Indholdsfortegnelse for Oct/Nov 2020 i Gin Magazine

Opihr Gin is hoping to spice up the UK’s ready-to-drink (RTD) market with the release of two new products. The G&T cans, using its signature spiced gin, went on sale in Tesco in August followed by other consumer channels. The cans combine Opihr’s London Dry Gin with a quality tonic and come in two enticing flavours – with a dash of ginger, or a twist of orange. The 250ml cans are 6.5% ABV with a recommended sale price of £2. Opihr said the releases were a response to increased consumer demand for RTDs – sales of which rocketed up 26 per cent in May, as more people held socially distanced gatherings outside in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Russell Kirkham, marketing director for Quintessential Brands UK, which owns Opihr Gin,…

Parisian spirits producer Maison Denis & Denis II Charpentier has taken its first steps into the world of clear spirits with the launch of its new French gin, Baron D. With a range of cognacs and whiskies already under the company’s belt, the new gin is the first product created as a collaboration between the eponymous founder, Denis Charpentier Snr, and his son, Denis II. “I like gins such as Bombay and Tanqueray. These are very well made,” says Denis Snr. “When I was young, I drank lots of gin and as I’ve become older I decided that I wanted to make something like those gins I enjoyed in my youth.” Denis II describes how his idea was “to create a very smooth gin that will be perfect for young…

Do you know there are hundreds of different gins produced in Italy? You may well have heard about a few of them, but the country has a long history related to gin, beginning in the ninth century and stretching to the modern Gin Craze, and probably beyond! The Medical School of Salerno, founded in the ninth century, was the first in Europe to make technical advancements in stills and perfect the art of distillation, building on the work of scholars from Persia, Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. At the time juniper berries were abundantly used for medical purposes and they were also infused into wines and distillates. The monks of the school made the first proto-gins of the world. Fulvio Piccinino, in his book The Italian Gin, shares his…

While it seems a given that many Dutch cocktail bars would hero their heritage, genever is actually not as much a staple as may be expected. “Not even all bartenders in the Netherlands are aware of the rich history of genever,” explains Tess Posthumus, one of the top bartenders in the world. Together with her business partner and fellow award-winning bartender Timo Janse, she’s set to open Dutch Courage in Amsterdam, a cocktail bar focusing on genever and traditional Dutch liqueurs. It’s part of the steady revival of genever in Dutch cocktail bars. Last year, the Vault Bar in Amsterdam’s Waldorf Astoria reinvented its menu to highlight genever cocktails. Door 74, an Amsterdam speakeasy featuring many classic cocktails, has always included genever in its recipes – but that should not…

No one wants to be second choice, but that’s something coriander seeds have to live with. I hope coriander takes some consolation knowing it is second choice after juniper, and as juniper is the only compulsory botanical it means that coriander is actually first choice among the “optional” botanicals. “Virtually every gin recipe contains coriander seeds, and in terms of weight there is more coriander used in gin than any other botanical except juniper,” says Charles Maxwell, master distiller at Thames Distillers. “Coriander seed is very different in flavour delivery to fresh coriander; it puts light citrus notes into gin, more lemon than orange, and more lemon zest with a hint of lime, and slightly spicy notes.” Coriander is a commercially cultivated annual crop, with plants producing white flowers behind…

Having been crowned Craft Producer of the Year at the World Gin Awards 2020, Cognac-based distillery Audemus Spirits was certainly enjoying something of a purple patch earlier in the year. Now it’s emerging from lockdown with a new Wes Anderson-inspired animated short film: The Home of Pink Pepper Gin. Australian founder and distiller Miko and his English business partner Ian both live in Cognac, France. The Audemus distillery is attached to Miko’s home and Ian, whose quirky homemade animated clips populate the brand’s Instagram account, lives in a manor house nearby. These two worlds combine in The Home of Pink Pepper Gin, an artistic animation that communicates the suite of botanicals that make the brand’s award-winning Pink Pepper Gin. Only two ingredients are omitted from the story and they remain…

London distiller 58 Gin is hoping to capture the hearts of hard seltzer fans with two new releases. The distillery’s gin-based hard seltzers are a fresh take on the low-calorie alcoholic beverage, which is popular in the US and growing its profile in the UK. Released in pink grapefruit and raspberry flavours, the 4% ABV seltzers have fewer than 70 calories per can and offer a fizzy refreshment for those watching their alcohol intake or their waistlines. The drinks are made with 58 Gin’s London Dry Gin, contain no artificial ingredients, added sugars or sweeteners, and are gluten free and vegan. Carmen O’Neal, managing director at 58 Gin, says: “With most people continuing to socialise outdoors this summer, the 58 Gin Hard Seltzers provide an exceptionally smooth, light taste that…

Craft distillery Afterthought Spirits is adding a twist to its gin collection with three flavoured expressions. The West Sussex producer has launched the limited-edition expressions – Summer Dry, Pink and Secret Garden – under its Professors Club label. The new gins, all 42% ABV, follow the success of its original Professors Club spirits, Twisted Gin Original and Twisted Gin Navy Strength. Afterthought says the new gins use the same key botanicals, but with ‘twists’ to create different flavours. Professors Club Pink is infused with strawberries after distillation to give it a rich strawberry flavour and a rosy hue. The vapour-infused Professors Club Secret Garden is flavoured with hints of lavender, mint and hibiscus, and Professors Club Summer Dry is twisted with grapefruit and lemon. The launch of the new gins…

For those of us who love gin more than your average Joe, the opportunity to make our own gets our bodies and taste buds tingling with excitement. As awareness of and education around gin has grown in the UK, many distilleries have started offering visitors a chance to go behind closed doors, to see their production processes from start to finish, learn more about botanicals and distillation, and craft their own spirit in their own little still (with, of course, a few G&Ts along the way). While such events have been interrupted by Covid-19 and the UK lockdown, some are starting to reopen their doors to visitors with extra safety precautions in place. While this list is by no means exhaustive, it should give you a taste of the gin-making…

We’ll start with a bit of spirits trivia: do you know where the concept of alcoholic ‘proof’ comes from? In the early 1800s, before the advent of modern alcohol strength testing with the Sikes Hydrometer, there was no hard and fast way to determine the strength of an alcoholic product. The British Admiralty came up with its own method after a few too many kegs of gunpowder were ruined by spilt gin or rum: if an amount of gunpowder was soaked in a spirit and it would still ignite, the spirit was said to be “gunpowder proof” (around 57.1% ABV in new money). As well as being the origin of the moniker ‘navy-strength gin’, this tale has inspired one man to pay homage to gunpowder in his own high-ABV spirit.…

Cornish gin maker Penryn Spirits is hoping to shake up the spirits market with the announcement of its new release, Bora – described as ‘a rum for gin lovers’. The botanical rum is lighter and more aromatic than traditional spiced rums and is more at home in a glass with tonic than cola. This rum is proud of its heritage: it’s distilled using locally sourced botanicals including nettles and quince; its name is Cornish for dawn; and the black and white bottle design is inspired by the Cornish flag of St Piran, the county’s patron saint. Bora Botanical Rum is also a carbon-negative spirit: it is made with sustainable distilling techniques and uses eco-friendly packaging, and the distillery offsets its emissions by planting trees in Cornwall. Pete Mack and Willoughby…

Aldi has launched a range of new tipples, and brought back some old favourites, as part of its biggest ever spirits festival. Several new gins, vodkas and rums have hit shelves in the UK as part of the festival, which kicked off on 6 August. It includes the new Elements by Haysmith’s range of premium gins and non-alcoholic spirits. A number of summery expressions from Haysmith’s will also be joining the range, including Pomegranate and Cucumber Gin and Strawberry and Lime Gin. Shoppers in Scotland will be able to pick up Brewdog’s Lone Wolf Cloudy Lemon Gin and cans of Lone Wolf Gin and Tonic, as well as Botanical Project gin cocktails from Aldi and Eden Mill, back by popular demand.…

“The consumption of Geneva or Gin in this country is extensive. It is not long since distilleries of it have grown up among us, to any importance. They are now becoming of consequence, but being still in their infancy, they require protection.” Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton to the United States House of Representatives, 5 December, 1791 New England is a region located in the northeast of the United States that encompasses the states of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Named by Captain John Smith in his 1614 glorified marketing pamphlet A Description of New England, he stated: “…of all the parts of the world I have yet seen not inhabited… I would rather live here than anywhere.” Smith was wrong. Diverse groups of Algonquian…