Gintrification

This Sunday is World Gin Day, so I felt it a timely moment to write this blog and to celebrate this luscious drink.

Now if you know me personally, or follow my Instagram page you will know that I like a gin and tonic from time to time. A good old gin has been my favourite tipple for as long as I can remember. However, at the risk of sounding like an old codger reminiscing about the good old days I wanted to write about the modern trend that is the new-wave gin drinker. I read that gin sales reached an all-time high in 2017 (an increase of 27% in just one year) the gentrification of gin really is a ‘thing’ It is, however, not a new fad as such because back in the early 18^th century gin was a big thing and back street distillers would peddle their dubiously crafted gins to London’s people. The quality was often so inconsistent and questionable that certain batches were said to have disrupted the consumer’s eyesight – hence the term blind drunk – there, you didn’t know that did you?

Not as far back as the 1700’s but in the eighties and early nineties my good friend and I – let’s call her TG – would begrudgingly go and support our other halves playing rugby; mostly in the cold, on a wet, muddy pitch. The best part being when we got away and sneakily found ourselves in the club bar for a swift G&T; you will understand of course that this was purely to warm our cockles on a cold Saturday afternoon. It was the highlight of the game for us, along with a cheese and onion cob and there was nothing swanky about the gin (or the cob)

‘What can I get you ladies?

‘G&T please’

‘Ice and lemon?’

‘Yes please’

‘Thanks, £1.20’

That was it, drink decided, ordered and paid for. Down the hatch and nobody even noticed we had gone – easy as pie.

At the rugby club it would be Gordons or Beefeater depending on which had been on offer at the cash and carry that week; it was also lemon or no lemon and Schweppes Indian tonic water!

Fast forward 30 or so years and somehow and we have lost the simplicity of this delightful and refreshing beverage. These days you enter a bar and are greeted with an array of different gins all displayed beautifully on a tiered shelf and back lit for your delectation and appreciation of a beautifully styled bottle. It is at this point that you have to try and decide which you would like; how on earth do you choose? It doesn’t stop there though: garnish, tonic? That’s not simple either, it could be lemon, lime, cucumber, grapefruit, bay leaf, juniper berries, ginger, aniseed and wait for it pomelo, I know! When I was asked this I didn’t even know what a bloody pomelo was. The list goes on and on and the glass type, the tonic – are you even serious if you don’t order Fever tree or Fentimans? And then they hit you with it…

‘£10.00 please’

Whhhhhaaat!

Anyway, as you can imagine TG and I have fallen head-long into the gin ‘fashion’ trap. We excitedly text pictures of smart bottles or weird ingredients to one-another. She persuaded me to join The Craft Gin Club – she bent my arm right up my back she did… I am now the proud owner of *40 plus bottles of gin (please read the caveat below); we have our own payday gin club too – this normally boils down to what is on offer from Sainsbury’s that we haven’t tried; we’re in deep.

We have been seduced and drawn in by a gin marketing phenomenon – SURPRISE. I am in awe of a gin that promises ‘zingy lemon and calming lavender’, ’27 botanicals’ or made with ‘crystal clear waters of the Silent Pool’ But also I am ashamed to admit that I buy it because the bottle is pretty; I cannot be alone here and I imagine it empty and filled with fairy lights in a second life as an item of upcycled décor.

Over the years I have had some funny moments loosely or strongly related to the juniper based delight. It’s not just me though is it? Come on, admit it!

There was an innocent shopping trip to Sainsbury’s when Tanqueray was on offer for £20 per litre bottle. So, here I am standing in front of the top shelf peering at the last two bottles right at the back and wondering how I can reach one down – I am 5’8’’ so quite tall, when along comes a man.

‘are you trying to reach one of those too?’ he asks

So there we are hatching a plan as to how we can reach the gin, he goes and gets a flat-bed trolley – neither of us wanted to leave the last two bottles unattended for fear of other (very tall) shoppers muscling in! I stand on the trolley (we have agreed on this beforehand) he steadies the trolley, two litres down; job done. A lengthy conversation followed on the bargain we had just had, a couple of gin-based anecdotal stories and the love of the juniper. Gin acquaintances for life; haven’t seen him since but I remember him fondly; we were there for each other!

So, there you have it, I love gin and by this statement you would imagine that I am an expert, yes? No, in fact unless it’s sloe gin (which is a different colour) I have no clue. They all taste mostly the same to me: cheap ones, artisan ones, own brand ones, fancy gilded bottles, fashionable ones, small batch etc etc and I like them all.

To wrap this up then, ‘Beefeater or Gordons barman, and a price to match’ Give me big batch gin with small prices – I’m not bothered whether it’s distilled with fairy dust or unicorn poop with a garnish of aforementioned pomelo – I can’t tell, so why bother.

Just for fun here are a few of my favourite descriptions from the sides of some of my bottles – see if you can guess the brand (answers at the bottom) I’ve also written next to the answer why I actually ended up buying them.

1. ‘Distilled in a land where they have ‘side ways’ rain’
2. ‘Oft misunderstood botanicals that leave a curious tint‘
3. ‘A light and complex spirit’
4. ‘free from the constraints of tradition’
5. ‘boundary-pushing begetter of handmade sprits. Green tea that has been slowly dried, the delicate leaves then carefully rolled into shiny pellets’
6. ‘crafted with a selection of exotic hand-picked botanicals, carefully chosen by Master Distiller, including spicy Cubeb berries from Indonesia’
7. ‘consists of flowers, roots, fruits and seeds which complements the two main infusions of rose petal and cucumber’

Answers:

1. Boatyard (Craft Gin Club May 2018)
2. Ablethorpe’s Bathtub Gin (bought for me because of the bottle design)
3. Eden Mill (Bought for me from Scotland due to the natty drawstring bag)
4. Conker (Craft Gin Club August 2017)
5. Drumshanbo Gunpowder gin (beautiful blue ridged bottle – no more needs saying)
6. Ophir (bought because of the elephant label on the bottle and the smart oriental bottle)
7. Hendricks (I love this because you can have cucumber with it, which makes it virtually salad)

Happy summer sipping, friends of gin.

*Caveat- many of the 40 bottles have been gifts, just so you know!