The past 2 weeks have been difficult. Jacob had his memorial service on the 28th of March which has been really hard for us. The day after we had another appointment at the hospital for fertility-related reasons. All this, coupled with our hectic schedules, we haven't had much time together.
After our appointment on Friday, we decided to go into our local Wetherspoons for something to eat. It was completely out of the blue for us but we got a selection of sides and some cocktail pitchers. I thoroughly recommend the spicy prawns! It was a great afternoon date and exactly what we both needed. On the way out, Elyse decided that we should try some of the gins at the bar, she loves gin and is really the only type of alcohol she can manage, we taste tested Beefeater Blood Orange, Eden Mill Candy Cane, Eden Mill Love Gin and also their latest raspberry and meringue liqueur. After trying a few of the brands the bartender said that they were hosting a gin tasting night for the Eden Mill brand on the following Thursday.
Typically we don't go to events or do much mid-week due to work hours but figuring the change in routine was exactly what we both needed, more so to shake things up, we purchased the tickets. At £10 for a prosecco and three gins it seemed like a good deal - however - we both were a bit ''meh'' about the prospect of prosecco, neither of us really like the stuff. Thursday finally came round, FINALLY! I was pumped for it and all the way through the week we were both talking about how excited we were for our tasting session.
When we arrived at Wetherspoons we had a few drinks (as we were a little early), I got a Banana cider made from the Cockeyedcider Co, which was absolutely amazing, seriously, check it out if you like flavoured ciders. Elyse, wanting to start her gin night early with a Beefeater blood orange, which she said was really "orangey" and an overall good drink.
At seven we headed over to the cordoned off area where the tasting event was hosted. We were greeted by a very lovely, and cheery man named Steve Lowrie Mackay, the brand ambassador for Eden Mill. He offered us our glass of prosecco which was nowhere near as dull as we both anticipated - rather than being a cheap glass of fizz it was, in fact, a glass of prosecco with Eden Mill's Love Gin and garnished with a strawberry! Very Schmancy - we were both impressed from the get-go. It tasted refreshing and sweet, something I look for when having a drink. I didn't finish mine in one go (which is pretty rare for me), I had it sitting on the table beside me throughout the night and, over time, the strawberry started to take on a whole lot of the flavour of the gin-prosecco concoction. It tasted great and I would fully recommend leaving your garnishes to macerate.
Steve was there to walk us through the proper etiquette and ways to best enjoy the gin. When tasting any sorts of alcohols, be it wines or gins, there are certain steps you should follow through to fully enjoy the experience. Do not take it as a shot because not only are wasting the drink, but you are skipping a lot of the notes and flavours that you would normally get if you savoured it.
On to the actual tasting...
• First Sampling •
Our first glass was the award-winning classic gin. This gin won the award for ''gin of the year'' and London dry gin of the year in 2018. It is made from sea buckthorn berries, which are sourced locally (In walking distance) to the St Andrews distillery where possible.
This berry gives the gin a tart flavour which is balanced out with citrus peel and lemon balm. We were instructed to briefly nose the glass, the smell is very citrusy and Elyse picked up a rosemary note, which likely came from the pine.
Following the nose notes, we tried the small part of the gin, neat, and Steve told us to gently swirl it around our tongues, to get a good taste of all of the flavours. I found it very smooth and delicate. The citrus notes are easily tasted and strengthen by the tart sea buckthorn berries. The fun began when we started to add some of the garnishes and mixer drinks that were laid out on the table. Me being a novice to the gin scene had no idea that different gins have different pairings. I'm very vanilla, that is, gin and a mixer are usually what I'd opt for.
Elyse absolutely hates grapefruit, she's tried so many times to like it, but it's just one of those things she can't get past. That was the garnish AND the flavour of tonic that was selected for the classic gin. She tried it and surprisingly, really liked it! I don't think she's fully ready to adopt it into her daily life though, however! The grapefruit coupled with the bitters of the tonic obviously made the gin extremely bitter, but oddly, it worked and I liked it!
Notes:
✔ Sea Buckthorn Berries
✔ Lemon Balm
✔ Orange Peel
• Second Sampling •
The next gin was the 42% Oak Gin. This one is something else. I'm a whiskey drinker so this is right up my street. This one had an oaky and a sweet whisky nose. I was very impressed with the fact that this is aged in oak casks for only a couple of weeks! It has a vanilla taste and notes of spice and honey can also be picked up.
The mixer we used was ginger, and it really brought out the flavour of the gin. To garnish, we used orange slices. Elyse also discovered that blueberries work too for this sample. Overall, this was my favourite from the set but Elyse didn't fancy it too much and needed the blueberries to sweeten it up.
Notes:
✔ Juniper Berries
✔ Angelica
✔ Coriander
✔ Oak from beer barrels
✔ Carmel, vanilla and fudge
• Third Sampling •
Last, and certainly not least. The Love Gin was sampled. This is made with rose petals, marshmallow root, lovage, hibiscus flowers and goji berries. The colour of this gin is the first thing that hits you, it's so pink! It has a floral fruity nose and tastes sweet, vanilla-y and with a flowery citrus finish. Mixed with an elderflower, which I usually hate, but was surprisingly good, I found. The garnish was strawberry. Elyse liked this one too, actually, it was her favourite - so much so she ate my strawberries sneakily.
Notes:
✔ Rose Petals
✔ Hibiscus
✔ Goji Berries
✔ Marshmallow Root
✔ Lovage
✔ Crushed Cupids (Elyse says this is a fact and don't believe what Eden Mill say if they say otherwise).
At the end of the tasting, Steve whipped out some of the brand's mixology cans. These were amazing! and the Roasted Martini Oak Gin cocktail was a huge hit with our table. Elyse is a serious fan of this one. Others in this range include; Love gin berry bramble, Basil smash hop gin and Citrus fizz original gin. All of which, are equally good in my opinion!
We really enjoyed our time sampling these gins and I'm more aware of proper gin sampling practices! All of these products can be found on the Eden Mill website. They also regularly host tastings at their Gatehouse location in Guardbridge, which we will be checking out as soon as we can.
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This sounds like the perfect night out if you enjoy a good gin. I think it's always interesting to learn the proper ways to try things out.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you really deserved a night off and some time to enjoy life. I love a good gin tasting!
ReplyDeleteI love gin but I’ve never been to a gin tasting session before. I like the sound of the oak gin (I’m a whiskey fan too!)
ReplyDeleteI've only been to a wine tasting before- but I think it could be nice to go to a gin tasting! I'll definitely have to look more into it!
ReplyDeletexoxo Olivia
www.ourwanderingmind.com
A gin sampling event sounds like it would be great to attend - I'd have so much fun sampling different gins.
ReplyDelete