I know this is a bit late, but here are my gin picks for May 2017! Read down for a Twitter gin competition!

May Gin picks:

1. Warner Edwards Melissa 

I’ve been recently reintroduced to the Warner Edwards Melissa that was launched last year. It’s light herbal flavours work well for summery cocktails and of course gin and tonics. It is inspired by the botanical garden at the Warner Edwards distillery and there are more gins coming from the same inspirational source! At some point Gin Club with a Reading Problem needs to have a gin outing to visit!

 

2. Caspyn gins and summer cup*

You may have already seen Caspyn gin on social media. Made in Cornwall they have a classic Cornish Dry gin, a Midsummer gin and a Summer Cup. The Cornish gin is all about the floral and citrus flavours – another gin great for Summer! But the distillers Pocketful of Stones, took it one step further with the Midsummer gin, evoking long hot summer days in Cornwall, with extra local flowers and cucumber at the fore. This would be a perfect thirst quenching long drink, either with a tonic like Peter Spanton’s Lemongrass tonic or even with FeverTree Scilian Lemonade.

What is definitely made for a Summer BBQ drink is the Summer Cup. This beauty is not any Summer drink to be diluted with lemonade, oh no! It’s a delightful mix of botanicals, raspberry juice, port wine and spirits. Perfect served long with Summer fruit and either lemonade or ginger ale and of course enjoyed in the evening sun. Full review coming soon!

3. Bimber gin

Bimber is another gin that I’ve know about for a while, but only recently tried it as The Oliver Conquest’s gin of the month.

 

The classic gin is exactly that – a classic! Lots of lovely juniper and citrus notes with a long finish, that pairs well with the Aromatic tonic with the touch of bitters. It would make some beautiful cocktails too.

Bimber also have a full range of vodka – including fruit ones – and they make an aged version that would go down very well with gin fans. The aging trend is definitely something that is growing in gin at the moment, so I wait to see what ginovations they will come up with next!

4. Brockmans Summer launch 

Brockmans gin is an old friend of mine. I was invited to their summer launch party in The Victorian Bathhouse near Liverpool Street. This was a feast for all the senses, with dress up, gin infused food, cocktails and fire eaters/dancers!

We were served various gin based nibbles – my favourites were the venison and the Brockmans cocktail inspired ice cream! We also enjoyed several different Brockmans gin cocktails.

 

Brockmans have now released tickets for their next event – Press for Gin nights on Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th of July 8-11pm at the ArcelorMittal slide in the Olympic Park! Press the button for gin, slide down and retrieve your gin and tonic. At the bar at the top there are 3 different cocktails to try and 5 ginspired canapes similar to the ones I tried a the launch event. Tickets are £35 each and available via Timeout 

Twitter competition now live!

Follow What’s Katie Doing and Brockmans Gin and retweet this tweet to be in with a chance to win a pair of tickets for 25th July!

RT & follow @katiebhughes & @BrockmansGin to win tickets to the #PressForGin event at ArcelorMittal on 25 July https://t.co/HhEJo8Dihz

— What’s Katie Doing? (@katiebhughes) July 3, 2017

Competition ends 9th July and winner will be drawn on 10th July, winner must provide name and email address to receive tickets.

Other gin related things:

1. Gin and tonic chocolate
2. Peter Spanton tonics

I discovered both of these at the Geffrye museum late night Gin event*. This event leveraged the heritage of the museum with the craze for gin in the 1700s. Even my favourite 1700’s gin whore was there, explaining the history of gin and giving out samples of One gin.

In addition there was food, amazing gin cocktails, free run of the museum and gin related activities, such as gin riot gin making and a masterclass in making gin from East London Liquor Company. All in all a fabulous night!

The gin and tonic chocolate and the Peter Spanton tonics were available at the museum shop for the evening. Peter Spanton comes in amazing flavours such as lemongrass and cardamom and so I had to buy some. The recommended serve for the One gin is with the cardamom tonic ?.

 

 

*I was a guest at the Brockmans Summer launch and the Geffrye Museum late night gin event and Caspyn provided me with free samples, but as ever, all opinions remain my own!