Gin tasting

What better way to start the weekend. On Friday evening we went to a gin tasting at our local ‘épicerie’ l’instant gourmet. They had organised a convivial tasting of 5 gins from around the world.

We started off with a gin from Yorkshire. First of all we tasted it neat, then with a ‘skinny London tonic’. I felt that the tonic really brought the aniseed flavour out of the gin, which Brian was really liking. We both found it rather refreshing, and felt we’d got off to a good start.

The next one was very different. It was from Japan, and full of floral notes. It was paired with a violet tonic. Neither of us were very taken with this, although they had served it with a tiny rose bud in the glass, which looked very attractive.

The third one was from Scotland, and had a rather unique flavouring, using a salty seaweed. I quite enjoyed the savoury taste of this, and again it was paired with a ‘skinny London tonic’.

The next one was from Tasmania. This had had a large variety of botanicals and aromatics added to it, including strawberries, raspberries, orange, lemon and hibiscus. I think we both felt it was a little confused as a taste, and although it had a beautiful colour, it was not a gin we would chose.

Finally, we tried another Japanese gin, which had been flavoured with Yuzu and served with a Yuzu tonic. It had a very fresh taste, but you could also definitely taste the juniper in it, which gave it a warmth.

It was definitely our favourite, and one we decided to buy. We are both looking forward to cosying up in front of the fire and enjoying a delicious G&T or two over winter.