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Ginvent 2016 – Bertha’s Revenge Irish Milk Gin

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img_9620It’s the end of week one of Ginvent! Today I get to try the gin with easily my favourite name: Bertha’s Revenge Irish Milk Gin. The Irish team behind the gin (Ballyvolane House Spirits Company) were interested in using whey alcohol as a base spirit and after hearing Charles Maxwell’s (Head Distiller at Thames Distillery) approval on the subject they headed home to get experimenting. By batch 19, they’d got it. As of 27 April 2015, Bertha’s Revenge was born. Key ingredients are orange and grapefruit, with a liberal amount of childish enthusiasm and love – hopefully those last two flavours really come out in the tasting!

img_9621Cracking open the bottle, it smells lovely. Considering I know there is a lot of orange in it, it smells great and I’m very excited – the cumin and cardamom come to the front and it smells like a welcoming, gentle curry. Tasting it neat, the spices are clearly a main ingredient, it’s warm and earthy. Mixed with tonic (still sticking with Tesco) it’s incredibly flavoursome. It tastes of an incredible spice blend, not hot spicy but warm earthy cinnamon. Whilst I think it would go brilliantly with ginger beer with tonic it comes to life. I can’t work out what the whey base spirit brings to the party (sorry team) but this is brilliant. If you’re looking for something to jazz up your evening, this will do the trick. “That sip tasted like a fancy sausage roll”. Move over Catriona, the boy is the new taste tester on this blog.

A 70cl bottle of Bertha’s Revenge costs £35.84 on Master of Malt. Personally, I think it’s worth it. Unless you like boring gin, in which case stay away.

img_9622You can get in touch with the team via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Let me know what you think about this gin on Twitter and check out my photos on Instagram – and keep up to date with Ginvent here!

 

Ginvent 2016 – nginious! Smoked and Salted Gin

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img_9585As the first week of Ginvent draws to a close, I finally get to try nginious! Smoked and Salted gin. Alongside traditional juniper, bitter orange and coriander there’s quince and ginger. The Swiss distillery also add 40-hour cold smoked chestnuts for a gentle smoky flavour, and stone salt from the Swiss Alps that has been smoked on larch tree boards. This is rather special gin as it is only produced once a year with 3,000 bottles being created in 2015. The full sized bottles are also rather lovely – we know I’m a sucker for a nice bottle.
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Smelling it from the bottle I’m confused. It is smoky and salty. Almost slightly fishy. In the glass it’s just as confusing. I’ve had ‘savoury’ gins before that smell herby, but the salt is confusing. I didn’t try it straight because basically my body recoiled in horror from the smell. Adding tonic calms it down a bit and it doesn’t taste like it smells – luckily. But it’s definitely smoked. Like a smoked fish kinda smoke taste. I can’t taste the salt, for me the smokey flavour is overwhelming. I imagine this would go brilliantly with ginger beer or in a dark cocktail. But right now, this isn’t working with just tonic (and as this is the only sample I have I guess I’ll never know). Never thought I’d say that about a gin!

The rarity of this gin means the price is a bit higher than the usual craft gin – on Master of Malt a 50cl bottle is £48.64. Personally, I shan’t be investing. 

nginious! are on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

img_9587Let me know what you think on Twitter and Instagram, and catch up on Ginvent here.

 

Ginvent 2016 – Slingsby Gin

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img_9562We’ve made it to day 5 and are treated to Slingsby Gin. When I tried this at the Brighton Gin Festival it stunned me to silence – a hard thing to do. Their website opens with a Charles Dickens quote, as if I couldn’t love them more. Based in Harrogate, Slingsby has a long history when William Slingsby discovered the unique properties of the Tewit Well spring water in 1571, giving the town Spa status and this gin a name. The key botanicals are grown locally, and combined with other ingredients in Yorkshire – although some ingredients are imported from around the world.

img_9564It smells just as I remember. Juniper with a hint of fresh rain and lemon. It’s tangy on the tongue with a nice warmth to it. With tonic it’s perfect. I can’t say much more. I love this gin. And I’m happy I still love it. But really sad that it’s only a teeny tiny bottle. To anyone reading this and wondering what to get me for Christmas: it’s this gin please.

A bottle of Slingsby gin is currently £39.95 on Master of Malt and you’ll be fighting me for a bottle, and you can find them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

What do you think? Let me know on Twitter and Instagram, and don’t miss a day of Ginvent by clicking here.

Ginvent 2016 – Strathearn Distillery Heather Rose Gin

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img_9529Day four brings us a gin from what is probably Scotland’s smallest distillery – Strathearn Distillery. Situated near a village in Perthshire, they produce a range of spirits including single malt whisky, and, more importantly – gin. Four gins to be precise. For a small distillery they must be BUSY. Our gin today is the Heather Rose gin, a gin produced in very small batches of just 280 bottles. In the bottle is has a dark yellow colour, which by some witch craft apparently turns pink when mixed with tonic.

img_9530Straight from the bottle it has a very strong nose to it – it gets right to you. Heavy on the juniper. Straight on the tongue it’s like a whiskey, that’s a bad bad idea. A bit too strong and earthy for me.

Adding tonic hasn’t changed the colour. It’s still a dehydrated wee colour. The tonic makes it fresh and fruity. Very lemony and citrusy with a deeper juniper edge at the back of the throat. I can’t work out if I like it or not. I think I do, it’s reminiscent of Burleigh’s with a woody hint to it.

A bottle of Heather Rose gin is currently £29.95 on Master of Malt. Personally, it’s not for me.

They are available on social media on Twitter and Facebook. Have you tried it? Let me know what you think on Twitter and Instagram.

Don’t miss a day of Ginvent and catch up here.

 

Ginvent 2016 – City of London Christopher Wren Gin

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img_9510It’s Saturday! Day 3 of Ginvent brings us the City of London distillery’s Christopher Wren Londom Dry Gin. City of London distillery produces a range of gins including an Old Tom and a Sloe gin – I’ve heard of them before but never had the chance to try them. London is obviously steeped in history for gin, being home of Mother’s Ruin and the Gin Craze – and indeed inspiring my favourite image of Gin Lane and the crazy drunk mother dropping her baby off a wall. A relatively new distillery, City of London opened in December 2012 and they now have five gins in their arsenal.gin-lane

img_9511It certainly smells zestier than the last two days of gin – sweet orange is a major botanical in this gin which worries me as we all know I hate orange. Fresher than yesterday’s heavy Strane gin, it’s certainly more citrusy than before. Drinking it straight from the glass I pick up the orange straight away, the boy manages to notice is is more citrusy but not specifically orange. It’s alright. I’ll make him do this more often and he’ll learn.

img_9512Sticking with the standard Tesco tonic, the orange isn’t as obvious and the flavour becomes more general-citrus – the lemon comes to the front. Boy likes this (probably because he isn’t a freak that hates orange). We both love lemon so this is a good gin.

A 70cl bottle (at 45.3%) is currently £41.95 on Master of Malt.  Personally, I’m not convinced I would pay this much for a bottle as it’s not my favourite gin ever, but I’ll certainly keep an eye out in a bar and give it another go.

They are also all over social media and you can find them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Let me know what you think of Christopher Wren on Twitter and Instagram – and don’t forget to check out the rest of Ginvent over here.

 

 

Ginvent 2016 – Strane London Dry Gin, Merchant Strength

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img_9471 Day 2 is here (again, a bit late because I went to see a musical…) and bestows upon us the Merchant Strength version of Strane Gin. Made by the established Smögen Whisky distillery on the west coast of Sweden, batches are made in a 100 litre still making it very small batch indeed. The Merchant Strength gin is bottled at 47.4% – if that’s not enough for you they also produce a Navy Strength (57.1%) and an eye watering 76% Uncut Strength. Even I think that sounds like a bad idea waiting to happen!

Smelling it from the bottle, it’s not as strong as yesterday’s Half Hitch gin. Boy think’s it is fruitier, I’m less convinced. Mostly because I’m not sure what a fruity gin would be like.

img_9472Tasting it, it has more of a kick to it on the tongue but a more rounded flavour than Half Hitch. The flavour feels more complex and slightly smokey – a flavour I image that is coming from their whisky heritage. Boy thinks the flavour is “harsher and more short lived”. I have no idea what he is talking about, he isn’t a gin drinker. Sticking with the trusty Tesco tonic (obviously not because I’m drinking multiple day’s gin in one night), it’s not quite as smooth as I thought it might be. I think the deeper notes are staying, making it heavier than a normal gin and tonic. My favourite thing about a G&T is that it is light and refreshing. I like a dry drink more than anyone, but this isn’t a dryness so much as a depth. Nosing on their website shows the botanicals include mint, basil and sage alongside almonds. This explains the savoury edge.

Strane Gin’s Merchant Strength costs £39.45 for a 50ml bottle over on Masters of Malt (at time of writing). Personally, I’m not convinced this is the gin for me. But I’ve also only had a small tasting and I’m sure I could change my mind after a second serving (as I often do).  They are also available on Twitter.

What do you think of the Swedish export? Let me know on Twitter and check out some photos on Instagram.

Keep up with Ginvent here.

 

 

Ginvent 2016 – Half Hitch Gin

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img_9452Welcome to the first day of Ginvent (although this is published late as I stupidly planned to be out on December 1st)! We’re kicking off December with Half Hitch Gin. Camden Lock, 1869, the former home of London’s gin distilleries is the home of Half Hitch. Reinvigorating the London gin scene and reliving history, Half Hitch takes its name from the rope knot used to tie barges to the lock – barges that used to convoy the gin around the world.

img_9453As Ginvent only supplies a 30ml sample of gin, the tastings of these gins will be a little different (and as you can see, shorter) than usual. Not wasting time or gin with trying it with water, it’s straight to the gin and tonic.

Straight from the bottle it smells very juniper heavy. Boy joined me for this tasting, he doesn’t drink a lot of gin. “Would it be wrong to say it smells like a sharp tasting haribo?”  Brilliant. There’s not enough to mix with water so we’re going for it straight, then with tonic. On the tongue it’s strong and heavy on flavour, quite deep and earthy. Boy says “well, it doesn’t TASTE like sharp tasting haribo”. So there’s that.

With tonic (Tesco Indian tonic) it’s very palatable, or as boy called it “inoffensive”. Not floral, and not citrusy. Very easy to drink and quite light. After the earthy tones from having it straight, I wasn’t expecting it to be this fresh.

img_9454A 70cl bottle of the 40% Half Hitch is available on Master of Malt for £39.95 (at time of writing).i think there’s something nice about the simplicity of this gin, and if you’re looking for a better everyday gin than your standard mainstream brands I think this is a good shout.

Half Hitch are available on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Are you taking part in Ginvent (and being better than me at trying them on the day?) – let me know what you think over on Twitter and Instagram!

Catch up on the rest of Ginvent here.

Five Guys Brighton

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img_9184Five Guys, the American style diner, has opened up on the new Marina Boardwalk bit that juts out past the Wetherspoons, and so we headed down there before a cinema trip. Ordering is super simple. img_9185You pick your burger and then pick as many of the free 15 toppings as you’d like. We ordered a cheeseburger with grilled onions, jalepenos, pickles and BBQ sauce, and a bacon cheeseburger with lettuce, ketchup and grilled onions. And Cajun fries. As we were sharing fries we ordered a large, the women informed us this served four people so we laughed and ordered a medium.

img_9187£28.40 later and we went and took our table with our beers and waited for our number to be yelled. It’s like Argos meets Nando’s. Better than McDonalds but not quite a restaurant. But #15 was yelled and I sent the boy to grab the bag. Out came two burgers and – what both of us called – a normal amount of fries. We definitely could have had a large. NOTE: We spent the meal complaining about a lack of sauce to dip the fries into. This is by the collection point. But the boy didn’t spot these. So just remember that. Also, food comes in a bag, no tray, not plates. Just burgers and fries on the tabletop.img_9189

The burgers were fine. Each bun comes with two thin patties and your toppings. Personally I prefer a thicker burger, medium rare. But I understand that’s not their thing and compared to most fast food this is pretty good. It’s juicy and tasty, and they don’t skimp on the toppings. Mine was loaded with jalepenos that were super spicy. img_9191Lucky I had a beer and some cheese. The boy said “yeh. It was good. It didn’t look like much but it tasted much better”. I think that accurately sums it up. They look a bit pants but they made us happy. The fries were soft (which is nice, I’m so super bored of overcooked fries) with a really generous covering of spicy cajun seasoning. Considering they arrived in under five minutes, I didn’t have any reason to complain. Other than the boy’s inability to find mayonnaise. Oh and I think it’s a little overpriced for what you get.img_9192

Five Guys are all over social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

You can check out my food photos on my Instagram and Twitter.

Have you been to Five Guys? Let me know what you think.

Elephant Sloe Gin

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p1030157I got my sloe gin with my Elephant gin – bloody love this month’s Craft Gin Club delivery. After the joy that is Elephant gin (and you can read more about that here), I’m excited to try their sloe gin. After ripping off the plastic wrapping (thank god for long nails) I unpop the cork and the smell is sweet and syrupy. A slight sourness comes through so the smell isn’t overwhelming. Slightly Christmassy. p1030160Initially dark in colour, when held up to the light it’s a rich amber.

In the glass the juniper smell is strong, then I notice the label says “compared with other sloe gins, relatively low sugar content paired with higher alcohol volume” – it’s 35% which is higher than the average 15-30% (although EU laws say it must be a minimum of 25%). p1030158On the tongue when straight it’s very syrupy and sweet, with a strong kick of gin. Mixed with a touch of water it mellows out and produces a rich berry flavour. The juniper isn’t strong when you drink it, tasting slightly more of Chambord as a fruity mixer. Watered down slightly it doesn’t even have a taste of alcohol about it, but I am now obsessed with the idea of it being Christmas.

p1030162I don’t usually drink sloe gin with tonic, so instead I’m mixing it into a sloe gin fizz (one of my favourite cocktails in case you’re wondering). 50ml of sloe gin, 25 ml of lemon juice, a teaspoon of caster sugar and topped up with soda water. Nom nom. It’s soft and gentle, the flavours don’t overpowering anything else in the cocktail. Admittedly the recipe I followed called for an extra shot of gin, and perhaps this would have given it that little extra punch it perhaps needs (for my taste buds anyway). The bitterness of the gin and lemon juice is perfectly balanced with the sweetness from the sugar. Perfectly quaffable. I love sloe gin. p1030159

A 50cl bottle of Elephant Sloe gin is £31.95 on Masters of Malt (at time of publishing). I’d invest, now the winter and the dark nights are drawing in

Elephant gin are on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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Kuala Lumpur – part two

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p1010875After our first few days in Kuala Lumpur, we awoke early on Saturday morning with Emma’s arrival and a morning spent chilling by the pool. Eventually we got ourselves ready for the day and headed to The Loaf for breakfast/brunch/lunch. Great juices and eggs benedict on a two inch thick piece of toast was rather scrummy. p1010880With full bellies we jumped on the train to Masjid Jamek – the oldest mosque in the city…to find it was closed to the public and surrounded by building work. So instead of going in we wandered around to the confluence of the rivers Gombek and Klang – Kuala Lumpur literally means “muddy estuary”.img_8208 Crossing this took us to Freedom Square, home of the I <3 KL sign. Fun to take photos with, then head into the City Gallery for a £1 entry fee. Downstairs has a small but interesting display on KL’s history and formation, but the winner is upstairs for an awesome multimedia display with a 3D map of the city. p1010885Outside the gallery in the square is a bloody great flagpole and buildings ranging in style from Persian to Tudor. It’s super easy to wander from here to the Old Market and China Town from here. China Town brings the delights of fake designer goods, cheap clothes and street food.

img_8211Unfortunately we were poor on time so we jumped on the train and headed to the Petronas Towers. Bloody hell they are big. Surprisingly hard to find the entrance though. Hidden within a shopping mall up some stairs, along a corridor, round a corner and down an escalator you find a very unassuming lobby. img_8158It’s highly recommended to prebook as tickets on the day sell out fast (it’s around £17 per person). They are super efficient, you get a coloured lanyard and are ushered up to the skybridge on the 41st floor. Given 10 minutes to admire the view (you’re pretty high up) and take a few (hundred) selfies, you get put back in the lift and taken up to the 83rd floor. Then, because that’s not high enough, up you go again to the 86th floor. It’s proper high. Through the binoculars you can clearly see the img_8162huge gold statue outside the Batu Caves. It’s insane. You really are very high up. At the bottom of the towers is a large park with fountains – I highly recommend sitting here after dark. Not only do the towers look stunning at night, but the fountains also turn into a coloured light show. img_8189We sat here until our empty stomachs forced us to move – dinner in the food hall of the mall. After dinner we retired to the roof top bar (standard).

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p1010988Sunday came with a very early start as Jo headed back to Hanoi (not that any of us were awake to see her go) and the remaining three of us headed to the Bird Park – the world’s largest free flying aviary. It was very hot. We went the scenic route via running across an eight lane road, crossing a bridge at the National Museum and visiting mini Stonehenge in the Astronomy Centre. p1010994The Bird Park is huge, and beware of bird’s pooing on you. You won’t be able to get it off all day. Even when a kind lady offers you baby wipes. p1030017Basically, there’s lots of fancy birds in aviaries and walking loose in the ground are peacocks and storks. I forgot I really don’t like birds. But it was a nice afternoon, and the walk through the botanical gardens (via the deer park with a lack of deer) is worth the heat. p1030062Being sweaty and sticky and tired, we jumped in a taxi back to the hotel and drove past Masjid Negara (National Mosque). Whilst we completely failed on this holiday to actually visit a mosque, the calls to prayer sounded out as we drove past. p1030019With a few hours to go until Emma’s overnight train, and our morning departure, we took one last opportunity to have a splash in the pool before eating a mountain of sushi. Fresh salmon and prawn nigiri, chicken satay, vegetable tempura and more filled our bellies before saying goodbye to Emma and enjoying one final cocktail on the roof top bar ahead of Monday’s flight to Kuala Terengganu and our beach resort!

 

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