Skip to main content

6 Unique Gin & Tonics Tasted @ the Darcy O'Neil event: G&T Paradox

Darcy did a great job, in hosting this event and we had quite a lot of guests who could try the different G&T.

Unfortunately I didn't made pictures...

Cucumber & Coriander G&T with Strawberry
Darcy: Strawberry & coriander share similar aroma compounds; coriander is further very common in gin.
Darcy emulsified coriander essential oil in simple syrup, he was using for the drink.
That we quite a slam-dunk - most guest liked it. It was very refreshing and very cool - we used Plymouth for it, which was definitely a great company with the drink.

Cardamon & Mint G&T
Darcy used the popularity of the Mojito, to "capture" guests - the cardamom syrup (again made with essential oils and emulsification) was giving it a more unique and Middle Eastern flair - basically there was only cardamom syrup, gin, mint, lemon and tonic water involved.
Again very refreshing, with a distinctive oriental note. We used partly Plymouth and Bombay Sapphire for it and both gins worked very well.

Orange Blossom G&T
Darcy's recipe included gin, Campari Bitter, little bit syrup, orange blossom water and East Imperial Yuzu Tonic.
A drink with a girly pink color, but a taste which isn't girly at all... the Campari highlights the bitterness... very interesting - would be a cool aperitivo. Overall the drink sports a very floral aroma - which is not for everyone - but was definitely a favorite for some.

Cinchona G&T
Darcy infused cinchona bark in gin (with the help of a vortex vacuum magnet stirrer).
I tried the infusion, and it was ultra bitter and covered up all botanicals of the gin...
He called it a G&T which you would have had way back in time...
The rest was just Plymouth gin, lime and East Imperial tonic water.
That was interesting... I liked the drink (even though it was a "golden G&T and not the usual white/clear one). The earthiness of the cinchona bark played very well with the botanicals of the gin (if you use only a barspoon of the essence).

Lime & Juniper G&T
Darcy: "Make a highball using gin, tonic and lime-juniper syrup to make asoda style gin and tonic.

Enhanced recipe using essential oils of juniper and lime as they would have done in the 1800s
Tinctures will be made with gin and the essential oil to dilute the concentration.
Key Lime essential oil."
Very, very refreshing but not for everyone. The juniper quite sticks out - but is well contained by the fresh lime aromas. It seems, that they didn't drank badly in the 19th century... however we could have replicated a 19th century Old Tom Gin - unfortunately we didn't thought about this at this time...

The Dirty G&T
That was my idea... but Darcy used his "Ritz-Salt" - a really interesting combination of different mineral salts to "make it sing".
Ingredients were: Plymouth navy and vodka, olive leaf hydrosol, tonic water and "Ritz-salt".
This was probably the most controversial one (probably most people won't be surprised). Very strong briny and herbal aromas - not sweet at all... very grown up... probably I would only have one...

So that's about it. Tomorrow we will have the "Science of Taste Event" with wine... and I am looking again very much forward to it.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How to use citric acid - and why you might not want to use it anyway!

To be honest, I shied away of this topic, because I think, people can misinterpret this - big time. I don't want to be part of the problem - I want to be part of the solution!  But when Chris, over at A Bar Above  discussed this subject- I literally could not resist to join into "the discussion". Here is the video: I - however take a bit slower approach than Chris. What is citric acid? Chemical Compound Citric acid is a weak organic acid with the formula C6H8O7. It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic or sour taste to foods and drinks. Wikipedia Formula: C6H8O7 Molar Mass: 192.124 g/mol Melting Point: 153C Density: 1.66 g/cm3 Boiling point: 175C Soluble in: Water Why is it controversial? In my "mixology world" it is controversial, as citric acid is the stuff, which makes the nightmarish sour mix [ preferably in powder form ] sour. Yeah - citric acid is the main ingredient in one of the most

Agar-Agar Clarification

Not often, I am posting here things, which are clearly not my ideas... However Dave Arnold is clearly a mad scientist [no, he really is!] - and he posted amazing stuff on his website www.cookingissues.com - no - don't click now - just follow the link later. One of the most impressive posts about mixology, besides of demystifying the mechanics of shaking, were clarification techniques. Look, after him, you could use a centrifuge [which would set you back a couple thousand bucks] and a chemical compound, which solidifies sediments. I am not a fan of that. Then there is gelatine clarification; this works quite well [I tried it several times my self] - you gelatinize a liquid [with little gelatine only], freeze it, thaw it [in the fridge] over a colander and a muslin cloth. Thats it. Unfortunately this has several problems: Gelatine is made out of animal bones - hence it is neither vegetarian nor vegan, which you won't usually expect of a beverage. You have to freez

King Robert II Vodka

Who would knew, that I am reviewing a budget vodka here - on the opinionatedalchemist.com. But this isn't a normal review. I skip the marketing perception and use this product to cut directly to the case: Vodka is a "rather" neutral, colorless, "rather" flavorless and odorless distilled beverage from any agricultural source - and depending on the country, it has a minimum of 37.5% and 40% abv. As I said time and time again before: at times it is absolutely nonsense to talk about premium and luxury, when the original product doesn't really "hold this promise". Luxury water can have luxurious marketing, luxurious packaging, can be even rare and slightly more expensive "to produce". However really it is just water. Maybe it has some nuances to normal water - however those nuances (in a blind-test) are pretty small. Vodka is extremely similar - and the chain of evidence (despite a lot of people trying to proof otherwise) makes it re