Gin – Page 4 – Beer Search Party

January 23, 2016August 30, 2018

Gin Taste-Off

Every once in awhile, I delve into other spirits (and sometimes wine) to broaden my palate and since I used a Christmas BevMo gift card on mini-bottles of gin, I thought I should give my thoughts on it. *with all due apology to gin bloggers…

The two gins were Broker’s (the be-hatted mini-bottle) and Martin Miller’s.

I tried both straight and then in my favorite cocktail and the simplest, the Gin & Tonic using a basic/simple Food Network website recipe.

I went with the Hat first, Brokers was strong from the get-go. It was hot on initial taste and blazed a burning path through my palate and it was also viscous and a bit on the medicinal side. In the G&A, it was too much gin. I was forced to amp the tonic to compensate.

Miller’s was way more softer which came as a great relief. Also way more herbal with some lemony essence as well. It had both a kick and warmth without going overboard on either. In the G&T there was a serious elderflower note and it was much sweeter. The taste grew on me though.

In the end neither has the right balance for me and I think I would need something smack in the middle to whet my gin whistle.

January 13, 2016August 30, 2018

Flaviar

Flaviar is an odd duck of a website and spirits idea that I am not sold on quite yet. The website doesn’t seem geared to people who are picky, more to those who want monthly gift boxes.
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Much like Amazon, you can shop for individual spirits without buying a membership, which they also refer to as prime.You can choose auto-selected boxes of whiskey, gin, rum and others or you can self-select what you desire. It arrives to you in science-y looking beakers for tasting.

I appreciate the idea as a tool for exploration but without knowing what it would cost to buy the full bottle, I feel like I could get told any price for one of the tasters. The selection looks strong and unique and different from the mini-bar bottles you could normally buy but at a liquor store you can compare prices.

Filing this under, website to monitor and maybe purchase from later.

May 8, 2014September 5, 2018

Firestone Walker + L.A. Beer Bloggers + RE:Find Distillers

What truly sets apart the trip that Firestone Walker provided the L.A. Beer Bloggers group is that it isn’t all about beer. Yes, there is plenty of Easy Jack and Pivo Pils flowing but these guys want to showcase all that the Central Coast and Paso Robles in particular has to offer.

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Last year, the spotlight was on the bio-dynamic farming of Windrose Farms and the wines of Herman Story. This year Andrew Murray Vineyards was showcased along with an amazing dinner and spirits extravaganza at Re:Find Distillery.

Alex and Monica Villicana are winemaker’s first. But they wanted to find a use for grape juice that got bled off to enhance the finished wine. What to do with what is technically called saignée. Well, they went the distilling route. They make vodka and gin and brandy and limoncello all from grape juice!

Now Firestone doesn’t just stop at the introduction. I should have been hip to that after the Friday we enjoyed. No. We not only got to taste the vodka and gin. We got to try our hand at blending our own gin for our own gin and tonics! Now my first two stabs at it were over lavendered and way over Angelika Root’d. My third attempt yielded a passable gin. But now I know much more of what makes spirits so good and what goes into making and blending them.

But folks, that was not all. Re:Find had been in contact with Firestone about our trip and they went even further and made us a white whiskey from a wash similar to the 805 lager recipe. With the appropriate name of Writer’s Blanc.

They could have stopped there. Told us to get back on the bus and find our own food and we would have been happy. But then out comes a five course meal from Chef Thomas Yun?

There was octopus which I tried but didn’t super enjoy but there was a glass of Opal saison to drink. There was a lamp chop and a rib eye cap and, well… here’s the menu….

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It was an amazing melding of food, spirits and beer and people.

And we in the beer blogging community should be hailing passionate producers of cheese, lettuce, wine or whatever because they are the same as our brewers. Artisans who are raising the bar on how we see our food.