The gin bubble shows no sign, whatsoever, of bursting this summer. Instead it grows bigger and more buoyant every month, bouncing along while bright, shiny, new distilleries pop up everywhere.
Premium gin is the darling of the UK spirits trade – domestic sales shot over the £1 billion mark for the first time last year, and we bought 43 million bottles, according to the Wine and Spirit Trade Association.
This prompted the Office of National Statistics to add the spirit to its “inflation basket” of regularly bought goods, for the first time in 13 years. And it helped the Treasury to take £3.38 billion from spirits last year, up seven per cent, narrowly beating the tax revenue on (shock!) beer.
The variety now dazzles. All gin, by definition, must have juniper at its heart, but the other botanicals (the natural products – seeds, barks, spices, peels and flowers – that make up each recipe) range hugely and as never before. Unusual ingredients include various kelps and seaweeds, moorland flowers, saffron, pomelo, kaffir lime leaves, rhubarb, tea and even wood-smoke.
There are the more traditional London Dry Gins (not indicating they are made in London, but a style whereby all ingredients are distilled, not macerated, for subtle complexity); more richly flavoured, infused gins with stronger ingredients added after distillation; powerful and punchy Navy Strength gins; sweeter Old Tom gins; or sweetly fruity, syrupy sloe and ­damson gins that taste more like ­liqueurs. Spiced gins, made with plenty of pepper, cinnamon, cardamom and so on, are especially on the rise.
And these gins hail from every ­corner of the UK, from Cornwall to ­Aberdeen, and from County Down to Suffolk. Many distilleries now use locally grown or foraged botanicals to try to capture the typical tastes of their region.
And the label and bottle designs – oh, swoon. I know the appearance really shouldn’t count for a lot, but in the hip world of “artisanal” spirits, such a glittering array of retro labels, apothecary bottles and glinting coloured glass really does tempt the eye.
We’re certainly buying the new swanky labels, that’s clear enough, but are we actually drinking it? I suspect many are collecting it, putting those beautiful bottles on display like trophies on a mantelpiece, dusting them from time to time.
But perhaps we all need some new ideas on how to serve the stuff. The welcome arrival of premium tonics such as Fever-Tree and Fentimans have certainly shaken up the plain old gin and tonic into something far more enjoyable, but even the keenest connoisseur can get a bit bored of that.
Garnishes, too, can offer a twist (literally) on a G&T, with pink grapefruit currently the fashionable wedge, and more imaginative “serves” including samphire, basil leaves, thyme and tarragon sprigs, rock salt and twists of pepper livening things up.
But the answer to making gin more versatile, ultimately, has to be gin cocktails.
Any decent bar, even pub, now has its own collection of gins and should be able to offer exciting concoctions. Gin cocktails have been around for a very, very long time, and the classics have certainly been revived in recent years.
Below, I’ve come up with some which are easy to shake up at home, and which don’t involve splashing out on lots of expensive ingredients (premium gin costs quite enough). They’re also presented here with summer, and seasonal, flavours firmly in mind. I hope they will inspire you to invent some of your own.
We’ve all got the gin, it would seem – now let’s mix it up a bit.
All recipes are for a traditional gin, not a specially flavoured one. I have put suggestions of specific gins for some, but you can use your favourite. You will need ice for all.
This recipe, adapted from one in the book Shake. Stir. Sip. by Kara Newman (Chronicle Books, £10.99), was originally created by Sam Ross of New York bar Attaboy. It calls for absinthe to rinse out the glass beforehand, but I have omitted it for simpler and softer citrus and floral notes. And out of cowardice.
Combine all four liquids in a cocktail shaker over ice cubes. Shake well and strain into a martini glass.
Garnish with a wide piece of lemon zest or strips of lime zest.
For when you see the first blackberries appearing in the hedgerows. Blackberry liqueur and gin have a natural affinity, more so than cassis and gin.
Pour all the liquid ingredients into a chunky tumbler half filled with ice and stir gently, garnishing with a perfect blackberry or two.
This cocktail has exotic, fragrant ingredients and quite a sweet finish from the cordial.
Chop the lemongrass and ginger into pieces and bruise them with the back of a spoon. Put them, and any juices from them, into a cocktail shaker with some ice, and add the gin and cordial.
Shake well then strain into a tumbler with more ice in it. Top up with ginger ale. Garnish with a thin slice of lime.
This concoction is hugely fruity, tangy and succulent, and not as strong in spirit. Use either apricot glaze (which comes in jars in the baking section of major supermarkets) or pass apricot jam through a sieve instead.
Pour the gin over the apricot glaze in a glass with a little crushed ice and stir very well until the apricot is more or less dissolved.
Add the passionfruit juice drink and lime juice and stir further, add more crushed ice, then serve with a straw.
My own favourite recipe, many times tried and tested (just to make sure…). The egg makes it silkier and richer, but note it is raw, of course.
My adaptation of a recipe from saveur.com. Camomile tea and gin go together remarkably well.
To make the camomile syrup, soak the tea bag in 125ml boiling water for three minutes, then add the honey and stir to dissolve. Squash the bag with a spoon, then discard.
Let the syrup cool then refrigerate (leftover syrup will last several days in the fridge).
To serve, use two parts gin (I’d favour Greenall’s Bloom here) to one part each of camomile syrup and fresh lemon juice, combine in a cocktail shaker over ice and strain into a martini glass.
Flowers + gin = in vogue. Exotic, scented, and tastes a little like Turkish delight. Go very carefully with the rose water here – if it is a concentrate, you only need one or two drops. And don’t even think about diet tonic.
Pour the gin and rose water into a cocktail shaker with a few ice cubes. Stir briefly then strain into a white wine glass.
Add the tonic and float the rose petal on top just before serving.
A cheat’s cocktail, really, because you buy in the main mixer. It’s particularly refreshing, so make it in seconds in hot weather.
Pour the gin into a thick, stumpy tumbler half filled with crushed ice. Add the pressé and lime juice and garnish with the basil and cucumber.