The last few weeks have seen a rash of fun gin tastings. From the first Social Lites WI Gin Club, to a gin and cheese matching event in Warrington. And there’s more to come.
August brought two events. First up, the second gin tasting event at The Sip Club, my local boozer. Following on from the previous event, we decided to do a bit of a food pairing – a new challenge for me, matching foods to gin (whether straight or with tonic) and a fascinating one at that. Given everyone’s palates are slightly different, it was always going to be intriguing to see who liked what, both from a gin and a food pairing perspective.
To make it even more nerve wracking, I knew a fair few of the attendees.
We had 6 gins on offer and to begin with, we had the softest and possibly sweetest of them all, Bloom. This was the easiest of all to pair, as the weather was warm, the strawberries were big, fat and juicy, so everyone had plenty to garnish their gin with and nibble on.
The next on the list was Martin Miller’s Gin, another I’m a big fan of. Interestingly, though we had Hendricks to come, I decided to pair cucumber sandwiches with Millers. Beautifully fresh white bread, crisp cucumber and salted butter, the two went together really well and were possibly my favourite pairing of the evening. But then I do love a good cucumber butty.
Switching slightly to another sweet offering, we had Caorunn Gin, a gin that has apple as it’s recommended garnish. Here I went with mini apple pies – I have to admit, I’m so very fond of this pairing, I’m considering putting the gin in a pie with the apple next time.
And so to the Hendrick’s. Most people know that at the end of the distillation process, cucumber is added to Hendrick’s, hence it being paired with a cucumber garnish. What a lot of people don’t realise is that at the same time, rose is added. It’s often overlooked and for my most worrisome pairing I selected Hendrick’s and Turkish delight.
It was surprising success and went rather well.
For the penultimate pairing, I had Opihr and used a chilli popcorn – chilli and Opihr are a natural match and though this popcorn was ‘Heat and Sweet’ it still worked.
For my final pairing, I had tried and tested. Sipsmith Sloe Gin with cheese and biscuits. The dryness of this sloe gin means it’s a perfect accompaniment to a cheese board and a great change from Port.
The Social Lites WI Gin Club had it’s first meeting in Atlas Bar. Given Atlas has over 100 (I think? I keep losing count) gins on hand, it was the perfect place to hold it!
This tasting, however, had a special guest. Craig, Gin Ambassador for Langtons Gin, had just returned from honeymoon the day previously, and I had pinned him down to come and talk to the ladies about their gin.
Unsurprisingly, given just how smooth it is, it went down very well with the ladies. We also had both Beefeater and Beefeater 24 gins, which made a fascinating contrast. It really was a split decision, some really liking the original Beefeater in a G&T with a slice, others preferring the more complex flavours of Beefeater 24 with it’s Sencha and green tea botanicals.
Bloom too was interesting. Without the strawberries it got a very mixed reaction – add in the strawberries it was universally loved. Some ladies even querying where they could buy Bloom Gin goblets from.
Opihr, however, was the star of the show. It’s cardamom flavours often split a room, but today it was almost unanimous.
And the ladies loved Atlas – I do believe the feeling may be mutual.
Finally, we had Institution Bar in Warrington and a rather unusual night – a cheese and gin pairing.
Institution is an absolutely stunning bar hidden away in Warrington. It’s gorgeous and not hindered by the fact that the bar staff are brilliant too. I discovered a friend from The Milton Club hiding there and knowing his skill at cocktail making, I’m looking forward to a proper evening’s visit, where I can indulge.
This night, however, was about the gin and the cheese. And I went in blind, not knowing what cheeses I had to pair with.
First of this set was Langley’s No 8, a light, sweet easy drinking gin that I paired with a deliciously creamy mature Cheddar. The sweetness is a gorgeous match for the cheese, whether drinking straight, or with tonic.
Then the matches became more challenging! To put with the Hunters Gin I selected the smoked Cheddar. The apple botanical in the gin, with the smoked created a flavour slightly reminiscent of Applewood smoked cheese, the sweet fruit of the gin balancing out the creamy smoke.
To pair with the chive and pickled onion cheddar, I selected the Martin Miller’s Gin. The green pepper and cucumber flavours in the gin went well with the crunchy lightly pickled onion and the sweeter chives, a surprisingly successful pairing.
Finally, we had a slightly fiery chilli cheese, that I paired with Opihr. This provided a very mixed response. Everybody loved the gin, but the pairing didn’t suit all, those with sweeter palates finding it a bit too strong for them and preferring the gin on it’s own.
Without any cheese at all, we had the Botanist. Given it’s number of botanicals and flavours, it was the heaviest gin on offer during the evening and I wanted it to be sampled solely. To those who added a cube of ice, as it melted different botanicals became apparent, different flavours present.
And because we weren’t wobbly enough, just before home we had one of the house cocktails, the Cherry Bramble. Delicious!
I’m thrilled to say there are more tastings in the pipeline, another WI Gin Club and two more with Red Willow, next month and in January.
I can’t wait!