Gin the Mood: 50 gin cocktail recipes that are just the ticket

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Juniper had this ridiculous, medicinal, all-curing, all-conquering folklore about it. It didn’t matter what you had as an ailment, juniper was the answer.” It would be very remiss of me not to include my Junipalooza Melbourne partners, Emile and Olivier’s book in this list. I went to University of the Arts London, I designed my collection and got it into production. The next week I got run over by a lorry. The side of my body and my hand was crushed. I don’t feel that his understanding of gin is anywhere near that calibre. I think he was asked to write a book by his editors because it was a trendy topic, as opposed to him having inherent knowledge. In a warning to anyone building up funds for their old age, a cautious investor asks: How could my 'safe' pension fund plummet by 30% - a year before I retire?

Dave puts each gin into a ‘flavour camp’ e.g. Citric/Juniper, gives a short summary and then scores each gin’s performance in four different gin drinks – in a Gin and tonic, with Sicilian lemonade, in a Negroni and a martini. There are also an abundance of recipes for you to try too!And, equally, there are some that I love the flavour of but I know how it’s made. Sometimes, you like the flavour of something but it’s just an indulgent treat, and you ought to know better. You like it but, when you think about it, you really shouldn’t like it as much as you do. That’s my problem. Although a gin distillery wasn't what O'Neal initially set out to do, the presence of her mother, whose favourite tipple was gin, is very much felt in the distillery from the essential oils wafting through the air to the large still named after her. Whey-based spirits are a bit more common in New Zealand and also in Ireland. A lot of people are turning to it as the base for the gin. Ballyvolane makes a gin called Bertha’s Revenge and they call it a ‘milk’ gin because that’s where whey comes from. And it’s not just a marketing USP, it really accentuates the spice, from a flavour point of view. It’s quite an interesting one to have a little taste of. Certainly in East London, one in four doors would have had some form of gin still. There were patches. In Whitechapel, and Holborn to a certain extent, and around Seven Dials, there would have been quite a lot. And I suppose around St Paul’s, going east.

We provide such an incredible afternoon that when you look at it from a value side and what people are leaving with I think you get way more value than what you charge. Its a luxury experience,' she says. The commitment to sustainability isn't immediately evident when you walk into the distillery, because everything has been painstakingly curated to feel as upmarket and comfortable as possible. Gin is a neutral spirit that is then redistilled with botanicals. It’s a neutral spirit that’s been rectified. That was just in December. There was an 18% increase for everything spirits-related in December 2016, compared to December 2015. There was an enormous surge for spirits and alcohol, in terms of purchasing across the UK. That was very much driven by gin.A chance meeting with her former business partner led to the launch of her gin brand 58 and Co in 2016, just as interest in the spirit started to shoot up. I look at it as if I'm creating brand ambassadors. The idea of creating something that has people laughing and enjoying - my mum always had an incredible table, always feeding people, she was the ultimate host. Gin school is that for me. Introducing people, connecting people, creating a memory.' I think of gin, or a gin and tonic, as the most traditionally English drink imaginable. But, like so many great things, it actually came from the Low Countries. Is that right?