I saw a picture on Twitter of available gins at a pub. There were a few that I’m not familiar with. Since it is still warm, I’m still having gin and tonics, as we move into the colder weather, I’ll switch to martinis. Lately, the only gin I’ve been drinking is Tanqueray #10. I only use lime with gin and tonics, and I prefer a twist of lemon with a martini.
Should I consider trying:
Portobello Road
Hendricks (I think this is the one that the weird cucumber people prefer)
Sipsmith
Martin Miller’s
I’ve tried both Hendricks and Sipsmith, and really like them both. Personally, I prefer Hendricks with a bit of lemon rather than cucumber. Possibly a heretical opinion.
I’ve had Hendricks and Martin Miller. Hendricks is kind of the poster-child for your modern, non-juniper forward gins with non-standard botanicals. In particular, it’s got cucumber and some rose petal in there.
Martin Miller I don’t remember as particularly standing out, other than it wasn’t overly good IMO.
I probably wouldn’t if it were up to me. Gin is just vodka, essentially flavorless, infused with botanicals to a specific recipe. If you’ve found a gin you like, keep drinking that one. If you haven’t found a gin that you like, why would you go around hunting for one?
I’m an old fashioned gin guy, back when I started drinking it you pretty much drank Bombay, Beefeater’s or Tanquery. There were a few Seagram’s drinkers, but that was the gamut of gins. I settled on Beefeater’s and other than that time someone forced a Hendrick’s upon me I stayed the course.
I liked it when I started and I still like it today. That whole gin renaissance that supposedly started back around 2000 with different flavor profiles was lost on me. Now you can buy Beefeater 24, “Made in the heart of London from 12 hand-selected botanicals including Japanese Sencha and Chinese Green teas”.
What, we have to have gin for people who don’t like gin? Japanese Sencha and Chinese Green Teas? It is to laugh.
It’s like Martini night at the local watering hole. They’ve got more than a dozen beverages on their menu that taste nothing like a Martini. Hey. if you want chocolate milk in a Martini glass knock yourself out, but why call it a Martini?
Yeah, exactly this. Why did the Martini get all that disrespect rather than, say, the Whiskey Sour? “Try our special recipe Whiskey Sour, made with Jamaica rum, orange bitters, V8 juice, and maraschino liqueur!”
I prefer Tanqueray over Beefeater if I’m having a single Martini before dinner at a good restaurant, but my home gin is strictly Gordon’s. American-made gin is usually 80 proof (British is 90) so you can have more than one or two drinks before you start bumping into the furniture.
