Gin Lovers Unite!

[jawisher]

I am definitely an enthusiastic Bombay Sapphire fan. I won't say that I can't drink anything else, but I can say that I like nothing better.

I did try something new the other day, on a whim at BevMo: 'Broker's Gin'. The label with the London-banker logo was appealing, and it was touted for winning some award. Anyway, it was pretty good. I'd put it up as smooth as Sapphire, but just with a little different taste blend. Has anyone else tried it?

 

[univibe88]

Yes, I have tried Brokers. I think it is from the class of gin that is trying to appeal to vodka drinkers. It is too bland for my taste. I like a spicy, juniper gin that tastes like gin.

 

[Panache]

I'm a Bombay girl and am in absolute love with gin. I just recently discovered Pink Gin (cocktail). Anyone else a fan?

I have one on occassion, but I believe that they are traditionally served at room temperature and I drink mine cold.

Cheers

Jamie

 

[Tomasso]

Plain old Tanqueray London Dry for me.

 

[MEDIUMMYND]

For the perfect gin and tonic it has to be Bombay Sapphire a good non diet tonic a slice of lime and plenty of ice made with distilled water,using distilled water makes perfectly clear ice cubes much easier on the eye

 

[univibe88]

I've been singing its praises on the FL so much I should get a promotional fee, but gin lovers should track down Old Raj. Simply wonderful gin.

Call them up and ask for another commission check. I bought some recently and it was incredible.

 

[rumblefish]

Tanqueray Rangpur

Has anyone tried this?
Any opinions?

My guess is, it may make a nice Gimlet.

 

[rmrdaddy]

Yes, nice and limey.
Made a decent G&T over the summer with it too.

I miss Tangeray's Malacca Gin....(sigh), THAT was some tasty stuff!

 

[WildCelt]

New Amsterdam: Bleech!

Indeed. When i got out of the Marine Corps and became a poor college student, I decided to see what kind of gin I could find that was cheaper than Bombay Sapphire, but still good. Among the gins I tried was New Amsterdam and I was horrified to taste no juniper at all, but a orangey taste. Ick! I've since found Gilbey's to be a good, inexpensive gin with enough of a juniper taste to be considered gin.

While my wife was pregnant (and therefore not drinking), I continued to make the same amount of martini as before, but put the rest of the stirred up martini (three parts gin to one part vermouth) back in the freezer after pouring my drink. When I'd get back to it, it was so cold it poured out like clear motor oil and tasted superb. I hadn't realized how important it was to have the martini cold until then.

Tanqueray Rangpur
Has anyone tried this?
Any opinions?

Not bad at all. The clerk at my local liquor store popped a mini-bottle of it in the bag with my other gin one time. We'd been discussing gins and he said they'd just gotten it in and to let him know how I liked it. I didn't bother making any kind of cocktail with it, just chilled it for a while and drank it. It had a real lime taste rather than a "lime flavor" taste.

 

[Kermez]

I hate when people (most women, in my experience) talk about how they enjoy vodka martinis. Pfui! James Bond be damned - gin is one and only the base of REAL martinis!

Bombay Saphire, ftw.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

OK...once again, a vodka Martini isn't a Martini. Repeat after me - "That's a kangaroo!" Seriously, that is the proper name of vodka + vermouth! A proper Martini is gin + vermouth + a drop or two of orange bitters, stirred or shaken with ice and served icy cold with a twist or olive. A little olive brine - a dirty Martini. Onion instead of olive? A Gibson. Olive-onion-olive - my personal fave.

No gin - it's NOT a Martini. Call it a vodkatini - fine. Apple or cranberry or various other fruit-flavored concoctions of vodka instead of gin - NOT a martini. One might call such drinks an abomination, perhaps, but they're still not Martinis.

Would we call a baseball cap a fedora just because it goes on one's head? Hell no! Now you get the picture, right?

From what I've read - Dutch gin is usually more orangey (haven't ever tried it myself). That's one main difference between it and the far better known, more "traditional" English gin: Dutch sometimes has citrus in the mix, but less juniper, while English is more strongly juniper-flavored, along with various other arromatic herbal flavors thrown into the mix.

Looks like Leyden's no longer available. Their import / distribution license expired 06/30/2007 and they only had the one distributor / importer in the country. Any of the liquor sites that listed it show "Out of Stock" or similar. But it sounds like Leyden was just one of the Dutch "types" of gin.

I've always kept my gin in the freezer alongside the vodka. That's there for guests if they want a VODKA-tini . But I'm an equal opportunity host & drink-mixer. Name it - if I have the supplies to make it - you got it! But as mentioned above, it does get slightly thicker, but still liquid, kept in the freezer. It won't solidify and break the bottle like the wine you put in for a quick chill before dinner and forget about until you open it the next morning to find messy bottle shards and Chardonnay slush to clean up. I also keep a few stemless Martini glasses in the freezer as well. They're handy for mixing a quick Martini right in the glass, or nicely pre-chilled for when I make shrimp cocktail for friends.

I'm another Bombay Sapphire fan, but I recently tried Plymouth at the suggestion of a friend, and that's another really nice one. It's a little smoother and not quite as sharp. Sometimes that's a nice change of pace. It was supposedly Churchill's gin of choice, and wasn't always available in the US until the last 5-10 years.

 

[Lancealot]

I have recently started drinking gin. I have a bottle of Burnett's in the freezer and have made a few martini's either the Vesper from the Bond books, the classic with just gin and vermouth, or the dirty martini. I've also found I really enjoy gin Gimlet's made the Long Goodbye way equal measures Rose's sweetened lime juice and gin.

The girlfriend can't seem to get a taste for the stuff but I'm really enjoy it.

 

[rumblefish]

Olive-onion-olive - my personal fave.

I thought I was the only one that did that! Never out, but at home...I've been keeping it a secret for fear of persecution.

 

[univibe88]

Mike, when I am in Seattle I will buy you a Martini :eusa_clap

To everyone who likes Sapphire I issue you a challenge - try Beefeater. I am serious. Both are very juniper driven, spicy, herbal gins and surprisingly similar. Get yourself two nips and have your girl pour them in two seperate glasses and try a blind taste test. You'll be surprised.

My friends and I did a blind test and were very surprised with some of the results. One thing I found is that I feel English gin can more or less be grouped into three catagories. First there are the spicy, juniper ones like Sapphire and Beefeater. Then there are citrusy ones like Tanqueray and Tanq 10. Last there are what I call "modern" gins (for lack of a better word.) These are softer and I feel aimed at the vodka market. Pretty much anything that has just showed up on the shelf in the last year and obviously has to much marketing fluff behind it. Examples are Brokers, Aviation, Millers, etc & anything from a Vodka company - Citadelle, Van Gogh, etc.

 

[Kermez]

I thought I was the only one that did that! Never out, but at home...I've been keeping it a secret for fear of persecution.

I, too, am a big fan of a nice "gin salad".

 

[Mr. K.L.Bowers]

Tanqueray Rangpur

Has anyone tried this?
Any opinions?

My guess is, it may make a nice Gimlet.

I use nothing else but for my G & T. Ice, two OZ of Tanqueray, one whole lime, squeezed and fill with Schweppes tonic Water from 10 OZ GLASS bottle.
With thanks to Zemke Fan

 

[Tomasso]

G & T. Ice, two OZ of Tanqueray, one whole lime, squeezed and fill with Schweppes tonic Water

:eusa_doh:

 

[Mr. K.L.Bowers]

ONE WHOLE LIME

It's my only source of vitamin C, what can I say.

 

[WEEGEE]

Cork Gins

Both very nice!!!

http://www.irishdistillers.ie/brands/corkdrygin.shtml

 

[Mike in Seattle]

It just hit me this morning, with temperatures approaching 40 and our two week accumulation of snow swiftly disappearing, that I should've thought to stick one of the Sapphire bottles out on the table on the deck (a foot deep in snow) since we had days and days with 18-20 as the high, and then made an outrageously teeth-chatteringly cold Martini just for the heck of it.