We're getting older, so let's reach some conclusions about gin

[tantric superman 4667]

It wasn't til I reached a pretty old age that I started appreciating the sting of gin.  I'm actually more interested in just a good gin with tonic or elder flower tonic/soda as it's warming up.  I just bought some  of this stuff and I thought it pretty damn tasty.

My daughter brought me some good gin from Scotland a while back, but I don't remember the name.  Same thing, kind of a "botanical" theme.  I thought all gin was botanical anyway (juniper). 

In any case, thoughts on where this one fits in, and recommendations for some that are solid values?

[Telegraph_it 3359]

Gin tastes better on a plane. I don’t know why. 

[CooterBrown 18022]

I’m a fan. This is my regular...



I had some flavored Warner’s Gin in the UK that was fantastic. It’s not sold in the US as far as I can tell.

[HenryJames 66145]

It’s piss.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

I've always liked gin. A properly mixed, effervescent G&T w/ a lime wedge on a Summer day ?  Yeah, nice.. but kind of stopped drinking it for a while.

The son turned me on to this, and I have a rekindled flame.

[tantric superman 4667]

I got on a zoom cocktail call a couple of weeks ago and bought a bunch of citrus and simple syrup, so enjoying some gimlets as well, and what I think is a gin sour.  

[Neonmoon 38130]

Would you drink gin straight?

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

4 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

Would you drink gin straight?

What do you think we are a bunch of 19th c. English prostitutes ?

Course, I like a gin, and waft of vermouth, chilled, and shaken out in a martini glass, maybe garnished with a couple blue cheese, stuffed olives.......guv'ner...

[futureman 22518]

Martin Miller

[Guest Lobo]

I fucking hate it.  I've had the worst of it and the best of it and it's all elderberry ass juice.

That said, I had a few cocktails a few weeks ago with the gin from Still Whiskey in South Austin and rather enjoyed them.  

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

7 minutes ago, Lobo said:

I fucking hate it.  I've had the worst of it and the best of it and it's all elderberry ass juice.

That said, I had a few cocktails a few weeks ago with the gin from Still Whiskey in South Austin and rather enjoyed them.  

B-u-u-u-u-y Mennen.... C-o-o-o-o-o-o-stanza....

Edited March 20, 2021 by Onboard 2.0

[troph 24903]

Got super hurt drinking sloe gin many years ago and haven’t touched gin since.

[Armybrat 40865]

We keep a bottle of this Drippin’ gin for our English houseguests who visit once or twice a year. They love it.

Mrs. Brat discovered that it goes very well in her French 75 cocktail. Tastes like fermented rat piss to me.

 

[Scooter Monzingo 821]

It’s roots are medicinal, and after a few hundred years of experimentation.........it still tastes medicinal.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

We have several brands of gin in the pantry, a gin and tonic is one of my favorite drinks. My husband does not care for the Hendrick's--he was surprised as he thought he would, but I think he was hoping for more of the cucumber to come through (I think that was the issue, it's been awhile). He bought a bottle of genever (Dutch), this one below just to see what it was like and did not care for it at all, at all:

These are what we have now. We often have Tanqueray around, it's an easy mix.  A splash of Rose's Key Lime when we don't have the fruit on hand is quite tasty:

This one below, though, we have really enjoyed  with just some tonic and it also makes some tasty and eye catching cocktails, I believe there is an older gin thread where I put a mention of it. It has a strong flavor and yes, it is purple, and turns an eye-catching pink depending upon the mix. But we made a cocktail (dubbed Mr. Snowman, from their website) with a clove simple syrup that I made one weekend that was pretty tasty.

Here is their website to scroll through for ideas:

https://www.empressgin.com/signature-cocktails/

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Scooter Monzingo said:

It’s roots are medicinal, and after a few hundred years of experimentation.........it still tastes medicinal.

same for me.  I've tried it and had the medium-to-better stuff and I just don't enjoy it like other drinks.

[utee94 15842]

16 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

Would you drink gin straight?

Basically how I drink martinis, so... yes.

I love gin, but it's a strong flavor and I totally understand those who don't.

When I was flying international a lot, it was always easy and cheap to get Bombay Sapphire duty-free, so that's always been my usual.  I don't like the flavor of cucumber at all, so I don't ever do Hendricks with cucumber added, but Hendricks with lime in a G&T tastes just fine.

 

 

[SmokeyTheBear 5562]

Used to hate gin but finding a love of it, especially in a negroni. 

The Scottish gin you may be thinking about is Pickerings. Their Navy Strength is absurdly smooth. 

Another Scottish gin I'm really into and more on the dry side is Botanist 

Otherwise, Austin Reserve is a solid local and balanced one. 

 

Edited March 21, 2021 by SmokeyTheBear

[Horn Draoi 256]

17 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

Would you drink gin straight?

Of course i would-not since Friday night, though.  Bombay Sapphire with a cocktail onion my preference, but Tanqueray will certainly do-  check out Richard Nixon’s lauded martini recipe, he was a martini guy.

[After irth 1243]

Boodles in the house here. Wife (no pics) is quite proficient with the cocktails, among other things. 

[utee94 15842]

2 minutes ago, After irth said:

Boodles in the house here. Wife (no pics) is quite proficient with the cocktails, among other things. 

Yeah my wife had never had gin before we started dating.  She tried some of my gin and tonic one time, and loved it.  Now she's far more proficient than I am at mixing gin drinks.  She picked up a bunch of grapefruit and made us a lot of greyhounds throughout Spring Break this past week.

 

[Lidig8r 1874]

Second the Botanist recommendation.  Also, this ...

[futureman 22518]

5 hours ago, After irth said:

Boodles in the house here. Wife (no pics) is quite proficient with the cocktails, among other things. 

oh we’ve seen the pics. 

[Murfdogg21 4421]

In college just before we turned 21, we followed the teachings of Snoop and Dre and acquired a bottle of Seagrams extra dry and mixed it 50-50 with orange or cranberry juice. Much vomiting commenced that evening. Didn’t drink gin again for 15 years when I started on higher quality gin in a proper cocktail. Still lower than bourbon, vodka, and rum in the power rankings though. 

[shadow_operative2.0 16013]

Good ol’ Tanq never fails me. New Amsterdam Stratusphere & Bell Ringer are both 94 proof too. 
 

 

[Hornbeliever 712]

At 22, fresh out of UT, I was sent on a few trips to London and India for work.  My bosses forced me to drink a bunch of high-end gins.  I was used to guzzling low quality Long Island Ice Teas at the Buffalo Club at 1:55 am....yet still, I hated gin. 

Fast forward a couple trips and I became convinced you ain't a drinker if you don't like gin.  It's the drinking man's drink.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

2 hours ago, Murfdogg21 said:

In college just before we turned 21, we followed the teachings of Snoop and Dre and acquired a bottle of Seagrams extra dry and mixed it 50-50 with orange or cranberry juice. Much vomiting commenced that evening. Didn’t drink gin again for 15 years when I started on higher quality gin in a proper cocktail. Still lower than bourbon, vodka, and rum in the power rankings though. 

Now THAT'S never happened to anybody......  well.... I did have a friend that happened to a time or two...

Edited March 22, 2021 by Onboard 2.0

[Sam Lin 3560]

Gin menu at a local French restaurant, owner is a big gin aficionado. I took a pic because I know zero about gin but knew the menu was fairly large.

[mchookem 16357]

love a G&T w/ lime in the summertime. 

Austin Land and Cattle and Chez Zee both make fantastic gimlets. 

i have to say with gin i don't feel nearly as bad the next day if i overindulge (that's a nice way of saying when i drink too much gin the hangovers are not nearly as bad as with other beverages lol) 

[F250 28809]

4 hours ago, Murfdogg21 said:

In college just before we turned 21, we followed the teachings of Snoop and Dre and acquired a bottle of Seagrams extra dry and mixed it 50-50 with orange or cranberry juice. Much vomiting commenced that evening. Didn’t drink gin again for 15 years when I started on higher quality gin in a proper cocktail. Still lower than bourbon, vodka, and rum in the power rankings though. 

My junior year in college me and my roommate tried this out too. I have a vague recollection of projectile vomiting on the side of I-35 and haven't touched the stuff since. Similar experience with tequila.

I stick to scotch, bourbon and occasionally rum.

[tantric superman 4667]

On 3/20/2021 at 9:42 PM, Armybrat said:

Tastes like fermented rat piss to me.

The key to good rat piss is making sure it is unpasturized and unfiltered and served cold.

 

[Pescado_Rojo 19427]

The G&T is Mrs Rojo's favorite drink. We keep a bottle of Hendricks and a bottle of Tanqueray 10 in the house at all time. I've never acquired a taste for it. It tastes like Deep Woods Off bug spray to me. 

[NeverMarryAStripper 21919]

I'm not an elderly Englishwoman that spends all day peering out the window looking for gossip material about the neighbors so I don't drink gin.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

14 minutes ago, tantric superman said:

The key to good rat piss is making sure it is unpasturized and unfiltered and served cold.

 

Diet plays a role IMO.

[Al_4_ISU 12475]

I'm a fan, but not an aficionado.  Wife brought me back some of this.  I thought it would be disgusting.  It is delicious.

[SimonBolivar 10958]

[Chewbacca 7781]

On 3/20/2021 at 2:07 PM, Onboard 2.0 said:

I've always liked gin. A properly mixed, effervescent G&T w/ a lime wedge on a Summer day ?  Yeah, nice.. but kind of stopped drinking it for a while.

The son turned me on to this, and I have a rekindled flame.

I'm a big fan of Hendrick's.

[Damor 1237]

My favorite is Cadenhead's Old Raj with saffron.  110 proof, so be wary.

#2 is (oddly enough) No.3.  Lots of citrus.

Edited March 22, 2021 by Damor

[huge 3795]

Gin fans in Houston should hit up 1751 Sea and Bar.  Excellent food and a gin specialty house.

Turned me on to this:

 

[futureman 22518]

On 3/21/2021 at 7:07 PM, Hornbeliever said:

Fast forward a couple trips and I became convinced you ain't a drinker if you don't like gin.  It's the drinking man's drink.

 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

On 3/21/2021 at 8:07 PM, Hornbeliever said:

At 22, fresh out of UT, I was sent on a few trips to London and India for work.  My bosses forced me to drink a bunch of high-end gins.  I was used to guzzling low quality Long Island Ice Teas at the Buffalo Club at 1:55 am....yet still, I hated gin. 

Fast forward a couple trips and I became convinced you ain't a drinker if you don't like gin.  It's the drinking man's drink.

I thought Scotch was the drinking mans drink ?

[The Ace of Aces 5193]

Gin’s my favorite liquor. Currently sipping some Bluecoat infused with elderflower.  

I always have Hendricks in stock. Sometime Botanist.

[troph 24903]

16 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

I thought Scotch was the drinking mans drink ?

There’s a lot of sophistication with gin cocktails I get it. But it’s a head in a vice drink for a lot of folks.  Fuck that shit, if I never have another hangover I’ll be ecstatic. 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

1 minute ago, troph said:

There’s a lot of sophistication with gin cocktails I get it. But it’s a head in a vice drink for a lot of folks.  Fuck that shit, if I never have another hangover I’ll be ecstatic. 

All liquors with distinct aromas/flavors seem to have a penchant for folks swearing off of them. For me it's scotch. It was Tequila for many years.  I can see gin doing that to people as well.

[Kyrie Eleison 9312]

my lovely wife has 47 different guns from 29 different countries in her bar. she’s a fan and damn sure knows what she’s doing in the cocktail arena.

she swears by some of the recent Japanese gins...especially the Ki No Bi cask aged. domestically, her favorite is bourbon barrel aged Big Gin out of Seattle.

[shadow_operative2.0 16013]

7 minutes ago, Kyrie Eleison said:

my lovely wife has 47 different guns from 29 different countries in her bar.

Wrong thread, bro. 

 

[Al_4_ISU 12475]

The only time gin has given me any more of a hangover than anything else was the time I drank an entire fifth in one sitting in college.

I don't really blame gin for that.

[boknowstecmo 216]

I'm a Revolution Spirits Reserve Gin man, and I'll probably never go away from it. Great neat, on ice, and mixes with a whole lot of shit. 

[Horn Draoi 256]

On 3/21/2021 at 10:37 PM, Sam Lin said:

Gin menu at a local French restaurant, owner is a big gin aficionado. I took a pic because I know zero about gin but knew the menu was fairly large.

Interesting.  My current bottle of Bombay Sapphire and its backup both say 47%, not 40.  Citadelle and G’Vine both make a pleasant, easy sipping martini (or Gibson, my preference) with flavor without oiliness.

My first experience with gin was warm Gordon’s right out of the bottle.  Do not recommend.

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19139]

I like a good G&T. Current gins in my bar.