A Real British Garden Party

Admittedly, it’s not really been the weather for garden parties. At least those not involving umbrellas, wellies and a waterproof marquee or two. 

I may not mind the rain, but muddy feet, rain sodden sandwiches, and a deluge watering down my gin I object to. 

Surprisingly, this Saturday was kind to us, and as my friend Jess and I wandered past the hedgerows in Alderley Edge, it seemed we brought the sunshine with us, requiring suitable headgear, and sunglasses. 

After all, MA’AM was in town – Hendricks’ Mobile Academy of Alchemical Meanderings had ambled her way from her home in Scotland to The Merlin, and brought along with Bruce and Kit, ready to (g)inspire and educate guests.

Who were we to say no?

Greeted with a suitably refreshing G&T, with the pre-requisite slice of cucumber and Fever-Tree tonic, we chatted to Bruce and Kit before alighting the bus and joining our fellow guests. 

As you’d expect, MA’AM is intriguingly decorated with knick-knacks and thingamajigs, gewgaws, trifles and whatnots, as well as bottles of gin, spirits and jars of sample botanicals.

The suitably Scottish Bruce, for Hendricks is Scottish don’t you know, talked us through both the history of gin, the history of Hendricks and the botanicals contained within that distinctive glass bottle.

Hendricks is relatively new in gin terms, the initial work to create the gin dates back to 1989, and it’s release was merely 16 years ago (the founding date on the bottle relates to it’s home distillers, William Grant & Sons, well known for their whiskies). William Grant Junior wanted to create something a bit different and, having ogled two disused stills bought at auction, decided to put them to use for gin making. 

There’s a lot of folklore around the creation of Hendrick’s, and that told to us is that Lesley Gracie, the master distiller, and William Grant Junior were sipping gin and tonic and enjoying cucumber sandwiches in the garden, discussing how to make the gin different to the others on the market. William Grant purportedly took a piece of cucumber out of a sandwich, popped it into the gin, and the concept was born. 

For myself, Hendrick’s is a geek’s paradise. It not only uses two separate stills in it’s production to layer the flavours – but also essence of cucumber and rose are added at the end. 

The Carter-Head still is responsible for the lighter, more floral notes in the gin. Rather than masceration of the botanicals direct within the spirit, the heated spirit is passed over the botanicals which are held in a basket, the same as Bombay Sapphire uses in it’s distillation process (a diagram and images of the Hendrick’s Gin still can be found here). 

By contrast, a Bennet Still is a more traditional kind of still, that allows for a period of direct maceration, before the heat applied. This producers deeper, heavier, more oily flavours. At the end of both processes, they are blended together and the cucumber and rose essences added to the final product. 

The result is a light, fresh, floral gin, still with a juniper backbone, but it’s not at the forefront, meaning it’s a very accessible gin. 

As our discussions and educational visit to MA’AM ended, Jess and I sourced a second G&T before making our way indoors to the Merlin itself for a spot of lunch. 

As part of the garden party there was a selection of dishes selected to compliment our drinks, including a generous ploughman’s lunch, which proved a perfect match. Along with fresh bread, there were thick slices of ham, a delightful ham hock terrine, wedges of cheese, thick slabs of heavenly pate, a home made piccalilli, and an apple ketchup that we nearly fought over. If anyone wants to pass that recipe over, we’d be grateful. 

Eaten in the airy surroundings of the pub itself, we were hard pressed to think of a better way to spend an afternoon, but with great food, and delicious gin. And much as we wanted to indulge in one of the matched desserts (though we must admit to indulging in a mini G&T cupcake with our coffee), we had eaten our fill and those delectables must wait for another visit.

It’s still summer, allegedly. There must be time for one last garden party…

With thanks to The Merlin and Hendricks. Our welcome drink and lunch were provided by our hosts and we must admit to being thrilled with the quality and flavours provided. Our second, er heavier double G&T was paid for by ourselves.