There was a time when Gin only came from a couple of places around the world. Holland, England, India, your bathtub... Gin used to be a cheap drunk for a poor man.
Beer Street/Gin Lane is a famous picture by William Hogarth that depicted the "evils" of Gin over the "much less evil" beer.
I understand the historic and social significance of creating a stigma over the enjoyment of Gin. It's cheap and powerful.
Until very recent times, Gin was purely a liquid specifically designed to make you rather tipsy.
These new expressions teach me about flavor!
Enter the New World of unique- Botanical Gins.
St. George in the San Francisco suburb known as Alemeda is hand-crafting Gin with real flavor and character. They produce a Terroir Gin, named for the flavor of the place. In this case the place is Mt. Tam, surrounded by verdant redwood groves and oak woodlands. The predominant flavor of the place is briny salt air and the taste of the pine trees. Their Botanivore Gin is a burst of scrub brush and bay laurel. Finally their Rye Gin (yes, Rye!) is an infatuation with Whiskey in all its forms.
Tasting notes are as follows. This is highly individualistic stuff.. You have no idea until the first sip. BEWARE, Vodka-heads might not like what they taste. What is that? FLAVOR!
I took the photograph with the Leica M8- 50mm Summicron F2. My friend Susan Cohan from Leaf Magazine helped me in this tasting with her abundant love of Gin!
St. George Alameda California Botanivore
WOW.. This Gin hits your mouth like a Hank Williams song on an empty stomach. Like a woman’s perfume should be. The aroma of burnt menthol cigarettes. Fear of the dark. Bay laurel nose, a run through nighttime pre-revolutionary Abidjan in the Ivory Coast completely twisted on Gin and Tonics without care for your own safety. A slurp of this Gin and a splash of Q-Tonic water is all I crave. I miss the Ivory Coast!
St. George Rye Gin
You can smell the rye. Then revealing itself this mouth stinging white whisky feeling. Finn Crisp Rye nose and a lusty finish. This Gin is masquerading as white whisky- through and through. Did I tell you it’s on the tip of my tongue? Yes. White. Whiskey. A bit of a bite and it doesn’t settle down on your palate. A fabulous mixing gin – very close to the Hendrick’s Gin in the Turkish Rosewater notes. More traditional in relation to classic London Gin. I'm impressed. I'm going to have mine in a Gin Manhattan, skip the sweet Vermouth though. Make mine DRY.
St. George Mt. Tam
Stepping off the trail into a pine forest. Mmm. Tastes like Clear Creek Eau de Vie of Douglas Fir. Tastes like wet pine sap stuck to your car windshield. Creosote nose. I enjoyed this in a Baccarat Crystal glass with a frozen Maine seastone. Nothing more.
These are some very sophisticated and dare I say, erotic Gins!
I created a cocktail with the Terroir Gin
A Good Strong Daiquiri Cocktail (The Cocktail Whisperer's seriously twisted version)
Freshly Squeezed lime and grapefruit juice (essential)
White Rum (I prefer Neisson Rum from Martinique)
St. George Mt. Tam Botanical Gin (Terroir)
Maraschino Originale Luxardo
3 shots of white rum+1 shot of the Terroir Gin from St. George
2 shots each freshly squeezed lime and grapefruit juice
½ shot Luxardo
Mix in a metal cocktail shaker filled ½ with ice until frost forms on outside of shaker
Strain into a coupe’ glass without ice
credit: http://www.cocktailwhisperer.com (Warren Bobrow)
