Newsletter – What It Means To Be A Gin Expert
Newsletter – Friday 17th January
Happy Friday Team!
How are we doing today? Hope everyone’s good. How are we doing Dry Januaryiers? We’ll all behind you, you’ve broken the back of it and you’re so nearly there! How have the mocktails been helping? All good I hope? Well, I thought that we should help you out towards the end, so I’ve scoured the internet and found some more for you below enjoy:
Home made pear cider – It’s the tail end of pear season and you may find some of these delectable beauties around for a bargain price. Check out the recipe here: https://www.wideopeneats.com/non-alcoholic-mocktails-celebrating-dry-january/
Sparkling Cranberry and Pomegranate Drink – What an elixir this is! The crispness of cranberry mingles beautifully with the decedant richness of pomegranate:
https://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/sparkling-cranberry-pomegranate-drink-video/
Virgin Sangrias – Just look at this power packing fruit punch. All the goodness, all the taste:
http://www.naturalsweetrecipes.com/non-alcoholic-freshly-juiced-sangria/
I’m currently prepping some of the newsletters in advance as I’m away for a bit in February. As some of you may know, I’m a spirits judge. Gin’s my thing and I’m a lucky girl as I get to travel about judging various awards. It all began when I started my blog, it takes time to build up the knowledge, but then my judging journey began nearly four years ago when I judged the Gin of the Year Award, which is held at the wonderful Laverstoke Mill, home of Bombay Sapphire. If you ever get the chance to go there, do it. It’s an incredible place. Their atrium is the stuff of dreams. Built from glass, it looks like a large pair of lungs and inside they grow the same botanicals that they use in their gin. It’s a wonderfully sensory experience. From there, I joined the World Gin Awards, the Spirits Masters, the ADI Judging of Craft Spirits and most recently the IWSC (International Wines and Spirits Competition). The IWSC is a biggy. To me it’s the most prominent award body in the UK. Whenever you pick up a bottle of something, do check for awards labels. You’d be surprised how many spirits and wines have won awards for their calibre, there are a lot of wonderful spirits out there. It’s a great way of making a decision to buy without tasting. However, don’t write off bottles that don’t show any. Sometimes it takes a bit of time starting out and bottles with awards already have a clear advantage.
Anyway, to get back to the point (I easily get carried away talking about this stuff), in February I’m off to San Francisco for a week to judge for the ADI (American Distilling Institute). It’s a 4 day event and over those days I could be judging anything up to around approximately 200 spirits. I’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it, and to be honest, I absolutely love it. It’s a wonderful industry so friendly and everyone excels in their mutual passion for spirits. So, if there’s anything that you want to send my way, do it soon! It’ll be business as usual after I’m back mid Feb.
Hope you all have a wonderful week. Big love, me and the G&R Team
