Thursday, July 22, 2010
Drink Gin — it's what's for lunch at Tales of the Cocktail
Posted by Scott Henry @ScottTheHenry on Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 3:09 PM
A ballroom-full of TOC attendees are now receiving a lecture on the history of gin — developed by the Dutch, refined by the British — from Esquire drinks columnist David Wondrich. As always, everyone's got a few samples in front of him:
>> Traditional Dutch genever, which is heavy on the tongue and has a strong, varnish-y flavor similar to an Eastern European fruit brandy, like a toned-down slivovitz. An acquired taste, to be sure.
>> Old Tom gin, another old-school style recently revived, with slightly more juniper flavor, but smoother, with a faintly vanilla taste
>> Plymouth gin, dryer, but still has a nicely rounded flavor, not as strong with the juniper
>> London dry gin, dryer and still more juniper. A few years ago, this was the only gin available in most liquor stores. It's also the reason I didn't drink much gin back then.
>> "Bath tub" gin, made at home by one of the panelists — sweet, candy-ish, moonshine-y flavor. Actually, I can see why this shit was so popular during Prohibition.
Meanwhile, TOC staffers are bringing around gin-based cocktails: a light, pleasant pineapple julip; an anise-infused Last Word (put-you-under-the-table strong!); and a Satan's Whiskers, dryer and flavored with orange.
Did you know that gin was the most popular spirit sold in the U.S. until toppled by vodka in the late '60s? Makes sense when you think about the Martini rage of the "Mad Men" era. Certainly, American bars have come a long way since Beefeater and Tanqueray ruled the roost. As Wondrich says, "When I started drinking, gin was the least cool thing you could order." Now, as boutique gin has become trendy again, it's all about botanicals and which herbs are used.
Oops, time's up. On to the next seminar.
Comments (1)
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Just be aware of the tonic if you are drinking a gin and tonic. Our friends at the soda companies are putting in as much high fructose Corn Syrup into tonic as they do in soda. I got a sodastream machine that carbonates my tap water to which i can add tonic flavoring. Unfortunately I can't bring my own tonic to bars.
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