Call it Gin Bingo, Call it Gin Pokemon. It’s the same thing. It’s my idea of fun. Working my way through every gin ever. At least that’s the idea – I know that in Atlas at least I’m no more than ten away from having tried every gin on the back bar.
I know. If anything, I’m a dedicated lush.
Langtons, however is a bit of a revisit. Last year, I first tried their gin, made with water from the Lake District at Mojo’s in Manchester (with a whole heap of chicken wings and deep fried pickles). This year, they have Brand Ambassador Craig, who aside from coming straight back from honeymoon to entertain the WI Gin Club at a tasting, but who also invited myself and friend Emma over to sample their newest gin and two new cocktails.
What’s a gin loving girl to do?
Said yes, that’s what.
I love Langtons – the water used is drawn from an aquifer that sits under Skiddaw mountain and it’s the water from this, that’s up to one million years old, that is one of the elements that makes the gin rather special. The water is naturally filtered through slate that gives it a softness, this softness in the gin, along with the botanicals used, give it gentleness on the palate and makes it a great sipping gin.
The botanicals are generally straight forward, including liquorice, orange and lemon peel, cassia bark, cinnamon, orris root, juniper, bitter almonds, coriander seeds, but it’s the addition of oak bark from trees in the Lake District at adds an extra element – a gentle earthiness to the gin.
Their newest addition is a Damson Gin. This is very small batch – there are only 70 cases of this in existence. The damsons used have been picked by hand, allowed to steep in the gin and then a freeze/thaw method has been used which helps break down the cell walls of the damsons, intensifying the flavour (make a note if you’re thinking of doing it at home).
The result is delicious. Not too sweet, not too dry, Langtons lends itself really well to an infused gin and it’s very very drinkable. Perhaps too drinkable?
Who am I kidding? No such thing.
Suitably enamoured with both the light, soft citrus that is the original Langtons and the fruity flavour of the damson gin, we were now firmly in cocktail territory. Even better, these cocktails had no name, so Emma and I had the opportunity to name them too!
First up, we had what we decided to call the ‘Daisy Chain’. 40ml of Langtons is added to 20ml of Craig’s homemade chamomile tea syrup, 25ml lemon juice, 3 drops of orange bitters and an egg white. It’s then shaken, poured into a tall glass, topped with soda and garnished with lemon peel.
With the Damson Gin, we had the ‘Rhubarb Triangle’ (I know, we’re terribly original), made with 35ml Damson Gin, 20ml Briottet Rhubarb liqueur, 2 drops of rhubarb bitters, 20ml lemon juice mixed with an egg white. Again shaken and topped with soda.
I don’t mind admitting I loved this. I love rhubarb, and the combination of the flavours from the gin, with the liqueur were just delightful.
Then, however, Craig made my favourite with Langtons. A gin Martini.
There’s something quite perfect about a gin Martini and Langtons does lend itself to them very well. The sweet soft gin with it’s citrus notes, just needs chilling and pouring.
Well, you can add vermouth if you must.
And just in case you haven’t had enough gin, at the weekend, I made this:
A Victoria sponge with a difference – taking some lemon and lime marmalade, I warmed it up with a good splash of the gin and spread it on the cake instead of raspberry jam. Add on a good layer of whipped cream and you have something really rather moreish.
I get the feeling the Social Lites WI Gin Club would approve.
With huge thanks to Craig and Langton’s for the evening. The drinks in this post were provided for free by Craig and we were hosted by those lovely people at Kosmonaut.
The sponge cake however, was all my own work.