m so glad I didn’t give in, I did however do my research.  The Gin Box – World Gin Tour is a tasting kit comprising of 10 exclusive gins from all over the world, with this years edition featuring gins from Sweden, Germany, the USA, Norway, Scotland and Holland to name a few.  Each bottle contains a 50ml measure of gin, meaning there is a decent amount of spirit for you to have a quick sip neat, have a play with in a cocktail, enjoy yourself as a delicious double or…if you’re feeling generous…share with a friend as a couple of single measures.

When my sloshy delivery arrived I was not disappointed, the packaging is simple and classic, comprising of a white box with a green coloured bandrole and most importantly, it makes a beautiful sloshy sound when given a little shake!

Turning the box over, the bandrole reveals the contents of The Gin Box and I was thrilled to see that there were some seriously good gins were inside, a few of which I haven’t yet tried!  Interest and taste buds most definitely piqued, I removed to the bandrole which revealed something of a mission statement for the box

“Let the good times be Gin”

Indeed, lets do that!

The box also features concealed magnets to keep it closed, also meaning the box could be kept and used in future for storing any number of gin related goodies, which is exactly what I intend to do with mine.

Now for the contents, my oh my…what a stash!

The Gin Box boasts that it is creating a gin tasting experience suitable for both beginners and enthusiasts and with this varied selection of gins I really would have to agree.  The gins included cover many different tastes and styles, meaning there is bound to be at least one gin in there which inspires you to buy a full bottle and expand your gin  collection.  I was also really pleased to see that the glass, screw-top bottles featured original brand labels, rather than quick DIY imitations.  Unfortunately this means yet more heartache for my Hubby as he will have to endure another 10 gin bottles hanging around in the house despite them having been drained of their contents!

So, if you fancy getting your hands on this delicious little treat, The Gin Box is available on Amazon for £53.99.  It would also make a fantastic gift for your favourite ginthusiast…and what with Christmas sneaking up on us all, buying this as a pressie really is a no brainer for me.

The Gin Box was gifted

Now, unless you were living under a rock for the month of July, you must have noticed that things went a touch crazy on the sporting side of life.  Personally, I’m a tennis fan, with Wimbledon being my sporting highlight of the year.  I go into full on screaming at the TV mode, particularly when it comes to being a line judge…because I quite obviously have a far better view of what is going on…