Park Avenue
2oz Gin
1/2oz Grand Marnier
1/2oz Sweet Vermouth
1oz Pineapple Juice
Shake all Ingredients with Ice and fine strain into a Coupe
The scent screams oranges, you definitely know that there is Grand Marnier in the Cocktail; However, on the palette there is only a small trace of orange, the pineapple although subtle brings sweetness and rounds the otherwise strong floral flavours of the gin.
The Bramble
1 1/2oz Gin
3/4oz Lemon Juice
1/2oz Simple Syrup
3/4oz Creme de Mure (or Creme de Cassis, if Mure is not available)
Fill a rocks glass with Crushed ice
Pour Gin, Lemon Juice and Simple Syrup over the ice and stir
Drizzle the Creme de Mure over the top of the cocktail
Garnish with a Lemon wedge and 2 raspberries
This is one of the cocktails I have always found visually appealing, and have always wanted to make, yet simply it is never on my mind when I’m making cocktails. I finally decided to break my posting drought and bring you a rather popular cocktail.
The Bramble is a very simple cocktail that uses widely available ingredients, and takes very little time to prepare. In fact, its dead bloody simple.
I did not mix the Creme de Mure with the rest of the cocktail before I started drinking it, which resulted in the top of the cocktail tasting slightly tart and having strong (but very pleasant) flavours of the Martin Millers Gin that I used; As I approached the read:dreaded the bottom of the glass, the cocktail became quite sweet and fruity, there were still traces of the gin and lemon juice, however they were heavily subdued.
A cocktail for the warm Summer or Spring months.
A1 Cocktail
The Mash Bill:
1 3/4oz Gin
1oz Gran Marnier
1/4oz Lemon Juice
1/8oz Grenadine
The Work Order:
Martin Millers Gin
A small batch distilled London Dry Gin, one whose distillation process is quite a journey literally. Once the distilling in London has been completed, it is shipped over to Iceland to be blended with ‘The purest water on earth’ to give the gin a clean, fresh, crisp taste.
The bottle is a rather eye catching, It stands tall with bevelled corners, its silver and blue colour scheme compliments the clear liquid that it encapsulates. The aspect of the bottle that I like the most is the ‘map’ that is printed on the back of the bottle (so you can see it from the front) that shows you the ‘path the gin travels’ from London to Iceland.
Martin Millers comes in two varieties, the standard 80proof and a ‘Westbourne Strength’ at 90.4proof, I am reviewing the 80proof.
On the nose the gin is soft, dominated by orange/mandarin zest the fragrance that is released from the glass does not contain a large amount of juniper nor many strong herbs, lighter more refreshing herbs are present, corriander, thyme and lemon grass. This gin reminds me of fresh green grass. Impressive.
This gin is by far, the smoothest, most enjoyable gin that I have indulged in. The softness that was found in it fragrance carries over to its taste and mouth feel. On first contact, there is no burn, there are no harsh flavours or imbalances, its simply smooth, it rolls across your tongue leaving nothing but an ever so slight spiciness. How many times have you had a gin, that had these properties, while neat? I am stunned, I haven’t even gotten around to putting it over ice yet.
Picking flavours out of a smooth, soft spirit can sometimes be a challenge, and this is no exception, there are soft floral properties, bursts of lemon and orange, and hints of juniper, coriander and anise. Once over ice, the spirit becomes very light, almost like cold water, except with a herbal back end to it, the citrus notes fade and ‘rootier’ flavour dominates the drink.
This is one gin that I will be saving for use in special cocktails, its soft touch will make for amazing Martinis (which I have been acquiring a taste for since I made one for the first time when I started this site)
Martin Millers Gin sells for around $65AUD and is well worth a look if you can find it.
Cocktails
Mississippi Mule
2oz Gin
1/2oz Creme de Cassis
1/2oz Lemon Juice
Genoa
2oz Gin
1 1/2oz Grappa
1/2oz White Sambuca
2tsp Dry Vermouth
Olive garnish
Lark Distillery Pepperberry Gin
Up until today I thought that all gin was clear, a white spirit. However a bottle of Cadenhead’s Old Raj turned up, and with its straw-like colour (like a white wine or vermouth) completely caught me off guard. So to clarify, Pepperberry Gin is a white spirit, completely clear, no colour to it!
The Gin is filled with sweet, yet dry aromas including the zest of lemon, limes and oranges, and spicy pepper, there is no real floral bouquet, well not the kind of potent, overpowering fragrance that you get from most gins, it is subtle and very pleasant.
The gin smells sweet and refreshing, fruity at some points, reminding me of spearmint, mandarins, and lemon zest. The gin possesses an almost perfume like aroma.
Pepperberry gin brings a uniqueness to gin, its fruity flavours of citrus juices, herbal and spice notes including juniper and cracked pepper. The pepperberries give the spirit a slight herbal spice that I have not experienced in other gins (apart from the spicy burn in low grade spirits, which is a different spice!).
In the mouth its very smooth, and rounded, I would consider this a trait of the malted barley spirit that this gin is made with, a slight tickle of the throat is all that comes about as you swallow the spirit, no nasty nasal burn nor harshness on the throat. Pepperberry Gin leaves your mouth feeling both moist and dry, which I havnt really found before, or only to a small degree, this uniqueness eventually fades to an almost dry finish with slight sweetness and floral notes.
Pepperberry Gin can be bought HERE for $19.50/200ml or $41.00/500ml or $54.50/700ml
Cocktails:
Central Park Cocktail
2oz Gin
4oz tomato juice
1oz lime juice
3 drops of vanilla extract
pinch of cayenne pepper
vanilla bean
cherry tomato
Margret’s Distilled Dry Gin
Another fantastic product from my home state. Visually the gin is how you would expect it to be, clear and water like. The bottle is a simple round bottle with a wax covered cork enclosure, nothing really stands out about the packaging of this little bottle.
As with most of the spirits distilled by Great Southern, this Gin is made from high quality grapes from Australia’s South-West; This really shows in this gin, leaving you with an almost wine style aroma. Juniper and citrus notes are the most prominent with hints of coriander and cardamom, it reminds me a lot of Indian cooking.
I was eager to taste this gin, so much so that I had a swig of it the moment I got hold of the bottle, and to be honest, it was a little harsh, there was some tingling going on.. The subtle flavours that you expect in a gin were swept away.
Luckily for me, the second time around it was much better! this time I sipped it on the rocks, and its much, much nicer. There is still a small amount of burn however this is something that you come to expect in a gin, and quite frankly it wasn’t off putting so its not an issue.
Margret’s is interesting in the way that its flavours move around your mouth, from floral hints of Juniper and herbs, anise and to a dry white wine style . The after taste is that of dry white wine, and dried herbal notes.
This is an interesting gin, it has a fantastic bouquet, and has a unique taste when compared to other gins due to the fact that it is distilled from grapes.
Margret’s Gin retails for around $70, which in my opinion may be getting a little expensive, however it is well worth a try for its flavour if you can get your hands on a bottle.
Singapore Sling Cocktail
The Mash Bill:
1/2oz Cherry Herring
1oz Gin
1/4oz Cointreau
1/4oz Dom Benedictine
1/3oz Grenadine
1/2oz Lime Juice
4oz Pineapple Juice
Dash Angostura Bitters
The Work Order:
My Thoughts:
It’s not as artificially red as many Singapore Slings I have seen, maybe just due to the type of grenadine that I used. The sling gives of an aromatic aroma, due to the bitters, which makes it smell similar to a Lemon, Lime and bitters. There is a sweet, yet sour flavour that accompanies the pineapple in the drink, this is the dominant flavour. Hints of cherry are noticeable in the after taste, there is no real alcohol flavour to the drink, the gin, while strong and aromatic is well hidden.
A refreshingly fruity cocktail and one I will definitely make again in the future.
Royal 61
The Mash Bill:
1 1/2oz gin
1oz creme de cassis
1 oz watermelon syrup (Click HERE for the Recipe)
Juice of 1/2 lime
Champagne
The Work Order:
My Thoughts:
A very sweet, and slightly syrupy cocktail, the watermelon/berry flavour is dominating in this cocktail and it leaves very little gin taste.
Izakaya Garden Cocktail
The Mash Bill:
2oz Gin
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
4 – 5 mint leaves
Small chunk of cucumber
1 bar spoon fresh diced ginger
The Work Order:
My Thoughts:
A very different style of cocktail than I am used to making, this is more of a savoury cocktail. It accompanied the chinese that I made for dinner perfectly, its refreshing cucumber flavour, with the
spiciness of the ginger made a very unique flavour.
The flavours of the Gin were present, however they were slightly dulled, which was a nice touch.
The aftertaste is of spicy-ginger and gin, and hangs in your mouth for a minute or so after you last sip.
It was different, and not something that I thought would work, however it does, and if the time and place called for a savory cocktail, I would make this one again.
Cloister
The Mash Bill:
1 1/2oz Gin
1/2oz Yellow Chartreuse
1/2oz Grapefruit Juice
1/4oz Lemon Juice
1/4oz Simple Syrup
The Work Order:
My Thoughts:
A pale yellow colour, no real change from the colour of the grapefruit juice. There is a sour, bitter taste that the grapefruit gives the drink, this isnt really affected by the sugar.The yellow Chartreuse cuts through the other ingredients towards the end of the drink, leaving you with a strong, herbal flavours.
This wasnt a horrible cocktail, however I cant say that this is a drink that I will be making again.
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