The Gin To My Tonic Club December Christmas Special 2021

Can you believe it’s December? And what a year it has been as well! We’ve expanded our gin horizons, fell in love with new creations, championed innovation, and celebrated the talents of some truly awe-inspiring distillers.

This maybe our last Virtual Gin Tasting of 2021 but we are ending on a high note with another immersive and exciting batch of gin producers. Expect the usual dose of backstories, gin tours and perfect serves, paired with a sprinkle of Christmas magic as we ask each of our makers to serve up inspiration with the festive season firmly in mind.

So, please get ready to give a warm welcome to this month’s fabulous gin producersincluding Castle Hill, Eden Mill, Greenwich Spirits Company, Hepple Spirits and Lunun Gin, as we indulge in another batch of glorious gins and raise a Christmas drink with you from afar.

Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

Em and Paul – Co-Founders, Best Friends & Fellow Gin Enthusiasts

Castle Hill Lady Grey Gin – Fever-Tree Indian Tonic & a garnish of Orange.

Eden Mill Botano Gin – Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic & a garnish of Basil.

Greenwich Marine London Dry Gin – Fever-Tree Indian Tonic & a garnish of Grapefruit.

Hepple Sloe & Hawthorn Gin – Fever-Tree Lemon Tonic and a garnish of Lemon. Whilst a mixer has been provided, we thoroughly recommend this neat.

Lunun Gin – Fever-Tree Naturally Light Tonic & a garnish of Lime.

These are recommendations of The Gin To My Tonic and Fever-Tree.

The Hepple story began at their now home, on the hills of Hepple, one of Britain’s last wild sanctuaries for juniper. Celebrated foraging chef Valentine Warner brought legendary bartender Nick Strangeway and distillery developer Cairbry Hill up to Hepple in the remote Northumbrian national park to meet Walter Riddell, owner of the Hepple estate in March 2013. A bone-chilling wind was blowing from the east, as ever.

The original plan was to make something esoteric, but out on the moor the wind hounded them to take refuge amongst a stand of ancient junipers, glittering with green and purple berries. The gin revolution was underway, and innovation was coming thick and fast. The innovation was about new botanical inclusions, discoveries of ancient recipes and of new distilleries that honoured places, people. As they huddled amongst the shaking juniper, bejewelled with berries, it became clear that something core to gin had never been fully revealed. In the chilly Aladdin’s cave was something bright, complex, glittering – the true essence of gin.

After much experimentation and research, they found that the only way to capture the heart of each ingredient was to distill in three dimensions, and Hepple’s unique Triple Technique was born. It takes five times longer to make Hepple Gin than a conventional gin.

The Eden Mill story started with a mission to revive the lost art of distilling and brewing in St Andrews. St Andrews, the renowned home of golf, and the arts of brewing and distilling were once integral to the town. Based on the site of a historic distillery on the banks of the River Eden, Eden Mill were the first to make spirits in the region for 150 years.

As Scotland’s first single-site distillery and brewery, making gin, whisky and beer, Eden Mill spirit is created in copper pot-stills and exhibits a wide range of flavours from botanicals sourced from the local area, as well as from around the world. As creators of craft gin, whisky and beers, their team of distillers have the opportunity to marry the best practices from all these disciplines.

The team at Eden Mill are challenged with applying modern techniques and understanding to time honoured traditional methods. An appreciation of the intricacies of barrel ageing and quality wood is one benefit Eden Mill enjoy from this special status. Applying this in order to develop truly innovative creations, such as their bourbon-aged Oak Gin.

Greenwich Gin was born in a South-East London kitchen as a lockdown project looking to honour the maritime legacy of Greenwich along with the founders’ spirit of world exploration, ocean travel and adventure. Besides its marine character, Greenwich Gin is about bringing together different parts of the world and sharing the stories from these beautiful places, their people, their unique flavours and their culture; doing so in a way that is respectful to those people, their environment and communities by keeping sustainability at the core of the brand and product.

As gin lovers, being able to make gin at home was how the founders survived lockdown! They spent countless nights distilling different botanicals and using different distillation methods but after a year of trial & error (mostly error), they found a way to capture in the liquid something they hold very personal: the concept of the world coming together. They don’t really have a “home country” since they have been moving around the world for decades so who they are is defined by the mix of all these places they lived in and people they met along the way; and that’s exactly what they wanted to achieve in this gin: bringing the different corners of the world together. As much as Greenwich Gin is a local product, it is also a global one.

Lunun Gin was launched in October 2019 by Chef Dean Banks. It is a premium Scottish gin with an Asian twist; influenced by Dean’s travels across the globe and his expertise in fusion cooking. Distilled in Dean’s hometown of Arbroath, Angus, the gin’s name is an adaptation of Angus’ most peaceful, secluded beach, ‘Lunan Bay’. Lunun gin is distilled by a gentleman called Lewis who has been a good friend of Dean’s for a long time so it only made sense when Lewis opened his own Distillery that both he & Dean would work together to create Lunun Gin.

Lewis distills Lunun gin in a single-fold process. Meaning the gin is not diluted from a concentrate which can be harsh on the palate. This process allows for a much smoother taste, which lets the flavours speak for themselves. It’s six unique botanicals – kaffir lime leaf, sea buckthorn, Sichuan pepper, kombu kelp, ginger and lemongrass – add a citrus essence, allowing the straight-up gin to be served with or without tonic and a simple slice of lime. This award- winning gin is known for its smooth, delicate palate, with beautifully balanced Asian flavours.

Founded by Tom Clark during lockdown 2020, Castle Hill Gin is based in Huddersfield and has quickly become an award winning distillery thanks to its Lady Grey Tea gin! Demand has been exceptional and along with a delicious London Dry Gin and brand new Rhubarb and Apple gin there are a number of other flavours in the pipeline due to be released over the coming months!

Their story will resonate – as with so many people facing the challenges of a year where so many businesses have been impacted by the dreaded C word!

Tom was a diehard gin fan working in the print industry. He started 2020 with such promise and optimism before sadly having to close the doors on his business due to the pressures of the pandemic. Whilst no doubt devastating this also gave Tom an opportunity to seek out new inspiration with the world of gin that he had held a lifelong dream for. In the summer of 2020 Tom set himself the goal of having a finished product before Christmas.

Are you still looking for the perfect Christmas Gift for a gin lover? We have a huge variety of products available on our online store. Order before 10:00 am GMT on Wednesday 22nd December for delivery in time for Christmas!

Why not buy your loved ones tickets to our 2022 Gin Festivals or Shows? A Gin-Tastic Day out where you will be introduced to new gins you are likely not to have discovered, broaden your horizons with craft gin, vodka, rum and whiskey and sample with our fabulous distillers in person. For tickets click here.

Fever-Tree began in 2003 with a meeting of minds and one simple premise: if three quarters of your G&T is the tonic, wouldn’t you want it to be the best?

It became apparent that Charles and Tim had both come to the same conclusion – namely that the growing prevalence and popularity of premium spirits had not been matched by what was on offer in the tonic category.

From the very beginning, Charles and Tim approached their business in a different way – there would be no compromise at Fever-Tree. Flavour and quality were of the utmost importance. This mindset led them on an 18-month adventure from the archives of the British Library to facing the wrong end of a Kalashnikov in the Democratic Republic of Congo and concluded with the launch of our Premium Indian Tonic Water in 2005, with the belief we still operate by today.. If 3/4 of your drink is a mixer, mix with the best. As well as quality, Charles and Tim wanted to put the choice back into the category.

The whole company has been built on innovation. Constantly developing new mixers, new flavours, new ideas, thus creating, an array of flavours to pair with the myriad of premium Gins, Vodkas, Whisky’s and Vermouths.

We will be back with our Virtual Gin Tasting on Saturday 29th January.

LOVE OUR VIRTUAL GIN FESTIVALS? Why not subscribe and save with a choice of a monthly or bi-monthly subscription with added benefits, savings and rewards.