Gin Magazine Jun/Aug 2021

After a bit of a difficult relationship with them in my late teens and early 20s, I can now unashamedly admit that I love food and I love eating (my better half would make a joke here about how I end up wearing as much of any meal as I eat, but I’m sure that could be interpreted as a compliment to the chef). Thanks to my foodie mother, I’m lucky that eating out has always been a part of my life and this has given me access to some truly memorable foodie experiences, from sampling a salad with Canadian sea vegetables on Vancouver Island, to eating slow-roasted lamb and potatoes by the sea on Zakynthos, to a very theatrical dry ice-packed dessert at the Space Needle in Seattle. There are few…

With the warmer months finally here, it’s time to start planning some of those social gatherings that we’ve had to put on hold over the past year! Whether you’re meeting indoors or outdoors, it’s important to make the most of the occasion – and that means not skimping on your on-the-go drinks. Gin brands have spotted the direction of travel towards ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages in the past year, as more people started socialising outside, and have responded quickly. So, it’s time to get acquainted with some of the most recent gin-based RTD options to hit shelves. • Opihr has added a Gin & Tonic with Grapefruit to its range of ready-to-drink stubby bottles (below). The 6.5% ABV premixed drink blends Opihr’s spiced gin with Asian pomelo grapefruit and premium tonic. It joins…

UK gin maker Silent Pool has launched what it believes is the world’s first paper-based spirits bottle. The Frugalpac bottle for its new Green Man Woodland Gin is five times lighter than a glass bottle and has a carbon footprint six times lower than glass or PET plastic bottles. The paperboard layer is made from 94 per cent recycled paper, and the pouch inside is also recyclable, making the bottles fully recyclable. Silent Pool Distillers director Ian McCulloch said: “Other spirits brands have spoken about using paperboard bottles for a while. However, when you scratch the surface, you realise that they’re quite far away from making that a reality. We wanted to make a real difference right now.” Inspired by the woodlands of Surrey, Silent Pool’s home county, the Green Man gin is…

World Gin Day is coming up next month (Saturday, 12 June) and 2021 looks set to be a bumper year. A global celebration of all things gin, the day is a chance for brands and gin lovers everywhere to connect through tours, tastings, cocktail-making classes and more. With the Covid-19 pandemic likely to bring many of the day’s events online this year, it presents a great opportunity to meet gin makers and other gin fans from far-flung places from the comfort of your own home, whether you are tuning in from Melbourne, Manchester or Mumbai. We caught up with Emma Stokes, the global coordinator of World Day Gin, to find out what we can expect this year. Bethany Whymark (BW): When and how did World Gin Day start? Emma Stokes (ES): World Gin Day…

I was recently participating in a talk on the potential implications of the most recent update to the EU gin regulations. While readers will undoubtedly be glad that this potentially dry topic is not the subject of today’s column, it did strike me that the degree of freedom awarded to producers is much greater than it could be – something that I think should be applauded! Unconventional gin botanicals have long caused a raise of the purist’s eyebrow (I remember a time when grapefruit was about as “crazy” as it got), but now the international gin scene is host to a cornucopia of flora (and sometimes even fauna!). Currently in vogue as a botanical is turmeric: the yellow-orange root, relation of ginger root, and general stainer of clothes with a reputation as…

Gin and food are intrinsically linked. They have been through history, with gin and ginger being one of the very early food pairings, and their connection has grown with the gin revolution. There are many parallels and connections. And with such extensive complexity in flavour and technique, it’s understandable why they share a similar space, and why we see chefs moving into distilling. Now you might not realise it, but the founders of Thunderflower Gin, Dominic and Anicca O’Nions, also work in Ashburton Cookery School and have years of experience between them. Anicca says that one of the skills she picked up at the cookery school was that of layering flavours: “When you’re around cooking, you learn to layer the flavour, top notes, mid notes and high notes.” She makes a…