Innehållsförteckning för Jul/Aug 2022 från Gin Magazine

Escaping to the warm sun and white sands of a desert island is an oft-repeated trope in the realms of relaxation and recuperation. Despite the fact that islands are often associated with significant physical and mental anguish in popular culture (ask Tom Hanks in Castaway, Daniel Defoe’s unlucky protagonist Robinson Crusoe, or anyone who’s taken part in The Island with Bear Grylls), western society perpetuates the belief that spending time on a peaceful rock in the middle of the ocean, unencumbered by the strains and stresses of modern life, will help to restore balance to even the most troubled soul. Travel operators tell us we should seek sun, sea and sand in any prospective holiday destination; beauty brands picture farflung tropical paradises to showcase the simultaneously relaxing and invigorating power…

Sorted Food, the UK-based social media movement focused on home cooking, has partnered with Sloemotion Distillery to launch a gin liqueur. The Strawberry Gin Liqueur with Vanilla and Black Pepper is the first drink released by Sorted Food, which has a following of almost 2.6 million on YouTube and 292,000 on Instagram. It comes after Sorted Food featured Yorkshire’s Sloemotion Distillery in a video on its YouTube channel and commended its environmentally friendly ethos, including its support of local rewilding and biodiversity projects. To create the liqueur, the teams used strawberries that were grown in Yorkshire by farmer and food entrepreneur Annabel Makin-Jones. They diverted surplus fruit from Annabel’s farm (which supports her business, Annabel’s Deliciously British) and combined them with Sloemotion’s Hedgerow Gin. The distillery uses a temperature-efficient still…

Get ready for some barbecue. A small Texas Hill Country town is putting itself on the map for spirits, beer, wine, and good eating. Daniel Barnes, founder of Treaty Oak Distilling, guesses that there are 13 or 14 distilleries within about a seven-mile radius of his town of fewer than 5,000 people, west of West Austin. “That’s crazy! It’s been a been a real boom out here,” said Barnes. “It’s not just the distilleries that we’re seeing out here. We’re seeing, you know, wineries and breweries coming in this direction.” Tasting rooms beckon day-trippers from each side of the two-lane country highways that crisscross in the centre of town – east and west along US 290, north and south along TX 12 – with some lit up at night like…

Nina Howden, co-founder of Monmouthshire-based Silver Circle Distillery, the producer of Wye Valley Gin, talks about her desire to experience Seoul’s music and food scene and recalls the night she spent partying with Björk and her band in a Helsinki hotel. What have been some of the most memorable and interesting countries and places that your work has taken you? Our distillery has only been around for three years, but I used to work in music before and travelled a lot then. I loved going to music festivals in small, unusual places. The locals are always so proud and welcoming. Nova Scotia in Canada was one place like that. We saw stunning nature, had lobster fresh from the sea, and I did an air guitar solo at a karaoke bar.…

Bottle price guide: £11-20 (US$15-26) £21-40 (US$27-53) £41-60 (US$54-79) £61-90 (US$80-119) £91 plus (US$120 plus) 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…

Which country drinks the most gin? This is a question that I’m asked from time to time. Despite the spirit’s popularity in the UK, Spain, and Australia, the answer (as some informed readers may already know) is the Philippines, at least on the face of it. A single brand, Ginebra San Miguel (GSM), sold an astonishing 31.2 million (ninelitre) cases in 2020, which compares with 6.7 million cases for Gordon’s and 4.3 million for Bombay. Ginebra San Miguel is mostly consumed domestically within the Philippines and, in 2020, was the second largest spirit brand in the world after the South Korean Soju brand Jinro. All of GSM’s gins appear to be compounded, which means that they are made by combining flavour essences with a neutral base alcohol, in this case…

Cambridge Distillery in England is flexing its innovative muscles once again with the launch of its Vintage 2021 Spring/Summer Gin. The distillery – creator of the groundbreaking Anty, Japanese and Three Seasons Gins – believes its limited-edition vintage gin could be a ‘world first’ of its kind. It was created using botanicals that were foraged locally in the spring and summer of 2021 in a bid to capture the essence of the shifting English seasons. Billed as a “collector’s item”, the gin will be available exclusively through fine wine and spirits merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd. The gin was distilled using the company’s novo-dimensional distillation system, in which nine variables including temperature, pressure and time can be adjusted for the distillation of each botanical. These separate distillates are then blended…

Can you suggest some drinks or cocktail recipes that use coconut water? MARILYN, PARYS A simple mix of dry gin and coconut water actually works very well; as with any mixer, the exact ratio is down to personal preference. I enjoy one part gin to three parts coconut water. Citrus-forward gins, especially those made using grapefruit, have a slight salinity and brightness that works particularly well with coconut water, while a spicier gin can add more soft baking spice flavours that complement the creaminess of the mixer, making it a grand choice during the colder months. Another combination that really shines is aged gin and coconut water, which is not surprising given that coconut water and Scotch whisky has been acclaimed in certain circles for some time. The woody spice…

If you’re looking for summery additions to your gin collection, why not give these a try? Tarquin’s is brightening the summer with its Pink Dry Gin. Distilled with 14 botanicals including rare pink lemons, pink grapefruit and pink peppercorns, it is designed to combine traditional pink gin fruitiness with the botanical notes of a dry gin. It comes hot on the heels of the English distillery’s first gin and tonic cans, which combine its flagship Tarquin’s Cornish Dry Gin with a light tonic water. Whitley Neill has two new expressions out this summer. Its Pineapple Gin has been inspired by travels to the Americas and is distilled using Costa Rican pineapples, while its Peach Gin is full of juicy stone fruit flavours from the South African peaches that founder Johnny…

THE OLD HAND In 1872, Simon Rutte opened his small business in the heart of Dordrecht, a midsized city in the Netherlands. Now, 150 years and many generations later, his distilling company is still thriving. To celebrate the distillery’s anniversary, current master distiller Myriam Hendrickx has created a limited edition of Rutte’s acclaimed Old Simon Genever. Rutte Distillery is still located in the same small building that Simon Rutte purchased in the 19th century. His family had established themselves as skilled distillers before then, but they had always been assistants and never held the top job. Simon initially worked in a supporting role too, before he and his wife Maria bought a modest pub. Immediately, the backroom was converted into a distillery, and after a decade of working in the…

When it comes to spirits packaging, the gin industry is one of the most creative. But with sustainability a growing concern for consumers and producers alike, a beautiful bespoke bottle is no longer enough to cut it. While many brands are reducing the weight and plastic content of their bottles, innovative and eco-conscious businesses are leading the way in reducing the impact of all their packaging on our planet. As the most conspicuous part of a product, and arguably the easiest to change, it’s easy to assume that environmentally friendly packaging is simply an attempt to greenwash the gin within. However, with 6 per cent of all packaging waste (by weight) in municipal waste streams attributed to beverage containers (according to the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable) – and 24-37 per…