Arousing your Appetite with Gin...

Gin is one of those very flexible spirits, it can be used successfully in a variety of drink styles, one in which gin excels in is the Aperitif.

An aperitif is an alcoholic beverage used to excite the palate and stimulate the appetite, characteristics of a successful aperitif include bitterness, dryness or a certain level of acidity.

More popular gin based aperitif's include the Martini and the Gin and Tonic although some well known gin classics such as the French 75, Corpse Reviver #2  and the Negroni are also fantastic for this purpose.

The French 75 makes a perfect aperitif, dry Champagne, lemon juice and of course gin. Created sometime before 1919 when the recipe first appeared in print, accredited to a chap named Macgarry and is rumoured to be named after the 75mm Howitzer field gun used by the French during World War One. Broken down this drink is effectively a gin fizz with champagne in place of carbonated water.

I find what often lets the French 75 down is the general perception that because wine is being used to lengthen the drink it is acceptable to skimp on the gin... this of course is nonsense and a good healthy dose of gin is required to do this bubbly beverage justice. I personally love the fresh floral notes of Hendricks in my French 75's and feel as though a thin cucumber garnish does it much more justice than the overly used cocktail cherry, our preffered recipe for the French 75 is as follows;

The French 75

- Hendricks Gin - 30ml

- Lemon Juice - 12.5ml

- Sugar Syrup - 6.25ml

- Champagne - Top up

Thin Cucumber Slice Garnish

French 75

Shake all ingredients (except Champagne, that would get messy) then fine strain in to a champagne coupe or flute, garnish and drink whilst the bubbles can still tickle your nose.

  

The beauty of this drink is the mouth watering dryness it delivers when well balanced, the key is going easy on the sugar syrup especially when using a sweeter gin such as Hendricks, just enough to balance out the lemon whilst still remembering it is still a variation on the sour.

Where as the French 75 is a sparkling member of the sour family gaining it's palate stimulating properties from it's dry citrusy notes the Negroni is a completely different kettle of fish. It hails from the aromatic family of mixed drinks and receives it's ability to stimulate the palate from the bitter notes courtesy of the Campari.

The Negroni is one of those cheeky equal measure libations that is surprisingly well balanced, consisting of gin, Campari and sweet vermouth, three ingredients which blend together perfectly each contributing their own unique flavours, sweetness and bitterness. This is an incredibly complex drink with so many botanical flavours whizzing around, neither the gin, Campari or vermouth take centre stage  but embrace each other perfectly.

It is essential to use a big gin in this drink, something which can stand up and be counted among the other flavours, to this end my go to gin is Tanqueray 47.3%, I find this bold simple, Juniper led gin works wonders in the Negroni. As for the vermouth, Antica Formula is a sensational sweet vermouth, plenty of spice and enough sweetness to balance out the bitterness of the Campari.

The Negroni is a very simple drink and can be easily recreated at home without the need for specific equipment, the recipe is as follows;

The Negroni

Tanqueray 47.3% - 30ml

Antica Formula - 30ml

Campari - 30ml

Orange or Grapefruit zest to garnish.

Add all ingredients to an large whisky tumbler, add ice, stir a little then garnish with an orange zest. 

Another gin based drink perfect as an aperitif is one I discovered in Ted Haigh's Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, the Corpse Reviver #2.

The class of drinks from which the Corpse Reviver #2 hails from were usually intended as morning after pick me up's, originally appearing in Harry Craddock's 1930 edition of The Savoy Cocktail Book where he notes 'four of these taken in quick succession will unrevive the soul again'. Although not conceived for this purpose this drink works perfectly as an aperitif, combining two classic aperitif liquors, Absinthe and Lillet Blanc with lemon juice, Cointreau and of course... Gin.

This drink can be very easily abused by a heavy handed host, make sure all ingredients are accurately measured and you will have a perfectly complex and refreshing pre dinner libation.

The Corpse Reviver #2

Deaths Door Gin - 20ml

 Cointreau - 20ml

Lillet Blanc - 20ml

Lemon juice - 20ml

Absinthe - 2 Dashes

Sunken maraschino cherry to garnish.

Corpse Reviver #2

Shake all ingredients over ice and fine strain in to a cocktail glass. It may make it easier to deliver stringent amounts of absinthe by decanting some into an empty bitters bottle.

All the ingredients shine through in a well made Corpse Reviver #2, the Cointreau, absinthe and Lillet add a pleasurable sweetness but do not over power the zesty lemon juice, allowing the drink to retain it's palate cleansing tartness. Until recently Tanqueray was my go to gin for this drink, however I have recently had the pleasure of sampling Deaths Door Gin. This bold, spicy gin works amazingly well in the Corpse Reviver #2 with the sweet aniseed notes of the fennel perfectly complementing the absinthe.     

The French 75, Negroni and the Corpse Reviver #2 are just three of a whole range of gin based aperitifs, others perfect for this purpose include the Aviation, the White Lady and the Martinez, libations we will be covering very soon...

Photography by Sofia Miranda

We hope you enjoy

Umpleby & Brown

    

Taking the Dive...

In the interest of providing you with unlimited ways to enjoy our beloved gin, whilst at the same time sticking the V's up to responsible drinking, we present to you, The Nose Dive.

The Nose Dive isn't just another one of these modern shots or bombs which all the kids are drinking  now days, Oh No, this shot has substance, history and a cheeky little twist... well an olive but lets not get technical!

Found on page 113 of The Savoy Cocktail Book the following instructions are given for preparing and consuming The Nose Dive;

'Take one nooker of Gin, place in it an olive, then deposit the glass carefully in the bottom of an ordinary tumbler. Fill the said tumbler with water, ginger ale or what have you (more gin perhaps), until almost to the top of the small glass, then down the whole thing quickly. That is, everything but the small glass...'

So there you have it, a spot of irresponsible drinking 1930's style, although if that seems like a little to much effort perhaps a game of Gin Face is more your style.

Take as many nookers of gin as you have friends and knock them back, who ever makes a face is in need of another shot and the cycle continues...

Umpleby & Brown are advocates of responsible drinking... most of the time

Enjoy!            

G&J Greenall's

Greenall's 
At this years Imbibe Exhibition two particular gins grabbed my attention more than any others, both were from a distillery I have given little time, wrongfully stereotyping them as a budget brand producer... Greenalls. I must admit my generalisation was not substantiated, being a little bit of a snob I was put of by Greenalls low price bracket, more fool me. The two gin's in question are both new expressions from this historical distillery Bloom and Berkley Square gin as I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of these gins i decided to discover Greenalls standard London Dry gin too.

Greenall's London Dry 40% abv
Greenalls original gin is a classic London Dry styled gin, lots of juniper on the nose with a  amount of lemon and coriander spice. On the palate it is lighter and more complex than I expected with juniper playing nicely with the other botanicals rather than simply dominating them. I found the gin to be very smooth especially when compared to other gins in the same price bracket.

Greenall's Bloom Gin
Bloom gin has been crafted by the gin worlds only female master distiller, Joanne Moore. This delightfully floral gin benefits from the unique infusion of Chamomile, Pomelo and Honeysuckle, three botanicals which rarely, if at all make make an appearance along side the usual Juniper, Angelica, Coriander and Cubeb berries.

On the nose the citrusy, orange notes of the pomelo are very up front with the chamomile and pine notes of the juniper politely waiting in the background. On the palate the pomelo once again comes through with both orange and grapefruit notes, the honeysuckle plays its part well by introducing a pleasant sweetness, the chamomile introduces some lovely floral notes reminiscent of violets before a lovely welcomed pine finish courtesy of the juniper presents itself. The spirit is exceptionally smooth with a beautiful mouth feel and very little alcohol burn to speak of. 

The bottle goes some way to indicate Greenall's target audience for Bloom, female drinkers. Despite this I happened to find the gin delightful and blatant stereo types aside, preferred it to the more 'masculine' Berkley Square which my female companion at the exhibition actually favoured.

Lost man points aside Bloom is a very unique and impressive gin, very light and easy drinking, I would highly recommend it. 



Berkley Square review coming soon...


We Hope You Enjoy


Umpleby & Brown

G'Vine Floraison 40%

G'Vine floraison pictured by Sofia Miranda

This is a very interesting, sweet fruity gin from the cognac region of France. Of course with gin were not particularly concerned with the terrior, however what is interesting is the base spirit. Not content with the conventional grain base used by many gin's G'Vine uses a high proof spirit, made from the Ugni Blanc grape. G' Vine believe this creates a smoother and more suave canvas on which to paint the delicate complexity of their chosen botanicals.

G'Vine infuse nine whole fruit botanicals in to their neutral grape spirit; juniper berries (of course), ginger root, liquorice, cassia bark, green cardamom, coriander, cubeb berries, nutmeg and lime. In addition to this they also separately infuse the green grape flower, a rare flower which grows on the Ugni Blanc vine for only a few days in June, in their neutral grape spirit. In tern they then blend both distillates with more neutral grape spirit for a final distillation prior to bottling.

The gin has a very sweet, floral nose which cannot stop making me think of pear drops, a little spice comes through courtesy of the nutmeg and cardamom as well as a nice hint of juniper. On the palate the grape flower, or what I imagine to be the flower having not had the pleasure of consuming it, is very dominant with juniper and a hint of lime lingering in the back. It is defiantly not a traditional, juniper heavy style of gin but is none the less very pleasant and easy to drink, bringing something very different and unique to the table. This would make a great introduction to gin for vodka drinkers.

We Hope You Enjoy


Umpleby & Brown