The Colonel Fawcett in Camden is my nearest gin pub (with great food too!) – so when they host FREE gin tastings I’m there in a flash and usually with a few gin club members in tow!
January’s tasting was extra special as there were two lovely gins to try!
The subtle Mews gin
The awesomely flavoured Pink Pepper
Gin!
When we first arrived they were awaiting a delivery to organise the samples, so we grabbed some food to line our stomachs:
Gorgeous scotch eggs with piccalilli
Lamb croquettes with Harissa mayo
After our gastro interlude we started with Mews gin.
A proper craft gin made in small batches in Surrey, Mews is run by a father and son team. The gin uses the vapour distillation method – which takes longer and produces less per batch, but it’s this lighter process where the 11 botanicals don’t actually come into direct contact with the spirit, that gives Mews its light and subtle London Dry style Gin.
This leads on to their suggested serve = neat! We tried the gin neat as a taster before trying their perfect serve. There is the classic London Dry juniper on the nose and a very light delicate flavour, they actually recommend it in a martini. I reckon they would be dangerous as they would slip down way too easily!
Perfect serve is with a light tonic (FeverTree was perfect) and not too much cucumber as it’s a surprisingly overpowering flavour.
The 11 botanicals in Mews include those with medicinal properties, so basically it’s good for you!
Juniper (good for arthritis)
Lavender (anti stress and it smells good too!)
Angelica (good for colds)
Coriander
Pink peppercorn – a berry with a sweet taste – counteracts sharp taste of pepper
Liquorice
Cubeb
Orange & lemon peel
Bark powders – cassia bark and Orris root (part of love potions, so perfect for Valentines!)
They tell me that if you serve with fruit or cucumber, it’s one of your five a day…?
They the currently experimenting with sloes and crab apples – so watch this space for future variations!
Then after a brief break was the Colonel Fawcett’s gin of the month = Pink Pepper:
Perfect serve with pink grapefruit and FeverTree tonic.
Pink Pepper gin is made by Audemus spirits in the heart of Cognac, France by Ian Spink and Miko Abouaf. Ian was at the Colonel Fawcett along with their ‘Public face’ Pippa. They ran an interactive session, teaching us some random things as well as spreading their love of this gin in particular, but also all their spirits!
So we tried the Pink Pepper neat to start with and at room temperature and I loved it! The combination of spicy notes and pepper with the honey and vanilla is amazing, it reminded me of a unique dessert – sweet and spicy!
They made this gin as an example of what they could do – Miko was playing around with the pink pepper for a while! Audemus use a rotovap, allowing a lower temperature distillation and distill each botanical separately before blending them together for the final product.
The other botanicals include:
Juniper
Cinnamon
Black cardamom
Local honey
Vanilla infusion
Tonka bean infusion
And 2 secret ingredients!
They don’t use a fixer like orris root, which means that the flavour develops in the bottle and changes when you chill it – for example when adding ice.
So obviously we tried that too… The ice releases the background notes (some of those secret ingredients!) and I thought it made it sweeter too.
Perfect serve – FeverTree and grapefruit, they also recommend with the Elderflower tonic topped up with prosecco!
Whilst I enjoyed it neat as a sipping gin, it would work well as a martini or negroni, due to the change in character when chilled.
Check out their website for more cocktail suggestions.
Posing with Ian and the bottle of Old Ma’s – their barrel aged gin (they use port barrels), my geeky gin knowledge won me a taste (oh and my speedy social media following!)
Why not come along for the next FREE gin tasting at 6.30pm on 23rd February – just give the Colonel Fawcett a call to reserve a spot, check out their website or social media for more details.
Abi says
This sounds absolutely amazing! Gin and nibbles, what more could want?
Katie says
Always a winner Abi!