Gin

Vision

Tonight I made meself a G and T. I had some Beefeater London Dry but just not enough to top off a tall one. I added some Saph to it and OMG it sucked! Anyone else mix Gins before with this problem. I can wait to get into the Van Gogh Gin I have. Still one of the best Gins of all time.

xmacro

I sometimes use Beefeaters, but usually it's just Tanquerey and tonic; never branched out into any other gins, but I may have to give that Van Gogh a try if its anything special

Bigshizza

Bad experience with Gin 30 years ago.....ewwww

jgibv

Mix it with juice, my friend ......

...... :-D haha

Never found a gin drink I like, just too much of a "pinesol" flavor, not appealing to me....IDK maybe I've been doing it wrong.

bbass2

There is no better summer drink than a well mixed G and T with lime.

Vision

xmacro:

I sometimes use Beefeaters, but usually it's just Tanquerey and tonic; never branched out into any other gins, but I may have to give that Van Gogh a try if its anything special

I just enjoy its flavor. Its not harsh but not as deep as Saphire.

kingjk729

I'm not a gin drinker but the wife's family and the wife is ..... Van Gogh is good .... Hendricks is pretty good ..... Tangueray 10 is great .... if you can find it Magellan is pretty tasty for the coin and a nice tasting cheap gin is New Amsterdam

clearlysuspect

I always hated gin until lately. Now it's one of my favorite liquors. I'm big on Sapphire. Never tried mixing any gins together though so no input there. Always been a big fan of dirty martinis. About 9 months ago a bartender asked if I wanted it with vodka or gin. I'd never tried with gin. Been hooked ever since.

beatnic

clearlysuspect:

I always hated gin until lately. Now it's one of my favorite liquors. I'm big on Sapphire. Never tried mixing any gins together though so no input there. Always been a big fan of dirty martinis. About 9 months ago a bartender asked if I wanted it with vodka or gin. I'd never tried with gin. Been hooked ever since.

Sapphire +1

Vulchor

Sapphire is good, but once you get a good palate for gin--------its Hendricks or nothing.

raisindot

Tanquery man, here. Haven't found anything else that matches it.

Rob1110

Gin can be a tough one since it's such a broad category. The predominant ingredient and note is supposed to be Juniper (where you get those pine notes) but newer style gins seem to be focused on rounding out the drink with other botanicals and herbs. It must be produced via one distillation of grains to a neutral grain spirit, then the herbs and botanicals are macerated (steeped) in that first distillate, to be re-distilled. This second distillate is your gin.

I personally am a fan of the newer styles but find the traditional gin style to have its place as well. I find Sapphire takes well to a dry martini because of its heavy Juniper influence, while Tanqueray is better suited for a simple gin and tonic with a lime. My go to is Hendricks and it's easily mixed with lighter, floral and cucumber as secondary ingredients (think Hendricks, St Germain and Cucumber). Damrak Gin was much more citrus forward and would be perfect with a grapefruit or orange base or even just a twist. St. George makes some very interesting Gins, although they're very different from one another. Last night, I got to try the new Square One "Botanical" Organic Spirit, which is being compared to Gin - very floral up front with a Rye pepper persisting on the finish. We have some decent local Gins around this way as well: Berkshire Gin and especially the Berkshire Ethereal Gin (each batch focuses on different ingredients), Knockabout Gin tones down the Juniper.

To get into something completely different all together, try a barrel aged Gin, such as Ransom Old Tom Gin. This is very interesting since you start to feel like Gin and Whiskey have melded perfectly into one.

In the end, as long as you enjoy it, drink it. Each Gin is different and takes differently to different applications.

clearlysuspect

Thanks for the education Rob. I enjoyed that read.

LeftFive

Barrel-aged Gin sounds interesting, I'm having a hard time imagining what it'd taste like and that's getting me excited.
Hendricks is my gin of choice, and I'll also second that for a cheap gin, New Amsterdam is solid.

Lee.mcglynn

Vulchor:

Sapphire is good, but once you get a good palate for gin--------its Hendricks or nothing.

+1 love both

Big T smokes

LeftFive:

Barrel-aged Gin sounds interesting, I'm having a hard time imagining what it'd taste like and that's getting me excited.
Hendricks is my gin of choice, and I'll also second that for a cheap gin, New Amsterdam is solid.

For Gin and Tonic with lime, I'm in love with New amsterdam. IT's citrusy and bold, and very reasonable. Cucumber martinis with Hendricks has gotten me into smoking with Gin again. I forget who it was that pointed me in this direction, but yea a cucumber martini with Hendricks is a decent compliment to a cigar. Just a few thin slices of cucumber, muddle it up real good with 4 shots of gin, a tiny splash of vermouth, and a shot of simple syrup. Mmmmmm mmmmmmm Delicious, smooth, sweet. Goes great with a mild.

Rob1110

Next time you're mixing Gin and muddled cucumber, skip the simple syrup and use St. Germain in its place. It's an elderflower liqueur and is REALLY good in that application.