Burleigh’s London Dry

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First up for February Gin Club is Burleigh’s London Dry.

According to the lovely people behind Burleigh’s (45 West Distillery), Jamie Baxter the master distiller was walking through Burleigh Wood nature reserve which is next to the distillery.

This is where he came across some of the unique set of 11 botanicals which go into Burleigh’s London Dry; silver birch, dandelion, burdock, elderberry and iris. Those of you who can count know the list you just read does not add up to 11 as some of the ingredients are secret which can be found in Charnwood Forest the main inspiration for the first recipe and from this natural woodland site, Burleigh’s Gin was born.

I have been trying to find out loads more about Burleigh’s other than the usual which is above.  I really have been struggling.  For me Burleigh’s is one of those crisp and clean gins on the citrus end of the scale.  Anyone reading anything I write will know I like the citrus side of gin.  A Gin and Tonic should be fresh and sweet.  It should make you do something my dad does when he gets his gin on a Friday which is smack his lips about eight times on the first sip then a gulp and a wee exhale of “braw” (Applies in both Danish and Scots).

Burleigh’s definitely provides that reaction to me when I have in a classic G&T.  I have yet to experiment more with it in cocktail form.  The rather swish Burleigh’s website gives lots of serving suggestions which you don’t have to be a Mixologist (yes these people used to be called Cocktail Waiters I know – if you are reading this then you are a Ginologist and we all love doing Ginology) to make.

Burleigh’s gives an initial hit of Juniper (it is a gin) then comes the citrus.  There are a lot of herbs going on but my palate seems to put mix them together to form the whole image and not isolate them.  I read one blog post stating that Burleigh’s was a herbaceous gin, I haven’t found this to be the case at all.  I get citrus and pine.  Maybe I should drink slower or just start buying the Export strength.

We will be serving Burleigh’s with lots of ice, fever tree and citrus fruit (not sure what yet) and maybe with something special to produce a classic G&T.

Gin 71 – Gin Festival

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We at Gin Club are late to the party for chatting about Gin 71, who knows maybe on some subconscious level we thought “oh no, they are after our turf”,  which couldn’t be further from the truth (We don’t have a bar with Gin piled up to the roof, Graeme has a Gin Shed though).  So its long over due we write and blog post, collaborate and celebrate Gin 71’s latest enterprising idea.

 

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What / Where is Gin 71:

Gin 71 is Cup and Cup is Gin 71.  Located in the city centre behind the new shopping bit on argyle street where the old tea room used to be on Renfield Street you will find Cup a lovely tea shop which opened to in 2012.  From 6pm Cup becomes Gin 71, which is Glasgow’s only dedicated Gin Bar.  There has only really been one other tea gin combo in Glasgow and that was Heston Bluementhal’s horrible attempt to combine earl grey tea and gin.  Please never buy this gin, if you have ever been bought it fire it at the back of the drinks cabinet only giving it to the family member you don’t like.

Gin 71 is excellent for those of you who like small batch or lovingly made gins.  They really do some great work to promote the small man and I think I am right in saying they observe our number rule of No Gordons (btw Eileen from Gin 71 if this is not right please correct me).

Ginfestival:

Continuing the love for all things Gin, Gin 71 have crafted a selection of events to form a Gin Festival, all eight nights of joy.  Sadly we are nearly at the end of the festival but there is still time to catch up on drinking (responsibly, these are school nights after all).  The festival opened with on Wednesday the 11th with one of our favs at Gin Club, Mr Martin Millers and up until this evening has hosted a selection of dedicated gin brand evenings, with the likes of Edinburgh Gin (featured at this month’s Gin Club) and specialist gin cocktails for Valentine’s day.

This evening is featuring another Gin Club firm favourite which is all things Sipmsiths.  There is still time to head down this evening from 7pm, try Sipsmiths, learn about the brand, drink some more, then keep going until the bank card appears, the buses have stopped and you regret not having the day off (or week off when you see what else is on).

We at Gin Club will be heading along tomorrow for the Gin Tour of Scotland event which will feature gin stalls from Makar, Pickerings, Strathearn, Darnley’s View and the Eden Mill Distillery.

http://www.gin71.com/gin-festival/

Again there is definitely still time to get yourself organised and come along to the remaining events.

Thanks

Graeme

Ginuary

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The forgetful January

So the first Gin Club of 2015 is over, before I prattle on I would like to thank NB, St George, Martin Millers and Brecon Gin for being part of Gin Club January.  All these amazing brands went down a storm, my only regret is even though the car was ditched, #thecarsgettingditched, which led to #lettheginbegin, was that in no way did I drink enough of these fine brands.  Rothney (the help) and Ritchie (the photo man) did though.  Caldo and I as per were left too dry for our liking.

Caldo and I weren’t sure how the evening would go as we were minus our mother hen Kate, who had decided to bugger off on a ski holiday, even though she can’t ski and is always moaning about being too busy .  So we drafted in the services of our beer / wine making hermit of a friend Craig Rothney, tt was a pleasure to allow this man to escape his Perthshire cave for the evening and come and serve booze instead of standing by around with his usual side kick Colin (i’m average height) Clayes.  Those of you at the first Gin Club may remember that our #Gindout  hashtag comes from Mr Clayes as he cannot handle his booze (nor social interaction tbh).  Anyway Rothney saved us on Friday so thanks to him.

Another surprise blinder for the evening was that the Hidden Lane laid on a special Gin Club treats menu, which might I say was rather special.  Even though I was too busy to purchase anything, the pile of dishes at the end of the night was a clear sign of a successful gin related menu.   I did help myself to some off cuts of sponge.  Yummm.

Massive thank you to DJ Malky B who was sober…  No wine for him, just soul music, making our already couple-esk night feel like a Tinder speed dating evening with Gin to ease the inhibitions (thankfully nothing clatty happened).

There was no order to the gins this evening as me (Squirrel / Graeme) forgot to bring half of what he was meant to (I’m blaming Kate for not reminding me).  The booklets were absent for the first 20 mins and the Gin Me cards were in no colour coded order.  Some lovely guest asked “Are the Gin Me cards colour coded to the gins flavours”!…  Blank expression from me then a laugh/ As we have a tangerine colour and sea blue colour.

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Our first gin to arrive and most people’s first gin of the night was NB (this is down to bottle placement on the bar nothing else).  We served NB with a slice of orange served with Fever Tree.  I love NB, it really is a classy well-made spirit.  You can check out our blog dedicated to NB or google it, but if you haven’t had some go and grab a bottle from the Good Spirit Co and enjoy it.  If you’re not wanting to be really adventurous (I am in no way saying NB is simple btw, its anything but) but wanting something expertly made and tastes incredible get yourself some NB.

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Next to NB was a little bottle of a gin we never thought we would get, but hey if you don’t ask you don’t get.  St. George Terroir all the way from California (and not Yosemite park where I had it in my head it was from, apparently you get bears in lots of American states).  St. George isn’t a normal gin it’s much more specific and leading towards the herbaceous.  In our blog post when which we posted to announce the gins I describe the taste in much more detail but just to remind you, it tastes like an alcoholic alpine woodland, there is that hint of the smell your living room gets on the first day you get a Christmas tree.  We served it with Fever Tree and Rosemary, we originally put rosemary and lemon in there but it tasted too much like a standard G&T.

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Martin Millers was something we have also wanted at Gin Club for a while and thankfully this time round Mr Miller appeared.  I have always been drawn towards this brand, not just because of the art deco bottle or the Icelandic connection but with the self-indulgence which goes into crafting it.  Two distillates and a 3000 round mile trip to add the water, truly a huge carbon footprint but what a magical result.  For January’s Gin Club we served it with Strawberry (sadly not Blairgowrie ground ones, it is January after all and not even a poly tunnel can help us) and black pepper.  Ohhh what a smooth drink, great combination from Stuart Caldow if ever I say so.  Those of you we stuck around to the bitter end will have got to try Caldo’s garnish experiments with Chilli’s and Coriander.  I like the difference in the taste with this but preferred the sweet strawberry.  We even changed the tonic at this point.  Martin Millers is a gin that can change a lot just on the mixer and the garnish so if you have a bottle experiment.

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Last on our gin list was Caldo’s find, a left field option but still very much in the London Dry (Welsh Dry) world.  Brecon Gin is a very elegant lady of a product.  Classic gin flavours and made expertly.  It comes from the famous Brecon Whiskey Distillery and if you go on their website you can find loads about the Brecon national park, their incredible water and mainly their whiskey.  Not so much about the Gin though.  Brecon gin is a big traditional juniper laced gin with coriander and revealing hints of spicy cinnamon.  We served as a classic G&T with lime which soften the heavy juniper and complimented the cinnamon and herbs.

Once again Kate, Caldo, Rothney (I suppose) and myself would like to thank everyone there who made it another sell out gin club.  Next one is 27th Feb which is also a sell out then after that March which has just been announced

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Also thanks to Ritchie, his sheer manliness and camera skills, the ladies of the Hidden Lane for their  food, the heat from the oven, the cake smell and the cakes.  Finally to Carly Morrison who keeps it all legal and always helping us out, you are a massive legend misses we wouldn’t have a GC without you.

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Thanks
Graeme

Mr Miller’s 3000 Mile Round Trip

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I have always had a thing for Iceland and no before anyone cracks a dad joke not the frozen food chain. In December 2014 I finally went and feel even more in love with the country. It really is a stunning place, the landscape feels like another world, people seem generally concerned about each other and randomly home to some of the greatest population statistics I’ve ever heard; in Iceland the most popular Christmas present is a book, it’s a thing, people give books are presents, culminating in the country having one of the best literacy scores anywhere on the planet. There are no McDonalds or Burger King, when the financial crisis hit, all the fast food chains up sticks and left they weren’t missed. It is also home to huge glaciers with millions of gallons of purified water (which is important to this tale).

The gin Martin Miller’s (yes it is Miller’s and not one of those occasions like with the lager Miller, people add the letter S on the end) was devised by Martin Miller and friend David Bromige over a “long lunch”. Miller describes that this was an idea to be added to a host of ideas he wanted to do but had no knowledge how to do them. The result of this lunch though is incredible.

The spirit is made in Langley’s Distiller, the Black Country, England. Where it is distilled in two parts. The “earthy” botanicals such as the Juniper, Cassia, Florentine, Orris and Angelica, are distilled by themselves, then the citric botanicals are distilled separately, essentially making citrus vodka and a really strong gin. These two distillates are mixed together before taking an exceptionally long journey towards the Arctic Circle.

The gin is taken on a 3,000 mile round trip to Iceland to be blended with that Icelandic water which has been purified through glaciers, this gives the water more oxygen than normal, adds minerals, leaves the water pure from contaminants and causes the water to have a higher surface tension.

When I was reading up on this process some time ago I thought it was mad but really, it’s a reflection of the man. Martin Miller seems a bit eccentric and to quote him himself “time and money were no object”. I was also reading (Thanks to our friends at Gin Foundry) that it is not possible to ship the water to the UK and blend the gin here as import laws would require it to be demineralized (which would defeat the purpose of going to Iceland in the first place).

The gin itself contains 10 botanicals; juniper, coriander, angelica root, orange peel, orris root, cassia and cinnamon bark, ground nutmeg, liquorice and a further secret ingredient which most believe to be cucumber (we can ask the rep from Martin Miller’s this on Friday).

To me Martin Miller’s is stunning, Kate always moans and claims I always go for things that are citrus flavored, I see gin though as fresh and crisp and Martin Miller’s delivers this. The first hit is the citric notes then juniper kicking in just after. Find Mr. Miller and buy one of his amazing bottles.

 Thanks

 

Graeme

Gin Deux – NB – 2015

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NB

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Our second gin of 2015 and something we have been keen to use since the gin bar at Brew at the Bog in March 2014 is NB. Up until recently I had no idea that NB stands for North Berwick, which is fitting as it’s made there. I do wonder at the intelligence level of myself, I knew this was made in North Berwick but didn’t twig that’s what the NB was for.

NB is made by Husband and wife (I really want to say wife and husband) team Steve and Vivienne Muir their own micro-distillery in North Berwick (NB). It’s made from pure British grain spirit and a combination of eight botanicals, all of which have been, meticulously selected to produce a smooth and balanced flavour which is not overly complicated. We haven’t been told what those eight are though.

Launched in October 2013, NB Gin is stilled, blended, bottled and labelled by hand in North Berwick in very small batches, to ensure that every bottle is of the highest quality. The still itself was custom built in London and installed in North Berwick by the oldest still makers in the world, John Dore & Co.

Since it’s launching in 2013 there has been overwhelming demand for NB Gin. Thousands of bottles have been sold and the number of trade customers it’s attracting across the UK is growing by the day. It is already being stocked across the UK and beyond.

NB Gin was honoured with a silver medal in the Micro Distillery category at The Gin Masters 2014, just nine months after launch. Chaired by The Spirits Business magazine, the awards are staged to find and reward the finest brands and are judged by a panel of leading spirits and on-trade specialists in a blind tasting. NB Gin was one of only nine gins, and the only Scottish gin, to win an award in the Micro Distillery category.

NB Gin is a classic, when you first try it neat it is bright and fresh, you can taste the citrus coming through, and with a dominant hit of juniper (it is a gin). I was trying to think of the best way to describe this gin, I just keep thinking classic and classy. These words don’t mean much on their own but from the font, down to the quality of the distilling this is a classy gin that stands on its own. I get juniper, coriander, angelica, orris root, cardamom, liquorice and something citrus, Vivienne and Steve don’t say what goes into it though.

 

http://www.nbgin.com/

 

 

Thanks

 

Graeme

Gin 1 – 2015 – St. George Terroir

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Our first Gin for 2015 is something special from across the Atlantic. St. George Terroir. The Wino’s among you will realise the word Terroir relates to soil region which affects the grape (There is more to this name than what I have just said but I am not copying Wikipedia out word for word). In this case the gin was already called St. George and there is a dog called a St. George terrier so “lets make a St George Terroir” Maybe…. St George Terroir

St. George Spirits was established by Jörg Rupf in 1982 after arriving in America from the Black Forest, Germany. It has taken them up to 30 years to grow into the distillery they are today from a one man to an ex Naval hangar, producing three gins along with other spirits.

Terroir Gin

St. George Terroir uses 3 botanicals inspired by the wild Golden State that is California, along with others that help bring them to life in what the team at St George’s Spirits call an “Ode to the Golden State”. The lead notes are all foresty of Douglas fir, bay laurel and sage, along with coriander seeds and juniper.

I have been trying to working out how the gin is made as they say “We distil the fir and sage individually on a 250-liter still to minimize the impact of seasonal variation. The fresh bay laurel leaves and juniper berries are vapour infused in a botanicals basket. The other botanicals go right in the pot of our 1,500-liter still”. No idea about the rest of the process though.

Terroir is unique, it really doesn’t taste like any other gin I have tried, you really do get the feeling you are standing in an American forest. Sadly in my head I’m in Yellowstone Park drinking and avoiding Yogi and not in California (I’ve never been to either).

 

 

Squirrels Year End (Not Rear) Review

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So me (being Graeme or Squirrel to everyone except my family) used to write a blog every year, a new year’s summing up what had happened in past 12 months and my thoughts going forward. I feel I should continue you this through, taking it from whatever band blog I was in at the time and bring it into the Gin Club world.

2014 might be the quickest year of my life, I feel it was only a few weeks ago that it was my 30th birthday in February and that I was feeling all sad about being a different tick box on a survey or worse that certain surveys no longer apply to me. Like the feeling you get when you are older when walking down the town on a Saturday night and club reps ignore you as you’re not cool enough.

They do say though that from now on the years blur into one, they go quickly and that the all significant birthdays have a zero in them. Maybe the zero should signify the lack of hope. Jokes.

So apart from my ever increasing descent into middle age and having nothing to show for it lets review the year.

This was the year that we finally created Gin Club into something bigger than me and Caldo drinking gin in our pants and watching Mylie Cyrus on YouTube while constantly commentating on how “why yes I would” then comparing the difference between her and Taylor Swift. One you want to go home with and one you want to marry and have babies with the latter being Tay Tay.

We did our first official event at the Brew at the Bog festival which seen us pedal lots of gin through a new gin bar devised by the exceptional brain of Yvonne Murray. In doing this we put out the word of Gin Club to lots of gins. We were asked to comment on gin on Radio Scotland. At this point our “Club” had growing a torso, legs and we needed a head. Welcome Kate Gill. A woman who I have known for years only as Caldo’s cousin and seen either in Oxfam books or in her joggies on university avenue (and not in a clatty dirty old man at night meeting on university avenue way btw), she brought note pads and “don’t be stupid” looks / comments then made us have meetings. It’s fair to say she sorted out our ideas into a format. This then formed into our first sell out event in the Hidden Lane Tea Room.

From there we have essentially done a sell-out gin party each month in various locations (mainly the tearoom) until the end of the year.   I think a highlight for me with these events would be the London No.3 event in a hair salon (Kroma), as it was so random and really educational from a brand prospective. I also got to see Chris Grant not in a tracksuit and not talking about jumping stuff instead watching him craft gin cocktails.

Outside Gin Club life has gotten rather grown up. Caldo has buggered off to the Bermuda triangle of Glasgow’s south side, where people piss off too and they stay there hidden away, never heading west. You can’t just walk down the road with them for a pint; you have to bus it or drive. Me I decided to buy a house, not a flat, but a proper house, with a shed, lawnmower and a conservatory (the shed is full of gin btw; I need Wifi out there and a couch hehe). Kate did the biggest move, she traded Glasgow for Wolfhill. Yes no one who isn’t from Perthshire has a bloody clue where Wolfhill is. Essentially if you don’t need to you won’t ever go there, it’s a wee hamlet where I was once told the last wolf in Scotland was killed there. Glasgow or Wolfhill??? Hmmm tough one J . Then changed her job from Science to making money. Big move but she’s happier. Now she needs to open Perth’s first gin bar.

I usually get a big reflective in thinking about the year past. I have to say I am one of these people who evaluates his yearly performance. This year I don’t know what to make of it. I have made huge steps forward in my life, but think other aspects have frozen still. I have always felt that since finishing university all those eight years ago I have been minus achievement. Each year you sit exams and pass or fail them. Sadly the only exam I have sat this year was for P30 programme management training which I failed. I also hung up my musical hat and put my last band to bed. Which is a huge deal for me but one that only me and the five men involved seemed to be bothered about, like mist it just was there then wasn’t, you know it’s time to call it a day when an album you make gets less hits than a beetroot and chocolate cake. Haha. This isn’t a problem it’s just one of life’s things, the cake was bloody good though.

In our older life’s we don’t have this constant learning and evaluation. One of the few measures we have is our events or activities that cannot be quantified as pass or fail but busy, fun or educational. For Gin Club it’s been a huge success, we have created a grown-ups party where people drink small batch Gin and learn about the brands and the love each distiller puts into their products (except Gordons)

I don’t know what more to say about 2014. I would say it was fun, quick and I’m not sure if I did my best as a human this year. I know I could do so much better.

Next year we have some great ideas for events, some big things to come for Gin Club and I hope the gins and the guests will be up for drinking the Mothers Ruin with us. Actually I hope that Kate, Caldo and I get to drink more gin. The more events we have the less gin we get to drink, we only get to sample it and write the tasting notes L

 

Thanks

 

Graeme

 

Friday 8th of the 8th

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Our third Gin Club (well fourth if you include Brew at the Bog and possibly 128th if you include Caldo and I’s nights in the flat discussing Gin, Miley Cyrus and how much I think Pandas are pointless creatures). So let’s say our fourth official Glasgow Gin Club event, and this time round our tickets went on sale and out of sale in the space of a mere two weeks. Chuffed we were and far too relaxed. It came to the standard Monday night tasting where we decide the mixers, garnish and do our Gin “research”, so that we can create our lovely little booklet for all the Gin tasters on the Friday. There is this huge effort in the week running up to a Gin Club night, especially collating all the necessary items for the Friday, including the city wide search for Cape Gooseberries (for the Darnley’s View). This results in Kate (the scientist) stressing. Which we found is easily fixed by adding Mint and Fig to Blackwood’s and Tonic.

“Wow I can’t believe that, that taste, it’s a totally different drink,” she says in excitement.

And yes she is single!

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Friday came and our cars were loaded, along with the skies above Glasgow. Then they opened. Rain, Rain, Rain.

So the venue was set, the bar set, the music set and Bridget from the Hidden Lane had her wine in a tea-cup. The Mad Chef finished the Hendricks Sorbet, Malky had his red wine in a pint glass while he played northern soul and the Gin Clubbers arrived.

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This time round we were trying out a new token system instead of handing out one Gin at a time. It was a hit. The tasting guides assigned each Gin a colour, we then had four GIN ME cards also colour coded so that people could select their Gin of choice and at their own pace. There were only two issues; 1. People asked for “the green one please”, to which you had to say (remember) “ah yes Opihr”. 2. I left my bar blades at home and had to make an emergency purchase of a small bear in a kilt (also functioning as a bottle opener) for some of the mixers. Other than that the idea was a success, it meant we could discuss the Gin being selected as people came to our designated bar area. It also had the added effect, that people at different tables were actively discussing their Gin choices and really engaging with the Gins. At first people were picking Blackwood’s and the Opihr, I think this is probably due to the booklet layout. Then the flood of Darnley’s View and Strathearn Homecoming came. High praise all-round.

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Kate then decided to bring out the big guns and deliver her Gin Lemon Drizzle Cakes. Sweet lord in heaven. Imagine baking cakes to serve at a tea room that already makes cake.  They were incredible, they vanished rapidly too. I think we should get Kate to stick up recipes on the blog as standard after each event.

Bridget from the Hidden Lane has promised to create Gin Muffins for the future “hmmmmmmmm”.

On a side note to this Kate being the scientist that she is, weighs her eggs….I’ve never seen that, which is probably why my cakes are rubbish in comparison. Hopefully Bake Off will feature some accurate baker doing that this season.

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By now people were well into their third and fourth Gins. Hungry for more they were. So time to fire out the Sorbet. Yup Mad Chef Danny knows his measures; I think they go along these lines:

“Enough to knock out a bus of grannies going for high tea?? Aye!”

Mix it together with lime and sugar syrup and into the ice cream machine, serve with cucumber and there you have Gin Club Sorbet.

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After the GIN ME tokens have all been traded we open up the bar to sell all our extra stock we purchase for the evening. As always we keep going until it goes i.e. until the cups run out or until the Jurassic Park theme tune plays, signalling its 11:45pm – time to drink up or there will be a Gincident (GC copyright that phrase btw) on our hands.

We like to deck the place with props, many of which have our GC Phrases.

Gin Me = “Good evening Sir/Madame may I have one of your fine Gins”

Ginned Out = “I appear to have drunk too much Gin and am in danger of embarrassing myself”.

Gincident = “There has been an accident which is Gin related”. E.g. Spilt Gin, someone has snuck in a bottle of Gordons.

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Even although I (Squirrel, Hi) didn’t get to taste a single drop of the lovely stuff, I loved Fridays Gin Club. I don’t understand why it was so hot upstairs. Maybe the quinine in the tonic causes the bodies’ metabolic rate to increase and thus the air warms or maybe it was Malky’s dancing.

But I can safely say it was a great night and enjoyed by all.

A massive thank you to Blackwood’s, Opihr, Darnley’s View and Strathearn for being involved.

Anyone reading this that was at the event may remember our booklets stating you can buy these Gins from The Good Spirits Company, Bath Street, Glasgow or through their online portal.

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Full photos of the event can be seen at our Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/glasgowginclub)

A big thank you to everyone who came along and drank with us.

A huge thank you to Bridget, Malky B, Ritchie “the pigeon” Patton, Carly Morrison (who isn’t mine or Caldo’s girlfriend, she’s the licensee) and the Mad Chef. Finally to Bloc for “lending” us things like cups and ice.

Finally thank you to our stockists, The Good Spirist Company and Valhalla’s Goat.

Our next one is the 19th September Tickets out soon.

Thanks
Squirrel

GC

Rocking The Boat With Our Rollers In

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It’s 6.30pm on Wednesday – scheduled weekly meet time at Gin Club HQ. I’m somewhere between locating Sri Lankan tea leaves and boiling the kettle, when Squirrel comes out with “we should do it at Kroma, I go there, they are up for it”.

The thoughts that are going through my head; I need more loose tea, I wish I’d bought chocolate, what on earth is he talking about now?

So here is a brief insight into what happens at a midweek Gin Club meeting. Contrary to popular belief, we don’t drink Gin, we usually eat cake and lots of unrelated statements are delivered as a monologue and require deconvolution.

It materialised that Kroma was being suggested as a venue for an evening with No.3 London, I was then later informed that Kroma was a hairdressers. Ok, so we had done Gin in the Tearoom and it was a hit (so much so we are doing it again) but could we really pull off Gin in a hairdressers? Guess there was only one way to find out….cue Monday the 7th of July in Finnieston.

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No.3 London is an extremely classic and perfectly balanced London Dry Gin and it was raved about highly at the Hidden Lane. Having the opportunity to allow some of our Gin Club members to find out more about the Gin itself, from Amanda, the brand ambassador was such an exciting prospect for us.

Amanda gave us an insight into the fascinating story behind No.3; from the copper pot stills in Schiedam (Holland) that give birth to the spirit, to the origins of its name – 3 St. James’s Street in London is the residing address of the creators – Berry Bros. & Rudd.

Amanda Talks No.3

No.3 is a Gin which has been somewhat crafted to near perfection, and all with the undeniable expertise of Dr. David Clutton. Dr. Clutton is unashamedly my new hero, he is a chemist with a PhD in Gin. You read right, an actual PhD, he is a doctor IN GIN (the only one I should add). Nobody mentioned this option when I was considering Chemistry PhD’s – thank you University of Glasgow careers service and every graduate fair I ever attended.

So what makes No.3….well, No.3? Like all good London Dry Gins should, it has a heady note of juniper, this is combined with 2 other fruits – sweet orange peel and grapefruit peel, which are joined further by 3 spices; coriander seeds, cardamom and angelica root. Steeping these 6 botanicals prior to distillation allows their distinct flavours to really mingle and infuse into the mother liquor. Upon tasting neat, my first hit was distinctively piney from the juniper, followed swiftly by a complete citrus rush.

No.3 With Garnish

As well as a neat tasting, throughout the evening we also served; classic G&T’s garnished with lemon (plus Fever-Tree naturally), Negroni’s with a sliver of orange peel and G&T’s with a twist (lemongrass and coriander garnish), all were created and poured by the expert hands of Chris Grant. I have always claimed that Negroni and I are not exactly best friends, placing him (Negroni is a male FYI) in the exact same friendship group as Aperol – bitter with a deceptive appearance. However, I put my hands up, Chris I think I may have been converted. And although the bitter man may not have been everyone’s cup of tea, the lemongrass and coriander Gin’s went down a storm – seriously buy some No. 3 and try it!

Thanks to everyone for coming along to the hairdressers in Finnieston and drinking some No.3 with us. And of course an even bigger thanks to Amanda for bringing No.3 to a salon of Gin Clubbers in cutting chairs. A credit to Fiona for the amazing photos!

Not being content with stopping at just one night of bringing No.3 to the people of Glasgow, we packed up the silver key stirrers and headed along to the Abandon Ship womenswear launch in the Princes Square shop.

Abandon Ship

The prints for the new line are amazing, uniquely ASA and like nothing else you’ll find on the high street….hurrah! The watermelon crop tee and skirt are to die for. We selected 3 serves for No.3 – the classic and twisted G&T’s as per Monday night and a Ginger Gin Fizz. I think it’s safe to say Glasgow LOVE No.3 London (and we love peanut butter and jam doughnuts).

To end this blog post in stereotypical girl style, I would be lying if I said that sometimes I worry people don’t understand what we’ve set out to achieve. However, if I’ve learnt anything from my fellow Gin Club founders in the last 6 months, it’s stay true to what you believe is right. We really love Gin and all we want is to find a fun way to make other people fall for it too….simple really?

gin club no3 250 - Copy

Gin Club

West Side To The East Side

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Saturday the 14th of June 2014, possibly the most prolific date in the Gin drinkers diary. Yup, you got it – World Gin Day! And what better way was there for Gin Club to celebrate this momentous occasion, than to attend Scottish Juniper Festival at Summerhall in Edinburgh.

Summerhall is the former Royal (Dick) Vet School and functions now as a venue and art space. Rather coincidently and somewhat luckily for us, it is also the home of Sumerhall Distillery  – the birthplace of Pickering’s Gin. On Friday 13th and Saturday 14th of June, for 2 days only, this unique setting was converted into  complete Gin paradise. 

Summerhall Dsitillery

I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t feeling my best towards the end of last week. One by one the Beatson drug discovery lab has been struck down by either a cold, flu or chest infection and in some cases all three. I knew it was only a matter of time before I was handed the baton. However, in the name of Gin I set the alarm for early Saturday morning and made my way towards Queen Street Station. There was only one thing on my mind, nope not the Gin venture that lay ahead, but rather getting my hands on that white coffee cup with the green face, and my name scribbled in marker pen on the side (needs must). And as I sat, waiting on cousin Stuart to arrive – I’m sorry to me Caldo refers to 5 family members – I gave myself a firm pep talk on the art of manning up.

Anyway, enough prattle….

What exactly is Scottish Juniper Festival? Simple, a celebration of all things Gin – think masterclasses, cocktails, talks and tastings. The festival itself was split into two sessions; afternoon (12-4pm) and evening (5-9pm). You must understand that for two VERY big gin fans this is an extremely limited amount of time, when you have a very long list of things to do.

Over the two floors and the courtyard of the main Summerhall building, 14 Gins were on show – where oh where to begin? In essence, it did not matter as either way we’d be making sure we visited each and every one. Between the two of us, we had probably at some point or another tasted most of the gins before, however, to be able to compare and contrast each Gin back to back is fantastic. It’s funny how easily your recollection of how something tastes changes, when you are comparing it to another Gin of even just slightly different botanical composition. Gin no longer just tastes like Gin. New notes, finishes, sweetness and spices all reveal themselves, both to great surprise and delight. In fact just being able to see so many artisan products all in one space at the same time was enough to leave me in awe (further ammunition for the boys at the next Gin Club Meeting)….

There are too many Gins to mention individually so I will put a list at the end. I did however, love the Opihr display (only mildly disappointed there was no Tuk Tuk – google it) and the Darnley’s Gin Cake! It was great to see a few of the Gins from our event the week before too and have a proper chat and say thanks.

Throughout the day various Gin led talks were also taking place, all within the “Spiritual Sessions Theatre” – accompanied of course, by various juniper based tipples. Picture the scene; curved rows of tiered wooden seats, a blackboard on the wall, a vaulted sky light, 3 antiquarian lady chairs on which the Gin experts sat and desks flanked by Gin, oh and there was a man with a dog. As I sat there 4 Gins in hand, I couldn’t help but think, that if only all my chemistry lectures could have been delivered in the same way (I’m sure I could have argued relevance in some way) then maybe I would have found studying the different lattice structure of metals more interesting….I did say maybe. Geraldine Coates, the prolific author of GinTime certainly blew any lecture I’ve ever sat through out of the water.

The central courtyard was a visual feast with the Pickering’s Snickering Pig Roast and Gin Cart, Hendrick’s Ma’am (Winnebago) and the Cocktail Bar all occupying separate corners.

Just a few small steps into Ma’am and you are instantly transported into the wondrous world of Hendrick’s; jars stuffed full of sensuous botanicals, etchings, maps of London Gin Dens, books in glass cases, a typewriter, a branded lamp, a cuddly toy (loved the generation game) and Hendrick’s, lots of Hendrick’s! Duncan McRae led visitors (or maybe more aptly passengers?) through the history of Gin; from Holland, through the scandalous Gin soaked streets of London to an English Rose Garden where one would enjoy tea from the finest china whilst nibbling on cucumber sandwiches. All to be rounded off with a mighty fine peach cocktail.

23 Gins in (a mere estimate I had lost count somewhere between 1.30 and 2pm) and there was still more to see…..but first food, I needed food. Pit stop at the Snickering Pig before onwards and upwards to Pickering’s. Pickering’s is a relatively new Edinburgh Gin and we were fortunate enough to have a chat with Marcus about his creation. This was followed by a good old look around the distillery – I was pretty much in the copper still with excitement, as Stuart measured up the size of the thing, realising that getting one in his flat was in fact achievable.

It was definitely after 4pm by the time we left the distillery and Summerhall was hotting up for the evening guests. I know we would have stayed for another 4 hours but there was another action on the To Do List that had to be seen too.

In fear of not yet being Gin’d oot we had spied the opening of Heads and Tales – a new bar at the home Edinburgh Gin in Rutland Place, it really would have been rude not to at least go and see the place wouldn’t it? One Gin cocktail (Stuart opted for an Irn-Bru Botanist – when in Rome), a G&T, and a Zizzi’s pizza later, I was definitely ready to get back home. We rolled back into Glasgow at the very respectable time of 11.30pm – definitely the earliest return after a night out I’ve ever had!

To top it all off, on Sunday my head was positively clear – the world was a great place, I’d had the best day learning and talking shop, caught up with all the family in Edinburgh and drank the best Gins…..

It wasn’t until Monday morning when I chirply got in my car to drive to work that I realised that my glasses (which I had to pitch to my Mum as an investment) were still on holiday in an unknown location Edinburgh…..cue a long day of phone calls describing comedy sized tortoiseshell spectacles.

It would be criminal to finish this post without acknowledging Martin Duffy of Solid Liquids for pulling the biggest and best Gin jamboree together. Gin Club are counting on the event being annual!

A list of the Gins we enjoyed and chatted to; Burleigh’s, Opihr, Caorunn, No.3 London, Darnley’s View, Crossbill, Gin Mare, NB Gin, The London No.1, Blackwood’s, Hendrick’s and Pickering’s.

Kate