Wild About Botanicals – exploring the history of gin this Summer, with Nicholson’s

Picture it. A summers’ evening, a rough-hewn wooden table surrounded by worn down wooden benches, topped with sparkling glasses full of something cold and condensation-traily inviting you to grab them and drink them down as you relax in the warmth of the surroundings.

It sounds wonderful to me.

And even more wonderful if the sparkling glasses are actually quirky little cups, and the drink in question happens to be gin… which, in the case of Nicholson’s, it is. This summer, Nicholson’s pubs are taking a long look back to Victorian times, back in fact to the original pub founder William Nicholson, who ran the family gin distillery in London and was responsible for choosing where it would go on to be served.

Just the words ‘Victorian gin den’ make me go a little bit tingly…

And I was invited to go and find out all about the different gin on offer. Who can say no to that? Well, I had to say no as it turns out, being in New Zealand as I was – but my Mum was quite happy to along on my behalf and find out all about it instead:

Moggy here!

Now, I might be the ‘mother of the gadget geek’, but I’m not sure if that was the reasoning behind the invitation to review various types of ‘mother’s ruin’! Having said that, I was delighted to receive the invitation to a gin-tasting event at a London ‘gin palace’, G&T being my pre-dinner/summer evening tipple of choice!

On arriving at the Clachan, conveniently placed behind Liberty’s, I was greeted with a large G&T with a slice of lime – a very civilised way to end the working day. We had a talk on the history of gin in London, which I found fascinating. I was particularly interested in the connections to the River Lea, having a great interest in the area (indeed I recently spent an idyllic day travelling down to London on a canal boat on said river!) Apparently there used to be a gin distillery at Three Mills – a fact I had been unaware of. The Victorian opulence of the private function room at the Clachan suited the theme of a rather decadent history. We listened intently to Olivia Williams, the author of ‘Gin,Glorious Gin – How Mothers Ruin Became the Spirit of London’, as she followed the history of gin in London – from being the downfall of many unfortunates (a copy of the engraving ‘Gin Lane’ was shown as a salutary warning) to becoming a popular and acceptable drink, appreciated by all ages – well, those over 18 of course, anyway!

We were then able to sample the products of several distilleries, and were informed about the distinctive qualities attributed to the botanicals used in their creation. Adnam’s copper House had delicious flowery notes. Williams (no apostrophe because it was the surname) variety had a fascinating history involving potatoes and the bottle looked resplendent in it’s patriotic bow tie – I very much liked the idea of a product having no heritage and being able to take the ideas of others and develop them so the gin evolves and improves. Opihr was unusually served with ginger ale, to complement the botanicals of Eastern origins used to make it. Apparently, Opihr’s Joanne Moore is not only creative with her ideas, but is also the first female master distiller of gin, for those of you concerned with equality issues! I must admit, I still have a penchant for Hendrick’s gin with it’s cucumber stick and also very much enjoy Bombay Sapphire – I recently took a bottle to a friend in Norway who was duly inducted into the London pre-dinner G&T habit! (Later followed by a foray to a Norwegian bar for copious quantities of beer, but that’s another story…)

I must admit, I never had any idea that there was so much history in the world of gin. But with all these different gin varieties on offer, there is certainly a good reason to go and find out about it, with an interesting back story to think about at you sip the summer evenings away at Nicholson’s:

• Adnams: a classic London Dry gin with unique hibiscus petal botanicals.
• Hendricks: handcrafted Scottish gin infused with rose and cucumber.
• Bombay Sapphire: a soft, vapour-infused gin with a lighter juniper hit.
• Chase GB: a very dry gin made with multi-award winning Chase vodka.
• Opihr Oriental Spiced Gin: made with botanicals from along the ancient spice route.
• Tanqueray: a triple-distilled gin with four botanicals, including juniper.

I’ll take a Hendricks, please!

 

 

Disclosure: we were invited along to the Clachan, a Nicholson’s pub, to explore the history of gin alongside tasting all the different varieties, but all my opinions are my own – aside from those of my mother, which are hers.