Craft Beer (and Gin) Column by Jim Flash Gordon

Revolution & Oskars Bars

Gin has made a resurgence, ask for a G&T in Revolution or Oskars and you will be presented ith a menu – 28 Gins of all flavours, and a bottle of Medicinal looking tonic – Fentimans! Gin is like summer in a Glass – Created by the Dutch in the 17th Century with Juniper Berries. The modern incarnation of this drink owes its existence to an Irishman, Aeneas Coffey. He patented a column still capable of producing a very pure spirit which didn’t need sweetening, thus the moniker ‘dry’. Gins come in all Flavours but check out some of these to whet your appetite –

 

Blackwater No. 5 is a classic London Dry Gin, distilled in West Waterford from the purest spirit, the finest botanicals and soft local water. It balances the confident juniper notes of a traditional London Dry with bright coriander, warm cinnamon and zesty lemon. Blackwater No. 5 is crisp and elegant, great as a G&T, excellent in a cocktail. (newest Gin on the market, try it if you can get your hands on a bottle)

 

Dingle Gin The flavours and botanicals in Dingle Original Gin include rowan berry, fuchsia, bog myrtle, hawthorn, heather, chervil, angelica and coriander – locally grown botanicals giving that ‘taste of Kerry’.  It is very important to Dingle that their gin has a sense of place and provenance and you can feel this when you try Dingle gin.Porterhouse Head Brewer Peter Mosely who leads the Dingle production team describe their Gin – “The uniquely Irish botanicals give a fabulously fresh, floral character that perfectly balances the traditional juniper”

 

Monkey 47 (our best seller) Monkey 47 gin is named for the “guesthouse” that Montgomery “Monty” Collins ran in the Black Forest of Germany called the Wild Monkey. He made a gin and decades later Alexander Stein is said to have uncovered this recipe and re-introduced it. The “47” comes from a full 47 different botanicals used in the gin… an astonishingly large number that is closer to an absinthe than gins

 

Hendricks Gin Their still is said to be one of four existing “Carter-Head Stills,” which instead of “crudely” boiling the alcohol instead “bathes it in vapors.” Then the infusions of Bulgarian Rose and cucumber complete the unusual journey. They openly describe their gin as “Loosely yet brilliantly interpreted

 

No.209 Gin   A fantastic and unusual gin from San Francisco. The distillery is based on pier 50 which is in the shadow of the San Francisco Giants’ Stadium. it prides itself in being the only distillery in the world that is situated over water! 209 Gin uses a variety of botanicals and can be classed as having a fruity but spicy character thanks to the bergamot orange, lemon peel, cardamom pods, cassia bark,         angelica root and coriander seeds.

 

Glendalough Summer Gin For this batch the following botanicals have been used. Juniper, coriander seeds, lemon peel, angelica root, liquorice root, bitter almond, orris root, darred malt, ceylon cinnamon, ginger, all spice, elderflower, lemon balm, pine shoots, blackberry flowers, blackberry leaves, orange flowers, hop flowers, wild rose, wild raspberries, wild raspberry leaves, clover flowers, meadowsweet and fraughan berries.

 

Glendalough Autumn Gin         An aromatic gin that is made using 11 ‘classic’ gin botanicals along with some locally foraged plants such as nettle, watermint, clover flowers, ground ivy, heather flowers, rosehips, meadowsweet leaves, rosemary, haws, yarrow, blackberry, fraughan berries, damson, sloe, elderberry and crab apple- phew!

 

Fentimans Tonic     The world’s first botanically brewed tonic water is made with a blend of herbal infusions and lemongrass extract which results in a unique, refreshing and distinctive citrus flavour.“Very special…..in a G&T it’s perfection” – The Guardian

Give our Gin Experts a shout next time your in the bar – and we can lead you in the right direction!