Still life. The last lily from my mother’s day flowers in a silent pool gin bottle.
For those of you who follow me on Instagram you will know that I have been experimenting with gin concoctions.
I gather it is quite a trend and one that I’m sure would have passed me by had it not been for the genius birthday gift from my younger son.
Having latched on to a comment I made about wanting to declutter..... which I have to say is something yet to happen.....and let’s be honest, not that likely.....in support of that desire.... he wanted to give me something that would not add to the general mayhem that is my abode.
Having latched on to a comment I made about wanting to declutter..... which I have to say is something yet to happen.....and let’s be honest, not that likely.....in support of that desire.... he wanted to give me something that would not add to the general mayhem that is my abode.
Bless him.
Little did he know what he was unleashing.
Silent pool gin with hibiscus flowers and rose petals and rose lemonade... calling this one ‘purple haze’
First came the innocent little tins of botanicals in their hessian sack which I feel I should wear on some splendid belt and possibly be wearing lace fingerless gloves when I open it!!! It all feels a little bit witchy somehow. My own little sack of magical possibility.
Hendricks gin with added juniper berries, lemon balm ice cube, lemon slice and Mediterranean tonic. Calling this one ‘robust’
Needless to say I have neither of the aforementioned but I have acquired other accoutrements. The not adding to the clutter idea has fallen at the first hurdle which is me.
After some initial research and experimentation with good old Gordon’s I realised that there was so much more.
Rhubarb gin infused with cardamom topped up with angostura tonic. I’m calling this ‘top contender’ for being my favourite
Flavoured gins, gins with different ‘characters’!
I did try one that was rather gruff.
And who knew there were so many tonics!!!!
and fancy pants ice cubes.
I am a great believer in the taste of a drink being influenced by the vessel it is drunk from, so glasses..... got me a couple of those.
And so space was made in the larder for a bit of gin kit including a proper measure because I didn’t want to get legless and the weekend ritual of gin was born.
Silent pool gin infused with hibiscus and topped up with fever tree elderflower tonic. For added pretty it has hibiscus ice cubes floating in it. Calling this one ‘flowerfest’
And so space was made in the larder for a bit of gin kit including a proper measure because I didn’t want to get legless and the weekend ritual of gin was born.
Silent pool gin infused with hibiscus and topped up with fever tree elderflower tonic. For added pretty it has hibiscus ice cubes floating in it. Calling this one ‘flowerfest’
Maths is not my strong suit but I’m fairly sure that with the number of variables ie gin, tonic, botanical and ice cube the possible number of combination exceeds ummpity um.
Bombay sapphire gin no added botanical just viola ice cube, lime slice and lemon tonic. This one is ‘oh so pretty’
But I have made a start.
And the only way to know what I’ve put together and what I would like to try next is to keep a record. Hence the Gin Diaries.
Goodbye week off work, sad to see you go. I salute you with rhubarb gin infused with mellow light and Chris Smithers.... no botanicals. Calling this one ‘perfect’
2 comments:
I'm so glad to have all of the details and intrigued. I am rather a tea toddler. My mother and grandmother would have loved all of this. My grandfather was always the bartender. I remember them drinking Manhattans, bourbon on the rocks, and scotches. My mom was apparently a big fan of Jack Daniels, which was something I never knew about her. I have memories of olives and bitters and cocktails with clinking ice cubes on most family occasions. My dad,at some point discovered Frangelico liqueur and liked to make drinks with it. I was always very ecstatic with my Shirley Temples, grenadine syrup and 7up. I never really adopted the habit of adult drinks, alcohol and coffee. The alcohol I've indulged is usually more like a milk shake with a kick, pina coladas and such and I do love a Kaluhua and Cream, combining both the alcohol and coffee flavors that I usually eschew. On my birthday, I ordered an O Chata, which was horchata, a sweet Mexican rice water and cinnamon connoction, that I love and some variety of alcohol that I can't remember. Ummm, it was a grown up drink light on the horchata and heavy on the whatever else and well, it's back to pina coladas, butterscotch snaps or cherry chocolate concoctions for me, unless we are talking about a Mexican mescal(smoky tequila) mixed with mango juice, which is the hardest liquor I've imbibed with enough juice to make it mild.
You have made me curious about gin. A friend of mine was a big fan of the blue Bombay gin. I have no idea of what the difference might be between gin, vodka, or bourbon, but you have me wondering with all those flavors what would a fancy, gin be like?
It all looks like great fun and a ritual to look forward to on the weekends. Thanks for sharing and I am so happy to see you back on the blog!
Bottoms up,
Kelly
Hi Kelly, you’ve mentioned quite a few drinks that I am unfamiliar with but kaluhua.... that is something I am very partial to. The first time I had it was in a drink called a ‘brown cow’. Milk and kaluhua and vodka which tasted more like milkshake than adult beverage and was quite misleading; packed a weighty punch!!!! Lovely tho. Tia Maria is similar and that in a coffee with cream floating on top is another favourite tho infrequent indulgence. The Bombay Saphire blue gin is distilled quite locally to me and you can have a tour around the distillery which is something that I would love to do one day. Maybe we could add that to our list of possible adventures!? And you could research gin at source so to speak.
The drink that I associate with my father is a snowball .... advocat topped up with lemonade and a dash of lime cordial. Terribly sweet. We had one on Christmas Eves from a fairly young age to help us overcome our excitement and get to sleep. I enjoyed it immensely but I don’t think it actually worked Xx
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