I’m not sure how or really when the actual transition happened, you know the day I left vodka to go steady with Gin, but it has been at least 6 blissful years!
My love affair has been primarily with Tanqueray, Hendricks and Bombay…and recently a new love affair with Hayman Sloe Gin. I’ve even brought people to the gin light, converted some and crossed over hardcore vodka drinkers but this night was for me, and 13 other ladies to have what I like to call a “swingers night” with Gin. Hahaha, did you expect anything less from me guys, come on!
My goal was to taste a lot of gins before committing, you know “see if the shoe fits” before “putting a ring on it”.
So let’s get down to deets, I invited ladies in my circle that I know enjoyed the taste of gin on their Saturday night palettes and the next part was for them to bring a gin that they either LOVED or have never sampled but made them curious!
Once confirmation of attendance was established we started a feed, people posted their gin purchases once that way we didn’t have doubles. Think modern-day grads posting their grad dresses, nobody wants to wear the same dress to the prom!
Tammy my amazingly talented graphic designer and friend was my co-host for the evening. She made the alphabet booze stations and the scorecards…most gin tastings you only gobble 4 gins down and in typical fashion were overdoing it with 15…so we needed to keep this shit simple.
If you were not aware Rivera Yogurt glass jars make the BEST sampling snifter, and yes I ate a lot of vegan Rivera Yoghurt to make this night possible. You’re welcome, ladies.
We tested all the gin bachelors on rocks first. Some candidates needed to be sampled further with tonic to make sure we were ranking it correctly and some with just soda. After 5 gins, we broke for a smoke. Totally kidding, it was actually the food break! We all didn’t want to get to shit faced within the first 5 gins, that would be embarrassing. We set the bar at 8 gins for an acceptable level of hammeredness. Thank god UBER is finally running in Surrey but back up was my spare bedroom and sectional sofa which holds 2 sleeping adults quite comfortably (this has been confirmed by Greg and myself during many a movie night!)
This was so fun, I loved doing this and would highly recommend doing this type of evening. After the official tasting was over, we chatted about our favs & disappointments and created our own custom cocktails with a massive amount of “fixings” with our favorite gins from the night. Here are a few in case you want to try this at home,
Lime
Lemon
Mint
Cucumber
Frozen berries
Dried blood oranges
Simple ginger syrup
Shrubs of all sorts
Club soda (high and low end)
Tonic (high and low end)
Our evening ended (for most) at 4 am, apparently Tammy says my house has a time warp feature and we played After dark (the board game), we ate drank and laughed. It was literally the perfect Saturday evening in February! This may have to be an annual event with other types of booze, just saying.
So here is our overall thoughts on the Gins we sampled!
Tanqueray and Gunpowder Irish Gin
These two were a pretty traditional gin, stronger in taste and begging to be mixed with whatever your heart desired. They're like the husband you come home to after 3 years of marriage, you’re still excited to see them and they still rub your shoulders and feet with their strong hand after a long day.
Reliable and refreshing.
Oh shit, guys, we didn’t see this coming! Two dark horses in the mix, local surrey boy and a New Jersey lad - Queensborough Dry Gin (Surrey) and Boodles (Jersey).
You’d think from their location brewing background they would be a tough swallow, incorrect!! Just the opposite folks. These stallions are the BEST naked. Lol, well, on the rocks I mean, no mix required…they were enjoyed best this way. Well, at least 14 ladies thought so! Both huge winners for us.
These guys below were your average achievers, they didn’t wow us in the “bedroom” shall I say! They were kinda meh. The only one that had “character’ was Roku Gin, it at least had some saki vides going on. Wild Roots smelled amazing but it smoke and mirrored us with its taste. Just like the “good looking” guy at the bar, till the lights come on! Eek. I was cheering for the Islanders as that is my old stomping grounds (Empress and Sheringham) but sadly they fell short (like my height) on standing out over the others.
Gordon’s Pink was a mix of likes and like nots. If you’re going to try this, do it with mix!
It reminds me of the guy at the bar who’s trying really hard to impress you but he’s really a 6 and he’s with his friends (Hendricks Midsummer Solstice, Tanqueray Malacca & Hayman’s Sloe Gin) who are LITERALLY ALL 10’s!!!
Not joking, don’t make these a summertime fling (Well, unfortunately, Hendricks is only visiting for a short time so make it count). These bottles are ripped with flavour and best NAKED. Are you seeing a new theme here? A mix might not be needed as we’ve thought in the past. Try them bare and see what you think! Malacca was like an exotic dancer (in my mouth!) I was so impressed, as were the rest of us! Now Hayman’s Sloe Gin has always been my “sloe jam” with the lights down low and a bubble bath going!!
“ICE, ICE, BABY, ICE, ICE, BABY” sing it with me. “THIS IS HOW WE DO IT”, “THIS IS HOW WE DO IT” Both 90’s R&B songs are working with this summertime bunch!
Guys, these are your ripped boys of summer, there the “eye candy” (or “mouth candy” if you will) of the bunch, think tanned volleyball players and surfers.
You can all start crying now.
As this is our “purple unicorn” of the crew, sadly you will probably NEVER get to touch this gin god to your lips unless you’re in the UK. Christine was so kind as to share her last drops of this rhubarb & ginger gin nectar (of the GODS) with us. HANDS DOWN, BEST GIN SIPPER (liquor) I HAVE EVER TASTED.
I feel like I had the best one night stand of my life and now I’m left picking up the pieces cus there’s nothing else that will ever compare to this gin here in Canada. Is it unreasonable to move across the country and find this gin of my dreams again?
Ok, this is where it gets AWKWARD guys….
Tempo Blue Berry was one of the least favorite of the bunch (decided by most). Tho I’ve been told to give Tempos twin, (not identical of course) a try, sadly I feel he’s guilty by association…but you never know!
Oh God, Ryan Reynolds cover your eyes and skip past this part cus it’s going to get really uncomfortable for ya…as I think your a decent male figure and all.
We were so cheering for this gin, a fellow Canadian etc. but to put it as bluntly as possible, It was like getting raped in a dark ally. Hard and not in a good way folks the worst way possible.
It probably could get a car to the gas station in a pinch if you needed it too.
So, if you like your gin rough and invasive in your mouth, Aviator is your winner.
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