the Gin is IN

Gin from an American perspective, since 2009.

Cocktails by Consensus: The French 75

Jan
26
Posted in Cocktails, Cocktails by Consensus 0

Esquire (David Wondrich)No 209 GinImbibe MagazineEmeril
Gin2 oz.1 oz.1 oz.2 oz.
Superfine Sugar1 teaspoon
Simple Syrup1/2 oz.1 oz.1 oz.
Lemon Juice1/2 oz.1/2 oz.3/4 oz.3/4 oz.
Champagne5 oz."up to top"3 oz2-3 oz.
GarnishLemon PeelLemon Twist
Absinthe"a splash"

Gin and Champagne, the absolute pinnacle of luxury. Am I right?

75 mm French CanonThe French 75 cocktail was first created in New York. The New York Bar in Paris, France to be precise. Its name comes from what history would later call “A bad World War I joke.” The drink was supposedly so strong that one drinker said that drinking this drink was akin to being shelled by a 75 mm field gun. History again has judged this statement harshly since these days ordering a drink which is over 50% champagne by volume is grounds for questioning one’s masculinity in some places.  My theory is that someone drank one too many French 75s and woke up the next morning with a headache which felt like gunfire. My current theory is that French 75 is one drink whose name serves as a built in warning as to what happens if you drink one too many.

About the Cocktail
Overwhelmingly, simple syrup is preferred. But I think David Wondrich is really onto something. You’re going to shake everything but the champagne anyway, so why dilute it? Go for superfine sugar if you have it.

Emeril recommends a splash of absinthe? I heartily disagree. I think this cocktail is essentially a bubbly Tom Collins. Make a Tom Collins, add champagne. But the absinthe? It has a very strong point of view, and tends to overpower any notes that the gin might be bringing to the party. A good dry champagne is going to be all of the bitterness that this drink needs. Spare the Absinthe.

The ratio of gin to lemon is somewhere between the 2:1 and 4:1 ratio. If you want a lemon champagne, go closer to 2:1. If you want to taste the gin go 4:1.

The amount of Champagne is wildly disparate. I like the simplicity of the No. 209 Gin cocktail guide’s approach: “just fill the glass.” The French 75 cocktail excels at being a more potent take on champagne, while still being squarely acceptable at breakfast time.

Yep, I said it. Go forth and order one at your next Brunch. Tell them that the Gin is In said it was okay. 

The Gin is In’s French 75 Cocktail.
4 parts gin (if you want a volume measurement, I’d say go 2 ounces)
1 part lemon juice
1 teaspoon of superfine sugar
Shake well with ice. Make sure all sugar is dissolved.

Strain and Pour into a champagne flute. Fill 1/2 with the  lemon and gin mixture.

Fill the rest of the glass with champagne. The dryer, the better. But your mileage may vary.

Sources:
Source #1:  David Wondrich in Esquire Magazine
Source #2: No. 209 Gin Cocktail Guide
Source #3: Imbibe Magazine
Source #4: Emerils.com 

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A Gin Wife’s Retrospective

Jan
24
Posted in Other Thoughts 1

“A Year Two Years of Being a Gin Wife”

I commented to the Gin-Husband today, “Gee your blog is a whole year old!” I thought, ah, I am such a supportive spouse. He will know that I keep a keen eye on his blog! I am interested in his works!

He responds, “It’s…two years old.” <Insert a frowning face>

Damn. Good thing I know, uh….I know how to….dust? Yeah, I kept our apartment free of dust. I’m good for something.

Happy two years of gin drinking and writing.

In the spirit of anniversaries, I’ve compiled a list of new experiences gin, and blogging thusly, has brought to my life. It’s the season of lists, right? Better than a list of resolutions I’m never, ever going to follow. (In fact, as a tangent, I’ve had a standing resolution for about ten years: No New Year’s resolutions. It’s worked out surprisingly well.)

Without further frippery or ostentatious verbosity, I present: A Gin Wife’s Retrospective, What Gin has Taught Me, by Katey, age 28

1. Gin makes your  house smells like pine trees, even in July.

…Pine trees on fire.

2. Space will be lost for my secret stashes of yarn, to be replaced by gin.

3. Easy to enjoy lots of new bar experiences, without guilt, “for the blog”.

4. Lots of new gin purchases, “for the blog”.

5. Lots of new kitchen purchase, “for the blog”?

6. Yarn purchases, ostensibly “for the blog”.  What do you mean, this is a gin blog and my knitting has no home here? I could knit gin, I just don’t want to right now.

7. Pointing out minor typos is met with, “So change it; I thought you were the copy editor.”

8. I guess not all gin tastes like pine trees, either on fire or not. Some, like Bols Genever and that other one are good! Even if somebody insists that Bols Genever is not for gin and tonics. It’s delicious, don’t believe the smack.

9. You have to be a super-secret agent to ship alcohol out of this country. I had no idea it was very much frowned upon. So we can only share our love of American gin with fellow Americans.

10. …Wait a minute, I think it’s a conspiracy! Keep the good gin in and foreign competition down! I know you can ship alcohol to the states. We’re obviously stockpiling all the gins. Right. For science.

So overall, gin is a huge American conspiracy. That’s what I’ve learned, I guess.

Oh, and that tonic water is not soda water. There’s a difference.

Cheers!

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Schlichte Gin

Jan
22
Posted in Bottles of Gin 0
Juniper Spice Heat Citrus Floral
Gin Flavor Profile

Very strong juniper flavor with relatively minimal heat. Very simple flavor profile. It's juniper and all juniper.

Schlichte GinSome gins are the perfect examples of their style. Plymouth is the classic example of Plymouth style gin and Schlichte is the classic example of the Steinhäger style. If you’re curious about the style’s baseline, we covered that a short while ago. This review is just about Schlichte.

The first thing I noticed was the beautiful earthenware bottle. It stands out among the other glass bottles in any gin section where it appears. It seems distinctly “old world” and “throwback” just as itself.

I opened, and the first thing I noticed was nearly nothing. No powerful aromas, just a subtle hint of gin. Its just as cool and throwback as the bottle itself. So far Schlichte has given away precious little of itself. I know that its triple distilled based on neutral wheat spirit and juniper berries, with a recipe dating back to the 15th century. But what else? On to tasting: will you reveal your secrets?

Tasting
Sipping it neat reveals a distinctly different and unique among gin quality. Its remarkably smooth and simple. You taste the juniper and that’s about it. Technically that’s exactly what it should taste like too. But the juniper quality is rather peculiar. Its less like a strong juniper forward gin such as Junipero, and the only modern gin which I can say that Schlichte reminded me of was Death’s Door. It has a peculiar “flat” sort of taste. It has a smooth taste and is extremely capable of being sipped. That is capable alone, I’m not sure that there’s enough complexity to really warrant regular sipping on the rocks.

You may be wondering how it compares to London Dry, which also is extremely juniper forward. I’ll sum it up succinctly. While a lot of juniper forward London Dry gin has a certain kind of ferocious burn, an acute prickle which is characteristic of the style; Schlichte offers none of this. Its a smooth, slightly bitter with a palate cleaning character, simple one note gin. It doesn’t quite prickle or burn, its has a creamy character to it.

Schlichte Bottle Closeup

Mixing?
Though It has a rather relaxed character in general, the distinct bitter flavor comes through and alters (in some cases in quite a good way) the flavor of some classic cocktails.

For example, take Schlichte in the Negroni. The Negroni (as I say regularly) has some strong flavorful ingredients. Schlichte alters the profile for the more bitter. It’s a very smooth drink with Schlitche in place of a London Dry. It also causes the profile to be Deceptively strong.

In a Gimlet, the bitter character takes the edge off of a super sweet cordial like Rose’s lime juice. The smoothness comes in at the right place at the end of the tasting, and takes a bit of the edge off the sour as well.

With tonic (because really, if you’re drinking at home this is likely your primary mode of gin consumption) its interesting. Mix it with a sweet tonic like Canada Dry or Fever Tree, and you almost get a hint of that bitter finish that Q Tonic is renowned for delivering.

Overall, it mixes surprisingly well. Surprisingly well if you like the taste. If you’re more into the heat of London Dry or the exotic botanical combinations of a lot of modern gin distilling, you may think Schlichte ruins a lot of cocktail. I don’t find a lot of middle ground with this gin. It either works for you, or it doesn’t.

Gin has come a long way from the fifteenth century, and while I embrace that wholeheartedly, I find it extremely interesting to taste the roots of all of modern gin craft alive and well on the top shelf of my local liquor store.

Price: $30 / 750 mL
Origin:   Germany
Website: http://www.gjgreenall.co.uk/
Best consumed: The Gimlet I think is one of the cocktails that this gin did best. 
Availability: Primarily online, you may see it in your local high end liquor store or corner store in a German/Eastern European ethnic neighborhood.
Rating: Although simple, it has a lot of appeal for gin aficionados but likely not much further. 
 (2.5/5)

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Cocktails by Consensus: The Army Navy Cocktail

Jan
19
Posted in Cocktails by Consensus 1

Daily TipplerNo. 209The BollardDiffords Guide
Gin2 oz. (or Genever)2 oz.4 oz.2 shots
Lemon Juice1/2 oz.3/4 oz.1.5 oz.1/2 shot
Orgeat1/2 oz.3/4 oz.1 oz.1/4 shot
Angoustra Bitters2 dashes
GarnishLemon Twist
Mineral Water1/2 oz.

Almond is one flavor which I think is particularly underused  in cocktail mixology. I’d likely chalk this up to a couple of things. Amaretto is cloying, over-sweet, and does not mix particularly well with gin. Two, the flavor that I (and many others) consider to be almond is a peculiar mouth filling sweetness. Nearly impossible to get from the nuts yourself. So when you do find a gin cocktail which uses almond and does it this well you stop and take pause. I believe the use of Orgeat is largely responsible for this. Let’s take a detour and look at Orgeat:

What is Orgeat?!
It is a syrup made from a combination of sweeteners and aromatics. Almonds, sugar, rose water and orange flower water.  The word Orgeat literally stems from the latin which indicates “with Barley.” The original version was actually made from raw barley and then later sweetened with sugar. The almonds were added much later as a substitute for the barley. The name Orgeat is now a misnomer, as modern Orgeat no longer contains the barley that bestowed the beverage its name.

Orge (french) – Barley

My Note: I think that housemade Orgeat tastes notable different than the closest substitute available to most home bartenders which is Monin’s almond syrup.

Back to the Cocktail:
The ratios are all over in this drink. But if we were to approximate, nearly all of them are close to 4:1 for the Gin: Lemon. I think this works fairly well. I think if you go with any more lemon the drink takes on almost too much of lemony flavor. I think this is similar to the phenomenon of many traditional Aviation recipes.

As for the Orgeat, many of the recipes do suggest using Monin. Monin I think is a bit sweeter than true Orgeat, so step off the gas a little when using the syrup. Add a bit more if using a housemade Orgeat. The ratio of Gin:Orgeat is somewhere between 4:1 and 8:1.  Go 4:1 or slightly higher on the real stuff, go closer to 6:1 if using the syrup.

One recipe suggests adding bitters. I’m not convinced that actually does anything to the drink to warrant me recommending it. It looks flashy behind the bar, but that’s about it. Maybe if there was an almond bitters on the market, I may change my mind. I’m also not crazy about the addition of mineral water to this cocktail. The only thing it does of note is take the edge off, but as the Army Navy cocktail is rather an easy going drink in the first place, I’m not sure I can recommend it.

The Gin is In’s Army & Navy Cocktail
4 parts gin
1 part lemon juice
1 part homemade Orgeat
Garnish with lemon peel.
Shake with ice, strain and serve in a chilled cocktail glass. 

Sources
Source #1: Daily Tippler
Source #2: No 209 Gin Cocktail Guide
Source #3: The Bollard
Source #4: Diffords Guide

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Seagram’s Extra Dry

Jan
18
Posted in Bottles of Gin 1
Juniper Spice Heat Citrus Floral
Gin Flavor Profile

A toasty juniper gin with a powerful sweetness and smoothness; some of which comes from the classic London Dry botanicals, and some which comes from 3 months in an oak barrel.

Seagram's Extra DrySeagram’s Gin is the best selling gin in America; therefore it warrants a closer look. I know that immediately it embodies one American virtue: thrift. This may be the only gin I review that I can tell you with confidence, “yes, they do sell it at Walmart.” In fact, this gin could be the next entry in my “It came from the Bottom Shelf” series. But although widely available we’re interested if the taste lives up to the hype. Does it warrant being the best selling gin in America.

But first, an Experiment!
At a recent party I held a blind taste test for two of my friends. Both are gin drinkers who are familiar with gin and this blog.  I offered them each two plastic party cups. One contained Seagram’s Dry; the other had Oxley. I asked them both “which one do you think was the more expensive gin?” Both chose Seagram’s.

So does that mean that Seagram’s is a better gin than Oxley?!

First Scent
If I did not know already the cost of this gin, I likely would have thought based on scent alone that this was a rather good gin. It smells sweet, rather appetizing. It is a nice blend of citrus and juniper.

First Taste
It tastes rather sweet. This is the first thing that I noticed, even though at similar proof to most gins (40%) it tastes much lighter and much easier to drink than most gins, but still retains a lot of classic gin flavor.

These are Burnt orange rinds

These are burnt orange rinds

The sweetness alters the profile. Instead of orange, it tastes of burnt candied orange rinds. Instead of juniper, it tastes a bit like sweet juniper candy. Seagram’s does have a bit of a burn, but it is not a lingering or harsh burn. Its a short spike, pine trees dancing in your mouth, and just like that, they’re gone. Though these two flavor profiles come through to the forefront you can taste hints of the other classic botanicals which are in Seagram’s Extra Dry (the full list is: juniper, orange peel, cassia, angelica, cardamom and coriander). There’s a warm earthiness underneath the sweetness, but I found it hard to pick out which of these secondary botanicals were more prominent.

First Mix
And for many people this really is their first mix with gin. Its accessible and inexpensive, and quintessentially American- so why not?

Soda Guns

Why are you looking at my gin like that?

It makes a fine gin and tonic. I don’t think the sweetness adds much to the cocktail and the candy overtones are almost too much for me and may be for other gin aficionados.  But it does fine in a Gimlet, Tom Collins, or really any other cocktail. It has enough flavor and pack that its rarely lost. This may be one of its strongest assets and key reasons why it is frequently a gin of choice in bars. It can stand up as “unmistakably gin” even when showered unceremonially with sour mix. You can put any number of “juices” on top of Seagram’s and you’ll likely know from the telltale sweetness that there’s some Seagram’s in there.

I’m not sure it works in a Martini because although “it works” as gin, it lacks the sophistication and depth to excel in this sort of cocktail. But this may just be a case of my personal preference. I like my martini gins to be a little more staid and little less sweet.

Seagram's Label

Price: <$10 / L
Origin:   Indiana, United States
Website: http://www.seagramsginlive.com/
Best consumed: It can stand up to anything you throw at it. 
Availability: Everywhere in the United States. Even Walmart.
Rating: Its actually a pretty acceptable gin that if not for its sweet notes, may be a very solid Dry gin. It works well in many different ways and retains strong gin and brand character. It is a better gin than its price point may indicate. 
 (2.5/5)

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