glasgowginclub

Minus 33 – Not the average summer temperature this year!

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For our second July Gin, we look to the East…  Of Scotland.  Sadly we haven’t found a Gin from Japan or China, there probably is and we at Gin Club have not found them yet.

Anyway Minus 33 our second “Gin” (Why this is in quotation marks will be explained in due course) is crafted by scientist at the Locabev Laboratory in Rosyth.  Yes this Gin is really made in a lab.

So why did we use “Gin”?  Well if any of you read this regularly then you should know the rules.  And I don’t mean the NO Gordon’s rule.  But the Government rules of what defines a Gin.  In the EU, the minimum bottled alcoholic strength for gin, distilled gin, and London gin is 37.5% ABV.  However Minus 33 comes in at 33% so technically does not qualify even though it ticks all of the boxers of what is a Gin.  It is a Juniper distilled spirit (which is also one of their taglines).

After 3 years and 539 test tubes of experimentation Locabev decided that the optimum strength for a really smooth spirit was 33%.  This also makes it the perfect drink for those on a diet as that makes it just 46 calories per serve..

To taste Minus 33 it is fresh and floral with hints of juniper, citrus, lavender, elderflower and angelica.  We had the pleasure of sampling it at the Juniper Fest a few months ago and went back several times (rude not too).

We haven’t decided on how we are serving this on Friday though.

If you haven’t got your tickets yet them please follow the link below.

http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/artist/glasgow-gin-club-tickets/944334

July Gin Club – Shetland Reel

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Shetland Reel is our first Gin for July.  We have been trying to get this fine product along for some time, but it’s no easy feat.  Last time we were emailing about get the Gin along, there was a storm and some power cuts.

Shetland Reel comes from Unst, which is part of the Shetland Islands and as stated by the storms and power cuts it’s not an easy place to live, but also beautiful (I have never been, maybe one day Gin Club will get the boat for Up Hella Aa, drink Gin and pretend to be Vikings.

The Shetland Distillery Company was created by four people sharing a passion for producing top quality products in local communities (Direct Quote from the web there). Frank  / Debbie Strang and  Stuart / Wilma Nickerson.  Apparently the work of the distillery is split between couples, the Strangs turning the area at Saxa Vord into the award winning tourist resort and the Nickerson’s handle the whiskey and the Gin.  Thank you Strangs and Nickersons!

The gin uses 8 botanicals including locally grown apple mint.  On the nose there is a strong hit of Juniper and coriander, with fresh floral notes. To try it neat (most of you who normally read this know I’m now a neat trying convert, I don’t know if that makes me sound like I am officially old or an alchy).  Anyway neat it is dry with a juniper spine and a clean dry bite.  This then becomes smoother and sweeter.

As usually a good tonic (Fever Tree people, cheap stuff is banned) rounds the Gin off and compliments the fruitiness of the apple mint.  The more you drink the fruitiness builds making it a wonderful Gin, a truly loved product with of course a decent solid Juniper taste (it is a Gin)

We haven’t decided yet what we are going to garnish or serve this with yet!  According to the UK Gin Law (The London Gin Club) Coriander Leaf or Raspberry really compliment Shetland Reel in a G and T.

Tickets for July:

http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/artist/glasgow-gin-club-tickets/944334

Proud Parents

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First Birthdays.

Obviously we can’t remember our own first birthday’s (if you say you do then you’re either Stewie from Family guy or your drunk), but we certainly remember other 1st birthday parties.  Having been to a few for my lovely Nephew and Nieces and now (god help us) my friends children, we know the format, crying, napping, half the adults drinking the other half drinking endless cups of tea, the one year old who couldn’t care less about the presents as the wrapping paper or the box is significantly more interesting.  A first birthday party is for the parents.  And if I’m honest they are lovely despite the flu or stomach bug you contract from playing with the little disease carriers (btw I’m getting a little broody in my old age) you really wouldn’t have it any other way.

So like proud parents (god does this mean that Caldo, Kate and I had a child together, remove Caldo from the equation and its normal haha), we move into the first birthday of our labour of love which is the Gin Club.

Our first solo event was the 6th of June 2014, however like a proper child it had a long gestation period, about nine months actually.  We recently did a blog for Ticketweb which describes how to create a club, so I best repeat myself on the gestation period to birth of Gin Club;

Conception

“The Art of Social Drinking” is something Caldo has always harped on about, where people go to a pub and drink nice alcohol and not just get wasted on the cheap stuff, dance and try and get off with people (these nights are ok too though).  Gin Club began while engaging in this Art form, two men in their late twenties, drinking artisan gin while trawling through YouTube for rap battles, Taylor Swift and Mylie Cyrus videos, then discussing the merits of both these two rather good female artists.

From these special moments slumped on a couch discussing which one would our mothers would prefer, a throw away thought in the form of Hashtag (#Ginclub) was born, which was instantaneously shared through each of our failing music and social media sites (it had been a long established fact that a photo of an album got less than 20 likes while a picture of a Gin pour or a beetroot and chocolate cake broke easily into triple figures).  In that one hashtag Gin Club was born (impregnated).

Don’t tell anyone it’s not three months yet

For the next few months we maintained the exclusivity of our club, while the member’s waiting list swelled with people retweeting, sharing photos and Gin Brands evening sending us stock!  But the intake was capped at two with the occasional “Gins a mine”, while our friends drank our expensive Gin and Tonic.   Keeping this cap along with the promotion of Gin and all its merits only increased demand.  Our Gin Club rules came into fruition too.  “No Gordon’s” and “Gordon’s is acceptable if there is nothing else”.

“Your showing”

Once our solid foundations had been set, we had demand, popularity and a thirst corporate engagement the next stage was to float our club idea. In the case of Gin Club this came with getting involved with the popular Brew at the Bog festival.  From this first big venture we had to draft in organised support in the third member, welcome the scientist (not the Coldplay song) Kate.

In developing this idea we had now made contact with all the Gin brands we loved and wanted to share with festival goers in Inverness.  This proved popular as all the Gin was drunk in the first day.

Birth

Our Idea was simple; it wasn’t to be formal Gin Club.  No noising glasses, just Gin served right so people could enjoy something a bit different to the norm and open to all Gin lovers.

Our club needed to be formative but informal so our guests left knowing more than what they did when they arrived without it being forced upon them or with them having to taste everything straight in crystal flute glass while writing notes in a language they would never use.

Fun / Nice were the words of choice, where people loved their night so much they took hundreds of photos, got to a good merry stage of drunkardness but happy their night wouldn’t be a late one.

Then after being at Gin Club they would want to go to a shop, buy a special Gin and realise what they have had in the pub for years is nothing compared to what they could be drinking.

We had the idea, we even had the date, the venue however wasn’t set, but a wee five minute conversation in Sainsbury’s solved that and it was set that we would be hosting Gin Club in a vintage tea room (with cake and the venue matched the feel of the night), then combine it with DJ’s, random props, table games, food (which get very competitive) and mountains of Fever Tree tonic.

Thinking back

I can’t believe that was a year ago!  Thinking of all the meetings with Kate and Caldo in Tinderbox or at Kate’s flat drinking loads of tea and eating way too much cake.

1st Birthday Party

So as it’s been a year we are going to celebrate by throwing a birthday party at the Hidden Lane on nearly the same date (one day out) as our first ever event.  To mark this we will be using the same Gins we started with;

Strathearn Heather Rose

Botanist

No.3 London

Caorunn

There will be all the usual trimmings along with lots of other special surprises.  I’ve been looking for the Happy Birthday song which gets playing in Jimmy Chung’s, can’t find it anywhere.

So get your tickets for the 5th June at the Hidden Lane Tea Room.

Adnams CopperHouse Gin

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For our last Gin for the March Gin Club I would like you all to say “arite hen” to Adnams Copperhouse Gin.

Adnams, in my head make beer (which has since been confirmed when a work colleague who really looks like Peter Griffin from family guy, saw me writing this blog and went “great beer, I used to live next to their distillery), but they have been branching out since 2010 and now make Vodka and Gin (There was really no point in that sentence as if they only made beer and not Gin then this blog wouldn’t have even been written).

Adnams craft their Gin in a very different way to normal, for one they make the base spirit themselves “East Anglian malted barley”.  I know many Gin’s do not do this, not saying that doing it or not is better just different.  Making a base spirit is not an easy task.  Reading up on this process I see words like “beer wash”, which I only know is the initial stage of distillation (see this is actually one of the few times in life Craig Rothney would be handy to have simply to answer questions like What does Beer Wash mean? What is Low Wine? Whats a Beer Column).  This beer wash distillate is further refined into “low wine” before finally ending up as pure spirit.  From there it is infused with six botanicals in their home made copper pot still.

The six botanicals are: Juniper berries, Coriander, Lemon peel, Orange peel, Orris root & Hibiscus flowers.

The only one in here I am not familiar with is Hibiscus flower, I don’t even think I could identify the taste of Hibiscus to be honest.   Doing some reading on the wonder that is Wikipedia, it seems that our new mate Hibiscus was trialled as a fertility drug, however it can also cause mild hallucinations.  Could be an interesting Gin club then!

To try Adnams neat you would get a savoury herbaceous gin with a full hit of juniper, I’ve heard others say oily but I don’t get that texture, which could be my novice tasting skills. We are really happy to have this Gin at Gin Club and hope you taste the Beer making heritage in this Gin, I actually think you can, it’s made very differently to begin with then returned to a traditional London Dry method.

Spirit Christian Jensen

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Number three in our featured Gins for March is the wonderful Jensen’s (another pluralisation, but not one like when people add the S to the end of Miller –that’s Miller lager not Martin Miller’s or when they ask for “sailor Jerry’s”.  Grrrrr).

I have to say my first impression of Jensen’s was skewed.  This was because Stuart decided to experiment with Gin one night and had the Chipotle infused version and thought it would make a mean Red Snapper.  Most people who know me know I am a complete wimp when it comes to spice, I can barely handle a Korma, so Chipotle infused Gin is a bit of a trek for me.  Well I can safely say that after that experience the taste of their Bermondsey Gin changed my initial impression of “holy hell that will burn a hole right through me”.

Jensen’s base is in London and produce some truly fine Gin.  Along with the Bermondsey they have an Old Tom and a fair few infusions like the Chipotle one (everyone except this one appeals to my palate).  I have read that man behind this fine spirit Christian Jensen (Spirit Christen Jensen – sounds like a bluegrass Americana performer), was in Tokyo and feel in love with a certain Gin and was then told that it was defunct.  He then went on a mission and found the recipe for the Gin and worked with a team at Thames Distillers to recreate it.  To test they had it right he bought the lost spirit at auction and compared.  I haven’t worked out what this illusive spirit was thought.

How does it taste:

To smell it comes over with a strong sent juniper (it is a Gin – I might tire of this line), then you almost get sappy pine with coriander and liquorice. You also get fresh ginger, resin and violet. The liquorice carries through to the taste along with the piney juniper.  I read somewhere that one taster was getting Uncooked Runner beans – Thankfully I never got this.  No thanks to runner beans full stop, they remind me of my mother force feeding me them (by force feed I mean stern looks and ultimatums for not eating them).

Thanks

Graeme

Daffy’s Gin

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daffys-gin-70cl-bottle daffys-gin-age-gate

Our second Gin (I say second but remember there are no rules to the order of things in Gin Club, just hand over the #GinMe card and ask for the one you want) we get the feature (says a very excited me) the wonderful Daffy’s Gin.

I first tried this wonderful stuff while doing my now frequent loitering in the Good Spirit Company hoping that Mark will see me standing around and say “have you tried this one”, regardless of if the answer is yes I will say no just so that he whips out some glasses and whatever bottles are open under the counter.  On this particular occasion the answer was No.  I had heard of and seen Daffy’s on the shelf but never tasted and hadn’t read about it (yet).  But before I ramble on about 20 mins one day in the Good Spirit Co I should Segway back into Daffy’s Gin:

Founder Chris Molyneaux explains that he and the “Daffy’s team” spent 4 years on the Daffy’s journey learning, researching and testing.

Taking from their lovely website:

“We started by using the finest pure wheat grain spirit from northern France that we could find, then, distilling it in the same manner as malt whisky on an ancient single batch copper pot still. The botanicals that we steep and distil are a combination of the traditional – juniper, coriander seeds, cassia bark and the new – Lebanese mint and rare variety lemons.

The quality of the base spirit we use, along how we steep and distil our botanicals results in a deeply complex and well balanced spirit that is exceptionally good to drink on its own over ice, in cocktails or as a life-changing D&T with fresh mint and lime.

Lebanese mint as a botanical brings and extraordinary freshness to Daffy’s complimenting our other tasting notes of toffee, citrus, spice caramel and fresh mint”.

The Mint really makes the Gin stand out.  Its tough to place this next to other Gins.

Daffy’s also comes in a little stronger than other Gins at 43.4% proof.  I don’t know about the rest of you but I have grown accustom to stronger Gins over the years and need the larger alcohol content.  It almost makes the strength of the flavours stand for me.  This is probably a total contradiction.

Daffy’s is a perfected product; it feels like it’s afforded the same TLC of Tajima (Kobe Beef) cattle.  It’s a Gin a choose to drink straight which for me is rare.  When you first taste it, it doesn’t feel like a normal gin. It’s feels like a Gin Liqueur, which it clearly isn’t, it’s just crafted so well that it’s easy on the palate; this is a testament to creator Chris Molyneaux’s vision. There is the hit of Juniper but its masked behind the Lebanese mint.  Again you would be fooled into thinking this could be a liqueur because of this, but it is most definitely a Gin, a rather perfect one.   Chris thank you for crafting this!

Thanks

Graeme

Introducing Shortcross Gin

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shortcross-254shortcross-111

Shortcross Gin was founded in 2012 by husband and wife team Fiona and David Boyd-Armstrong at the Rademon Estate Distillery which is located outside Downpatrick, County Down.  To say this Gin is a labour of love for the couple is an understatement.  Going on a Gin journey around the UK, visiting other craft distilleries to see how others did it, then decided on the flavours they want to encompass before going to our old friends Carl and ordering a custom made bespoke still from the German Still makers.  I know what you are thinking “a Gin distillery tour of the UK! What hardship” J.  I’ve been tempted to quit the day job (and evening job) and just go and drink Gin a few times.

shortcross-10 shortcross-186

Emulating the Rademon Estate David and Fiona foraged wild clover then added local elderflower, elderberries and home-grown green apples. These regional botanicals are combined with juniper, coriander seeds, lemon peel, orange peel and cassia to a wheat spirit base and then local water is added to the mix.

Best talk about the Gin I suppose, as I always state to taste you really get Juniper (it is a Gin), with elderflower and elderberry hints, particularly on the nose.  Shortcross is very much a classic expertly made Gin. From the mix of juniper and clover with a citrus taste leading to peppery finish, there is also something in the texture which is different, can’t put my finger on it though, which means there is only one thing for it.  Drink more Shortcross Gin to decide!

We are really looking forward to featuring Shortcross at the March Gin Club.

shortcross-192

Thanks
Graeme

Edinburgh Gin – Cannonball (Not Damian Rice)

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EGD_circle_logo6 EG Cannonball

Our third Gin for the February Gin Club is the mighty company of Edinburgh Gin.  When looking for Gins to be involved in February we weren’t initially think about Edinburgh.  This is mainly because we could have done a whole gin club just on them, their product list seems to grow and grow.  For February’s Gin Club we are getting something rather special, they are bringing along the new Cannonball Gin – along with other goodies too.

Edinburgh Gin is part of Spencerfield Spirit Company and was launched in June 2010. Edinburgh Gin’s parent company – Spencerfield Spirit Co also have Sheep Dip and Pig’s Nose whiskies.

Now here comes the bit we at Gin Club debated for a long time, we always thought Edinburgh Gin was made in England and only bottled in Edinburgh, however…  For the first four years of its life it was made in England in a still called “Jenny”.   Then the spirit was shipped to Edinburgh and a selection of locally sourced and grown Scottish botanicals such as juniper berries, milk thistle, pine, heather were combined with the gin distillate from England, watered down and bottled.  But since summer 2014 the whole process now takes place in Edinburgh – thus ends the argument of Edinburgh Gins true origin.

The Edinburgh Gin range is rather impressive with Raspberry Gin (which we have been told are Rasps from Perthshire – hopefully Blairgowrie as Stuart and I have strict rules about the berries we eat as essentially our entire teenage years were paid for by working on the berries) and Elderflower Gin. And for us we will be using the strong “navy strength” stuff called Cannonball.

Edinburgh Gin has a full juniper hit (I keep saying this but Gins really should taste of Juniper) with heathery notes.  We haven’t tried the Cannonball yet though, I’m guessing it’s the same just stronger.  We might and I say might be making Martini’s for the evening which I want to call Mongs Meg Martini’s (doubtful if this will stick though).

February Gin Club – Rock Rose

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Our second Gin at our February Gin Club is Rock Rose – when I say second there is no order at Gin Club, Just use your GinMe’s and pick which ever Gin you want to try first.

Rock Rose

Rock rose heralds from the north of our lovely country (that’s Scotland in case anyone wasn’t sure) in Caithness at the Dunnet Bay Distillery.  Now this is where I turn into the worst Geographer ever, much like our good friend Ruth Jackson who doesn’t know where anything is.  In my head (for years anyway) Caithness was just a part of Perth which was on the A9 roundabout, exactly where Caithness Glass the company is located.  Thankfully my geography has improved and I know exactly where it is.  It’s a lovely region (in name only I think not officially) near Thurso.

Continuing with a rather Scottish Gin making tradition, Rock Rose uses locally sourced botanicals.  I’m not sure if these go along with the foraging theme many other Gins in Scotland use.  The only botanicals which are not sourced locally is the juniper and the cardamom – now I don’t remember where I heard this as no doubt it was on a night where Gin was being drunk so it might have vanished into the ether of the evening but I remember someone saying that most Gin brands don’t use Scottish Juniper as it’s not meant to be that great.  Someone can confirm this for us at Gin Club though.

Rock Rose is distilled in a traditional Copper Still called Elizabeth and contains Rhodiola Rosea, Rowan Berries, Sea Buckthorn, Blackberries, Verbena, Corriander Seed, Cardamom and Juniper.  I’m sure there are more again trade secrets and all that.

So we have a wee confession on this one.  We haven’t decided how we are serving this at Gin Club.  I know normal we would be describing the perfect pour but Stuart, Kate and I haven’t sat down and went through all the pours yet.

Don’t worry.  Rock Rose tastes amazing regardless so it will be good.

So instead of our perfect taste here is a picture of Ruaridh from Rock Rose buying a new car on the Dunnet Bay Distillery expense account.

Ruh

Thanks

Graeme

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.