Sipsmith, Tanqueray, Plymouth, The Botanist and 12 more quality gins from the UK, Japan, Germany and around the world — but should you mix them with tonic and lemon?
It’s all about the botanicals – spice up your standard G&Ts, martinis and Negronis with a selection of these gins from around the world to add extra herbal notes, a zesty citrus twist or a floral fragrance
After this long summer, we all deserve a little refreshment. And nothing says summer sipping quite like a chilled glass of gin, topped with tonic water and a slice of lime.
The herb-infused distilled spirit hails originally from Britain. There are a number of different gin styles and classifications, but what they all have in common is the predominant flavour of juniper berries. After that, gin producers concoct their own combination of “botanicals,” which are other natural ingredients and flavourings, to give their gin its own distinct spin.
If you enjoy a lighter spirit, there’s Japanese Roku Gin with flavours of yuzu peel and green tea; if you prefer something with a kick, reach for the Irish Drumshanbo Gunpowder Gin which blends orris root from Morocco and cardamom from India.
“Like most things in the food and beverage world, deciding which is the ‘best’ or ‘good’ is simply a matter of taste and flavour preference,” says Henrik Muehle, general manager of London’s Flemings Mayfair Hotel and a board member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World. The five-star hotel is known for the personal “gin bars” in guests’ suites stocked with a variety of small batch gins. “For me, the hallmarks of any good gin come down to the distillation process and the botanicals.”
To start, he says, how the gin is distilled is the first essential stage, creating the base on top of which the juniper and other botanicals will be layered.
“The better the distillation process, the more pure the base will be,” he says. “A good gin with the right amount of botanicals, simply needs a bit of citrus and tonic to bring out all the natural flavours.”