Best Gin?

Just been to Morrisons and came back with some of their own label London Dry Gin. There was just one bottle left, (which did seems a little strange - it actually said it was out of stock but I found a lone bottle sitting on the wrong shelf), and it seemed worth a punt at £15.

When I got back I checked the reviews and found out it has recently come top in a blind taste test run by Which? magazine. Above Gordons, Greenhalls, Beefeater and the like. So on the strength of the Which report it seems to have pretty much sold out. Also, it has apparently miraculously gone up in price by £4-50 a bottle as when the report was published, only recently, it was just £11-49 a bottle. Tsk, supply and demand...m

Thinking of asking for some Gin for Christmas. Only ever had Bombay Sapphire and Gordon's, both of which I thought were nice. I could tell a difference, but didn't really prefer one over the other (and no idea which tonic water was used either!).

I kinda feel like trying something else, but am unsure as to which one. Any recommendations for something that's nice and easily available from supermarkets? Tanqueray Ten seems to be markedly more expensive than others...is it worth the extra cost?

Advent7 wrote:Plymouth gin is really nice and I'm partial to a bit of Bombay sapphire.

This. Bombay Sapphire goes down nice

Sipsmith or Caorunn

Got some Tanqueray 10 for Xmas, what is the best tonic to mix in with?

Fevertree I'm guessing, but there several varieties.

Schweppes is the best.

Silent Pool is pretty gooseberry fool hot.

Cyburn2 wrote:Got some Tanqueray 10 for Xmas, what is the best tonic to mix in with?

Fevertree I'm guessing, but there several varieties.

Theres a new one I tried recently with gin, orange and cinnamon. My days.

Even the regular FT indian tonic is miles ahead of Schweppes.

Dual wrote:Schweppes is the best.

I sincerely hope that that’s ironic!

darksideby182 wrote:Silent Pool is pretty gooseberry fool hot.

Lucky sod. On my list but never seen at a good price. I’ve got some Beefeater 24 and it’s bloody lovely. (I rate straight Beefeater highly though.)

still wrote:

darksideby182 wrote:Silent Pool is pretty gooseberry fool hot.

Lucky sod. On my list but never seen at a good price. I’ve got some Beefeater 24 and it’s bloody lovely. (I rate straight Beefeater highly though.)

They have it in a lot of pubs/bars in my area as it's distilled not far from me.

still wrote:

Dual wrote:Schweppes is the best.

I sincerely hope that that’s ironic!

No! It's a classic neutral taste that doesn't over power the gin which I find fever tree does.

Got to have it with big ice cubes and lemon as well.

Dual wrote:

still wrote:

Dual wrote:Schweppes is the best.

I sincerely hope that that’s ironic!

No! It's a classic neutral taste that doesn't over power the gin which I find fever tree does.

Got to have it with big ice cubes and lemon as well.

Dual, with respect, it’s revolting! If you like having artificial sweeteners rammed down your throat then go ahead but Schweppes lost that classic taste 20 odd years ago - before Fevertree came along the only, far better, alternative was Britvic. Try a few blind tastes. Personally the taste of Aspartine is absolutely rank for me.

Edit. Whoah, seems like I was wrong. They’ve now dispensed with the artificial sweeteners. Now it just contains high fructose corn syrup and sodium benzoate instead! Thanks but I’ll pass.

Edit2. Dual, what are your favourite gins? For ‘everyday’ I go for Beefeater. More expensively, I like Gin Mare and Sipsmith. Finding that a lot are seriously over priced newcomers though......

still wrote:

Dual wrote:

still wrote:

Dual wrote:Schweppes is the best.

I sincerely hope that that’s ironic!

No! It's a classic neutral taste that doesn't over power the gin which I find fever tree does.

Got to have it with big ice cubes and lemon as well.

Dual, with respect, it’s revolting! If you like having artificial sweeteners rammed down your throat then go ahead but Schweppes lost that classic taste 20 odd years ago - before Fevertree came along the only, far better, alternative was Britvic. Try a few blind tastes. Personally the taste of Aspartine is absolutely rank for me.

Edit. Whoah, seems like I was wrong. They’ve now dispensed with the artificial sweeteners. Now it just contains high fructose corn syrup and sodium benzoate instead! Thanks but I’ll pass.

Edit2. Dual, what are your favourite gins? For ‘everyday’ I go for Beefeater. More expensively, I like Gin Mare and Sipsmith. Finding that a lot are seriously over priced newcomers though......

Doesn't look like I'll change your mind but for me Schweppes is the taste of tonic water in the same way way Coca Cola is the taste of cola. (You wouldn't make a Cuba Libre out of anything but Coca Cola would you?)

I always keep Gordon's on the shelf but have recently enjoyed bottles of Martin Miller's Original Gin and Langley's No.8. Two gins so good I can (but I don't often) drink neat. Don't think they're too expensive either but they were gifts.

http://www.martinmillersgin.com/the-gin ... llers-gin/
http://langleysgin.com/langleys-no-8/

A friend of mine makes gin with foraged ingredients in Sussex and it's very nice, www.slakespirits.com

Dual wrote:

still wrote:

Dual wrote:

still wrote:

Dual wrote:Schweppes is the best.

I sincerely hope that that’s ironic!

No! It's a classic neutral taste that doesn't over power the gin which I find fever tree does.

Got to have it with big ice cubes and lemon as well.

Dual, with respect, it’s revolting! If you like having artificial sweeteners rammed down your throat then go ahead but Schweppes lost that classic taste 20 odd years ago - before Fevertree came along the only, far better, alternative was Britvic. Try a few blind tastes. Personally the taste of Aspartine is absolutely rank for me.

Edit. Whoah, seems like I was wrong. They’ve now dispensed with the artificial sweeteners. Now it just contains high fructose corn syrup and sodium benzoate instead! Thanks but I’ll pass.

Edit2. Dual, what are your favourite gins? For ‘everyday’ I go for Beefeater. More expensively, I like Gin Mare and Sipsmith. Finding that a lot are seriously over priced newcomers though......

Doesn't look like I'll change your mind but for me Schweppes is the taste of tonic water in the same way way Coca Cola is the taste of cola. (You wouldn't make a Cuba Libre out of anything but Coca Cola would you?)

I always keep Gordon's on the shelf but have recently enjoyed bottles of Martin Miller's Original Gin and Langley's No.8. Two gins so good I can (but I don't often) drink neat. Don't think they're too expensive either but they were gifts.

http://www.martinmillersgin.com/the-gin ... llers-gin/
http://langleysgin.com/langleys-no-8/

Yeah, I don't think we are going to agree on this one!! Once you've drunk Beefeater then Gordons is utterly redundant!, (trouble is that Beefeater can be hard to find - I know Co-op do it and, I think, Asda but not seen it anywhere else.) Millers, for me, is totally bland. The Langleys is on the list to try at some point though.

Trouble, for me, is that suddenly everyone thinks they can make gin. Experiment a bit, stick on a posh label and charge the earth! The gin craze is good but there are so many 'johnny come latelys' out there it's untrue!

Edit: this website is one of the best on gin:-

http://www.ginfoundry.com

edit2: - they've got this in our local Co-op. I'm tempted but it's a bit on the expensive side. Supposedly made to a genuine heritage recipe with horseradish in it!

http://www.ginfoundry.com/gin/thomas-dakin-gin/

Edit, edit, edit, edit. (I like to do my research!!) Seems like the Schweppes tonic recipe with fructose corn syrup in it is the American variety. Uk version is still stuffed with sweeteners. (Sodium Saccharine). I can't stand the taste of artificial sweeteners!

Green Gecko wrote:A friend of mine makes gin with foraged ingredients in Sussex and it's very nice, http://www.slakespirits.com

Very interesting. Not sure we'll see it up here in t'North though!

Went with the Fevertree Mediterranean in the end.

May get the Aromatic next time.

Hime wrote:Hendricks is my favourite. Cocktail bar shaves cucumber slices and wraps them round the inside of the glass which looks awesome. I'm pretty new to the gin world and didn't realise the tonic water was such a big deal.

My sister bought me some rhubarb flavoured gin from Edinburgh for my birthday that is lovely. I'm not normally one for infused spirits but I'd definitely recommend this.

Ooh, I got a small bottle of this for xmas. Very nice. Have you tried the Whitley and Neill one, rhubarb and ginger? REALLY nice.

still wrote:

Dual wrote:

still wrote:

Dual wrote:Schweppes is the best.

I sincerely hope that that’s ironic!

No! It's a classic neutral taste that doesn't over power the gin which I find fever tree does.

Got to have it with big ice cubes and lemon as well.

Dual, with respect, it’s revolting! If you like having artificial sweeteners rammed down your throat then go ahead but Schweppes lost that classic taste 20 odd years ago - before Fevertree came along the only, far better, alternative was Britvic. Try a few blind tastes. Personally the taste of Aspartine is absolutely rank for me.

Edit. Whoah, seems like I was wrong. They’ve now dispensed with the artificial sweeteners. Now it just contains high fructose corn syrup and sodium benzoate instead! Thanks but I’ll pass.

Edit2. Dual, what are your favourite gins? For ‘everyday’ I go for Beefeater. More expensively, I like Gin Mare and Sipsmith. Finding that a lot are seriously over priced newcomers though......

I think if you drink 'cheap' gins (like Gordons), that Schweppes goes well, taste-wise, with it, as they kind of hide each other's tastes. If you use expensive tonic with cheap gin, it will make the gin taste worse, rather than masking the taste. And, if you use expensive/decent gin with cheap tonic, it will just get overpowered by the tonic. So, either go 'expensive/expensive' or 'cheap/cheap', don't mix them.

Of course, each to their own etc.