Innehållsförteckning för May/Jun 2022 från Gin Magazine

This will either come as a predictable statement from a “creative”, or as a shock for someone who makes a living writing about distilling, but: I’ve never been very good at science. I got decent grades in scientific subjects at high school, but would put that down to my ability to regurgitate information in a test rather than solid understanding of that information (sorry, all my former science teachers). The finer details, such as formulae for experiments in physics or chemistry, just seemed to bounce around in my brain then float right out, like steam out of a kettle. This is not to say that I don’t find science interesting – I do. It would be difficult not to be fascinated by those actions and reactions through which the universe…

After years of running away to follow the circus, the Pollock family went home to start their own circus: Backwards Distilling Company. The main attractions include Ringleader Vodka and Sword Swallower Rum, but the stars of the show are Contortionist Gin and Strongman Gin. The circus theme comes from years of family trips when the kids were growing up, when the Pollocks would go across the country from their home in Casper, Wyoming to see circuses, particularly Cirque du Soleil shows. On their first trip to see the Cirque du Soleil show 'La Nouba,' in Orlando, Chad Pollock fell in love with the diabolo. “It’s like a spool with two sticks and a string between them… I’m seeing that for the first time. I was baffled by the dance and…

While they are not strictly gin bars (one of them probably doesn’t even stock gin!), I couldn’t help but also shine a light on these other amazing bars you should visit: What do you get if you cross a dive bar with a country and western joint? Shady Pines. Catch the live music on weekends, grab yourself a bar stool and some complimentary peanuts (you’ll need to shell them yourself), and order the cult-status Whisky Apple: fresh-pressed fluffy Granny Smith apple juice with a slug of whisky. Agave fans need to head over to what is surely Sydney’s smallest bar, Cantina OK. Barely the size of a one-car garage, this place has an incredible Tequila and mezcal range sourced directly from Mexico. It’s both micro in size and sources its…

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Lebanese winemaker Faouzi Issa is also the mastermind behind GinBey, Lebanon’s first premium gin. He talks about his love of London and Manhattan, and how to make the most of offline time during long flights. What have been some of the most memorable and interesting countries and places that your work has taken you? Travelling for work has offered me so many opportunities to visit new countries and explore new cultures. I make wine as well as gin, and so I love visiting other wine regions around the world to see how other winemakers are working. I always enjoy visiting the US. I spent my honeymoon in Napa Valley tasting wonderful wines. The city I love visiting the most is Manhattan. I’ve been five times in three years, and I…

Taster biographies Bethany Whymark After studying English literature at university, Bethany spent five years working as a journalist for regional newspaper groups in the east of England before moving into the spirits industry. She now edits Gin Magazine, trade website TheDrinksReport.com and Rum Magazine. David T. Smith David T. Smith is an independent spirits writer and consultant who specialises in gin. He is a chair judge for a number of spirits competitions and has written widely on the subject, incuding The Craft of Gin, Forgotten Spirits and Long Lost Liqueurs and Gin Tonica. He was winner of the 2016 Gin Communicator of the Year award. THE PROCESS • All samples are blind tasted, with ABV and style the only information disclosed.• Samples are tasted individually over a two-week period.• Tasters…

How can I dry my own peels? APRIL, SURREY, BRITISH COLUMBIA This question is particularly useful for those who like to have a wider array of garnishes available, and for those who like to reduce waste. The drying process is often used by botanical suppliers of lemon and bitter and sweet orange to ensure a consistent and constant supply for gin distillers year-round. For this, teams of people sit out in the Mediterranean sunshine peeling fruit; once proficient, this can be done quickly, leaving almost none of the bitter pith behind and the peel of each fruit in a single, long strip. The peels are then hung up on lines (a bit like washing lines) to dry in the sun. Should you not be so lucky as to have year-round…

As I write this, I am 30,000 feet in the air on my first transatlantic trip of the year and, in the name of research, I have a drink in hand: a Red Snapper. Both the Red Snapper and its vodka equivalent – the Bloody Mary – are in-air favourites for many a seasoned traveller. This is to do with the effect that airplane travel has on our senses. There are three ways that flying impacts our senses of taste and smell: air pressure, lower humidity, and noise. In general, our sense of taste is lessened when in flight, and our abilities to detect sugar and salt are affected the most. This is why airline food tends to be more heavily seasoned, and also why the combination of gin (or…

Bombay Sapphire is paying homage to a classic gin cocktail, the Tom Collins, in a new gin: Bombay Citron Pressé. This distilled gin captures the aroma and flavour of zesty, hand-picked Mediterranean lemons in a natural fruit infusion which is blended with the brand’s vapour-distilled London Dry Gin and bottled without added sugar. Bombay Sapphire says that the new expression plays into the growing trend for at-home cocktail making. It follows the launch of the Bacardi-owned distillery’s first flavoured gin, Bombay Bramble, in 2020, which is inspired by and named after another popular gin cocktail. Bombay Citron Pressé is the brand’s second recent release celebrating the humble lemon. Premier Cru Murcian Lemon, a new innovation from Bombay Sapphire master distiller Dr Anne Brock and master of botanicals Ivano Tonutti, launched…

Aviation Gin If ever there was gin that was destined to be served onboard an airline, it has to be Aviation Gin. The Ryan Reynolds-backed US gin has recently been listed on British Airways’ inflight menu on transatlantic flights, and is also available to buy for £6 on short-haul flights from the airline’s Speedbird Café. Aviation Gin, which features cardamom, coriander, French lavender, anise seed, sarsaparilla, juniper, and two kinds of orange peel among its botanicals, is also available for sale on British Airways’ onboard shopping programme High Life. Drumshanbo with Sardinian Citrus Gunpowder Gin This new gin from the highly innovative Shed Distillery in County Leitrim, Ireland, has just been released into the Americas duty-free market. Drumshanbo with Sardinian Citrus Gunpowder Gin features an incredibly rare citrus fruit, Citrus…

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Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, celebrates 70 years on the throne in 2022. Gin is said to be one of Her Majesty’s favourite tipples, so it is fitting that gin distillers are participating in her Platinum Jubilee celebrations, which are taking place between 2 and 5 June. Here are a few special releases to look out for: Cotswolds Platinum Jubilee Gin is inspired by classic English summer desserts and includes strawberry, raspberry and pink peppercorns. The dark glass bottle is adorned with a label coloured in purple – a traditional colour of the monarchy – and silver. Tasting notes from the distillery say the gin has notes of jammy red fruit, juniper, fresh grapefruit, pink pepper, and vanilla. It is available to purchase from May from Majestic Wine, with…

Distillers have never been known to let their creativity be stifled by rules – quite the opposite. For instance, genever is a Protected Designation of Origin and can only be made in the Netherlands, Belgium and small regions of France and Germany. However, distillers across the globe, inspired by genever’s history and flavours, have introduced genever-like products to their ranges. They’re simply calling it by different names, such as geneva (the Anglicised name for genever which has been around at least since Philip Massinger’s 1623 play, The Duke of Milan) or genièvre, as the French call it. Ginever is another, but that term has never really taken off, perhaps because regulators forbade at least one producer to use it. Finally, there’s Dutch-style gin, which is neither from the Netherlands nor…

To add some flair to my research, I attempted to use a smoke gun to home-smoke some drinks. This device works rather like a smoker’s pipe: wood chips are placed in the bowl and lit, then a motor blows air through the embers to generate smoke. Initially I experimented with a Negroni. I trapped one (complete with glass and ice) beneath a clear jug before piping in the smoke. The results were visually stunning; the flavour was exceptionally smoky and, in honesty, so was the room, but it made for fun theatrics. I then tried to bottle the smoke: I made and bottled a Martini so that it filled three-quarters of a 100ml bottle, then piped in smoke and quickly resealed it. Very little smoke was left when I came…

There was a time when molecular cocktails were widely en vogue. I remember over a decade ago, Tony Conigliaro’s now-closed Drink Factory lab filled with machines from rotovap to sous vide. Though he was famed for molecular plays like a slurpable Prairie Oyster, a sort of egg-shaped Bloody Mary in an oyster shell, the drink I remember with mouthwatering clarity is a rhubarb martini. The purity of the rhubarb was the star, thanks to sous vide cooking – simple, with gin, lime and bitters. It lingers like a rhubarb dream in my taste memory. Moments like these confirm the “why” of the molecular approach. Over the years, visiting thousands of bars globally, I’d taste centrifuge twists on a Ramos Gin Fizz at Quinary, or a beet cocktail in a blood…