canyonwalker: Cheers! (wine tasting)
[personal profile] canyonwalker
Earlier this week I mused, "It's Monday night. What better time to get soused on gin?!" when I taste-tested 3 brands of gin. Well, if there's a better time to get soused than Monday night, it's got to be Tuesday night. 😂 So that's what I did Tuesday. Except since I'd already tried the 3 gins straight on Tuesday I tried them mixed as Gin and Tonic.

Gin and Tonic taste-off:  Bombay Sapphire, Hendrick's, Drumshanbo Gunpowder (May 2023)

Much as I expected, trying the gins as part of Gin and Tonic cocktails mixed things up a bit. Recall that I found Bombay Sapphire tough to enjoy neat, with Hendrick's seeming a little too "cool as a cucumber", and Drumshanbo tasting stiff and spicy but interesting neat. Served as Gin and Tonic cocktails the three became interestingly close competitors.

One thing that tonic water changes about a drink is that its sugar balances out spicy characteristics of an alcohol. Bombay Sapphire has an oddly spicy character from some of the botanicals it uses. I think it's the orris root or grains of paradise. (Yes, those are real things.) The lightly sweet tonic water I used, plus a bit of citrus from a freshly squeezed lime, smoothed out the spicy character. It changed from jarringly spicy, like "WTF is happening in my mouth?", to refreshing.

Another thing that tonic water changes is that it adds effervescence. Hendrick's was almost boringly smooth neat. Mixed as Gin and Tonic it gains pizzazz that makes it interesting again. And the spicy, piney characters of gin are already well under control from the cucumber essence that's already part of Hendrick's distillation. As I note, I dislike the taste of cucumber as a food. But it's subtle enough in Hendrick's, and works in harmony with the otherwise harsh flavors, that I enjoy it as part of this drink.

Finally, Drumshanbo Gunpowder, the winner of the neat gin round. It remained a strong contender here in the Gin and Tonic round. The herbal nature of its gunpowder tea shined though the fizz of the tonic. Bombay Sapphire caught up a lot on this competitor that dusted it in the neat round. The two are almost neck-and-neck as Gins and Tonic. But here that herbal tea flavor component carries it to victory by a nose.

Drumshanbo Gunpowder

Date: 2023-06-07 03:39 pm (UTC)
From: [personal profile] readingblogs
Appreciate the review! A dear friend and I, when we drink alcohol together, only drink gin and tonics. Next time it'll be with Drumshanbo Gunpowder!

Profile

canyonwalker: wiseguy (Default)
canyonwalker

June 2025

S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 1314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930     

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 14th, 2025 09:19 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios