Gin

[Thropplenoggin]

The Thinking Man/Woman/Hermaphrodite's tipple.

Is there any better way to crack asunder the crepuscular hour than with a G + T?

Yes, that's a rhetorical q.

Of course, it depends on both the gin and tonic involved i'the aforementioned equation.

First, the G: I cut my teeth on Bombay Sapphire, but moved on to Tanqueray. My personal favourite is Tanqueray No. 10 - utterly divine. Buy it duty free. A litre's worth of complexity and finesse for around £30: it will open your eyes to all that a gin can be. My latest sip is Sipsmith - a lovely independent London distillery that loses marks for its irksomely babyish way of addressing the purchaser; I quote: "Sipsmith? Why 'Sipsmith'? Well, much the same way wordsmiths love to create all things wordical, [Reader, I vomited a little in my mouth at this juncture], we love to create all things sippical." I believe it was Innocence who introduced this idiotic infantilisation which now besmirches comestibles throughout the land, but that is for another invective-mired thread.

I am curious to try Hendrick's, which comes in an apothecary-style bottle and is apparently best served with a slice of cucumber. There are lots of other bottles that tempt me, like The Botanist. What is your 'G'?

As for the T, I have been newly converted to Fever-tree premium tonic water, which has a purity to its tang, unlike the chemical-laced Schweppes.

Gin-lovers, it's over to you.

[teamsaint]

I prefer a nice cup of tea.



Not really.
Mind your mixers, TN, don't want any of that nasty aspartame getting into your system.

Gin surely better in hot weather. ( if only!)

Chin Chin !!

Edit, you learn something every day, had no idea it was the thinking hermaphrodite's preferred tipple.....

[Thropplenoggin]

I prefer a nice cup of tea.



Not really.
Mind your mixers, TN, don't want any of that nasty aspartame getting into your system.

Gin surely better in hot weather. ( if only!)

Chin Chin !!

Edit, you learn something every day, had no idea it was the thinking hermaphrodite's preferred tipple.....

Quinine Rome...

"I'm Aspartame!"

"No, I'm Aspartame!"

[teamsaint]

Quinine Rome...

"I'm Aspartame!"

"No, I'm Aspartame!"

let us hope that your sweeteners are not as artificial as your jokes.

( Are you having a "Roman Phase", what with Marcus Aurelius, owner of a fine column IIRC ?....)

[ahinton]

Of course, it depends on both the gin and tonic involved i'the aforementioned equation.

You bet it does! and Greenall's or some other cheap gin with slimline Britvic or other cheap tonic certainly ain't it!

First, the G: I cut my teeth on Bombay Sapphire, but moved on to Tanqueray. My personal favourite is Tanqueray No. 10 - utterly divine.

I'm with you on that! Ordinary Tanqueray's pretty decent, too; I've not yet tried Tanqueray Rangpur.

My latest sip is Sipsmith - a lovely independent London distillery that loses marks for its irksomely babyish way of addressing the purchaser; I quoth: "Sipsmith? Why 'Sipsmith'? Well, much the same way wordsmiths love to create all things wordical, [Reader, I vomited a little in my mouth at this juncture], we love to create all things sippical." I believe it was Innocence who introduced this idiotic infantilisation which now besmirches comestibles throughout the land, but that is for another invective-mired thread.

I've been fascinated to try Sipsmith but wary to outlay the cost of a bottle before trying it so resolved to do this in a pub or restaurant first; however, my bank were recently offering various goodies on its now defunct points system from Lay & Wheeler including a half case of three Cloudy Bay sparkling wines, two St.-Émilions and a bottle of Sipsmith, so I went for it. I quite enjoyed it but not enough to want to buy it again. One of the most expensive is made near me in Herefordshire - Chase gin - I've never tried it and, since Waitrose offer it at well over £50/l. I'm unlikely to do so in the foreseeable unless I find it in a pub or restaurant! Bombay Sapphire and Plymouth were two gins that I used to enjoy but either my palate or the gins have changed because they don't especially appeal to me today. I also made the mistake of buying a bottle of Bombay East recently, which I did not like and would not have bought had I realised that lemongrass is one of the botanicals used in it! I tried Hendricks some while back but wasn't especially impressed.

I am curious to try Hendrick's, which comes in an apothecary-style bottle and is apparently best served with a slice of cucumber. There are lots of other bottles that tempt me, like The Botanist. What is your 'G'?

As for the T, I have been newly converted to Fever-tree premium tonic water, which has a purity to its tang, unlike the chemical-laced Schweppes.

Gin-lovers, it's over to you.

Waitrose seems to have turned into something of a gin palace, given the wide variety of gins that they now offer.

Aside from Tanqueray and Tanqueray 10, one that I've sampled recently and really enjoyed is Six O'Clock gin; well worth a try, this. Amusingly, I was in a restaurant in Bath the other day and ordered a double of this and, as the bartender had only just enough in the bottle to serve it, he disappeared to get another bottle and then generously popped a little more into my glass so that I ended up with rather more than the double measure; "call it ten past six", he said...

I can't quite see tongue to tongue with you over Fever Tree, which I've tried but am not especially fond of. Schweppervescence does me OK, actually, as long as it's not slimline muck!

OK - time for a...

[teamsaint]

Slimline drinks are full of aspartame.

Nice post AH. in fact more like a column.

Is Victory Gin not on your list......

[Thropplenoggin]

You bet it does! and Greenall's or some other cheap gin with slimline Britvic or other cheap tonic certainly ain't it!


I'm with you on that! Ordinary Tanqueray's pretty decent, too; I've not yet tried Tanqueray Rangpur.


I've been fascinated to try Sipsmith but wary to outlay the cost of a bottle before trying it so resolved to do this in a pub or restaurant first; however, my bank were recently offering various goodies on its now defunct points system from Lay & Wheeler including a half case of three Cloudy Bay sparkling wines, two St.-Émilions and a bottle of Sipsmith, so I went for it. I quite enjoyed it but not enough to want to buy it again. One of the most expensive is made near me in Herefordshire - Chase gin - I've never tried it and, since Waitrose offer it at well over £50/l. I'm unlikely to do so in the foreseeable unless I find it in a pub or restaurant! Bombay Sapphire and Plymouth were two gins that I used to enjoy but either my palate or the gins have changed because they don't especially appeal to me today. I also made the mistake of buying a bottle of Bombay East recently, which I did not like and would not have bought had I realised that lemongrass is one of the botanicals used in it! I tried Hendricks some while back but wasn't especially impressed.


Waitrose seems to have turned into something of a gin palace, given the wide variety of gins that they now offer.

Aside from Tanqueray and Tanqueray 10, one that I've sampled recently and really enjoyed is Six O'Clock gin; well worth a try, this. Amusingly, I was in a restaurant in Bath the other day and ordered a double of this and, as the bartender had only just enough in the bottle to serve it, he disappeared to get another bottle and then generously popped a little more into my glass so that I ended up with rather more than the double measure; "call it ten past six", he said...

I can't quite see tongue to tongue with you over Fever Tree, which I've tried but am not especially fond of. Schweppervescence does me OK, actually, as long as it's not slimline muck!

OK - time for a...

Thanks for your lengthy response, AH. Our local Waitrose has a gin offer on at present, though their shelves have always seemed well-stocked when it comes to gin. Another purchase option is via this fine retailer: http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/C-338.aspx Vintage Gordon's, anyone? (£125.00 bottled 1970s)

Of course, I forgot to mention the sucrose joy that is sloe gin i'the autumn/winter...

[teamsaint]

Can it really come as a surprise that Waitrose is well stocked with a variety of gin?

Sadly I cannot visit, as I'm still trying to find a member to nominate me.......

[Thropplenoggin]

Can it really come as a surprise that Waitrose is well stocked with a variety of gin?

Sadly I cannot visit, as I'm still trying to find a member to nominate me.......

Verily, you are the forum's Groucho Marx...

[teamsaint]

Verily, you are the forum's Groucho Marx...

more of a Groucho, than a Marx, unhappily , Noggo !!

Still I do like Gin. Only last year I was thinking I might buy some when the kids leave home.
Actually they have, but I haven't yet. But I am inspired. If Mrs TS gets some decent tips on her pools round this week, I may invest.

Yum.

[eighthobstruction]

TS....do people STILL do the pools via a doorstep collection....<[or was that a joke]>

[teamsaint]

sorry 8O, should have added a

I think the pools round is a thing of the past, sadly. Used to keep plenty of young people gainfully employed on a Thursday night.

Kinda nicer than the lottery , really !!

[Nick Armstrong]

don't want any of that nasty aspartame

Agreed: vital

My preference is Beefeater 24 + Fever Tree Light Tonic (crucial that it's the Light) + lime

http://www.diffordsguide.com/beer-wine-spirits/spirits/gin-and-juniper-spirits/BWS001471/beefeater-24-london-dry-gin

Nota bene: Fever Tree Light is not "light" because of aspartame http://www.fever-tree.com/drinks.php

Tanqueray No. Ten or Berry Bros Number 3 are indeed very delicious alternative gins, or Bombay Sapphire at a push. The other two components are deal-breakers.

[mangerton]

Gin and tonic.... my favourite drink for home consumption, as a barrel of real ale would be rather ott, I feel.

But it was not always thus. Bear with me while I take you back over half a century, when one evening a very young mangerton saw his father pouring a refreshing g & t :

"Daddy, what does gin taste like?"

"Bring me a teaspoon, son." And he gave me (medicine style) a teaspoon of neat gin.

Unsurprisingly, it was about twenty-five years before I went near gin again, and it was in this (musically related) fashion. It was Easter Saturday. I was in a coach with many other choir singers returning from Aldeburgh. It's a long journey, and due to an oversight, around Scotch Corner I suppose, I was told that the only spirit left on the coach was gin. Either my taste buds had developed, or gin had improved, but I found it most palatable, and the rest, as they say, is history. (Usually Gordon's, but sometimes Tanqueray, if you're asking. And I prefer lime.)

OT musical note: On Good Friday we had sung Bach's St John Passion in the Maltings with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. I can't remember who the soloists were, but the conductor was Wilfried Boettcher, and Sir Peter Pears was in the audience.

[Flosshilde]

I do like Gin. I was thinking I might buy some when the kids leave home.

Did they keep you supplied when they were at home?


I do like a stiff G&T - with cucumber. I won't say which gin I use, as that would bring buckets of scorn down on my head (& I get quite enough of that from Simon) - I don't reach the rarified heights of some here (not having a deep enough pocket). I like Ben Shaw's tonic as a mixer, partly because it comes in handy little cans.