A Brief History of Gin in England While gin today has a refined image, both as the star in a gin and tonic, or as a base for a sophisticated cocktail, the drink has a long and chequered history in its homeland of England. From a soldier’s reinforcement to a sophisticate’s refreshment, let’s take a look at how gin became the spirit we know today. Dutch Jenever We can trace what we know as gin today back to the Dutch drink jenever, a punchy, juniper-flavoured spirit said to have medicinal properties. Jenever is still produced today, and has a delicious and distinct taste, perfect as a curve-ball in a cocktail. English soldiers’ discovery of and fondness for the stuff during...
Happy New Year Everyone! I hope you all had a relaxing break over the festive period, and rang in 2022 the way you wanted, whether your celebrations were grandiose, or more subdued. Did you know winter is the season for yuzu in Japan? Yuzu is a delicious citrus fruit, famously grown in Japan and widely used in Japanese cuisine. If you’re able to source fresh yuzu, either online or at your local Asian supermarket, I highly recommend dehydrating them to use as garnishes for your gin and tonic or Negroni, or even soft drinks if you're opting for Dry January this year. Yuzu has a very distinct flavour somewhere between clementine, grapefruit and lemon, which works wonderfully with...
(Photo credit: Ginny Bar) In recent years, the gin world has exploded, with a host of distilleries making a huge range of gin styles. All over the world, new distillers are popping up and old established brands are being rediscovered by a new generation. Aside from brand names and distilleries, we thought we’d like to give a little explainer of what gin styles are out there, and what to expect from them. Of course there are sub-categories and outliers, and this is just a general overview, but these are the most popular styles you’re likely to find at your wine merchant or cocktail bar. For reasons of clarity, we’re excluding flavoured gins or anything that could be described as a...
How to make our White Wave Cocktail A take on the famous White Lady cocktail, this White Wave is a bit of a tsunami in strength. At 34% ABV, we use Hidden Curiosities Aranami Strength gin, De Kuyper Triple Sec, Yuzu sake, along with fresh lemon & lime. Shaken with egg white and garnished with sansho and a salt rim, this is a very well-balanced blend of salinity, sweetness and sharpness, softened out with the "sea-foam" egg white. The name "Jennifer" (Hidden Curiosities' creator) is said to mean White Wave, so paired with Aranami Strength gin (meaning Raging Waves in Japanese), we thought it was a rather apt moniker for this cocktail. This addition to our Curious Cocktail range certainly made waves...
Learn how to taste gin - the right way The core taste of gin is familiar - bitter, herbaceous, juniper-forward. But different gins have various and complex undertones, that not only distinguish one from another, but lend themselves to different uses.And while gin is often used as a constituent part in a more complex drink, tasted alone, the notes in different gins can vary hugely, and can be absolutely delicious. So how best to appreciate these flavours? And how to know what you're looking for? A Simple Guide • First, establish what it is you're looking at. What is it called? What style is it supposed to be? Where is it made? What ABV is it? What should I...
