Now this was what I was looking for in a Gin book. Gin: The Manual by Dave Broom laid out the topic, made it easy to understand and helped this gin novice/intermediate learn more about the spirit.
My needs for books about spirits or wine diverge sharply from what I need from a beer book. I have read plenty of craft beer books and don’t need to read another truncated summary of beer history or overview of the brewing process but for gin, I need that now to learns the in’s and out’s of the distillation.
The “manual” starts with the history before heading into the How of adding botanicals to a base spirit. Then the brunt of the book is a page-by-page listing of different gins but there is a great pair of twists to it. One is that he slots each gin into one of five different flavor categories. More importantly he isn’t dogmatic about putting each gin into only one. If one exhibits characteristics of two, Broom notes it. The other twist is that he rates not just on the gin neat. He offers up different cocktails and rates each one as a G&T, Martini and other drinks to further flesh out what each gin is like. The recipe section at the back was just the right size for me. Broom apologizes for it’s shortness but a cocktail recipe book this isn’t meant to be.
The layout and design of the book is easy on the eyes and showcases each bottle and label in a straightforward manner. The green from the cover and the plain stylistic choice continues through the pages. The tone throughout the reviews and recipes is more of a friendly bartender. One from Britain who spells things a skosh differently which, to me adds to the small joys of the book.
There could have been more words used to discuss the gin variants and how they fit into the universe. Maybe a diagram of some sorts to show what Old Tom is vs. London Dry Gin vs Genever or fruited Gins. Also the U.S. section felt a little thin to me but considering Broom seemed to have drunk each one and made cocktails with each, I can understand that his liver probably couldn’t take the pounding.
Otherwise this is a great first book for those looking into gin and distilling and would make an excellent reference book to reach back to from time to time. Plus I learned about Purl – aromatized beer with gin added. Something to research for the future.