Just weeks ago designers promenaded Burgundy-coloured sweaters, leather dresses and trench-coats across London’s catwalks for Fashion Week. And as if on cue, Greenall’s gives us a taste of its new sloe gin recipe, and reveals a modish new bottle for the deep, berry-red liqueur.
According to the BBC, the UK is currently experiencing a “ginaissance”. Gin sales passed £1 billion last year, with new micro-distilleries springing up across the UK almost every month.
This summer saw the arrival of lemon and gin-flavoured yoghurt – containing 0.25% alcohol – which in turn followed the emergence of gin-infused salmon, gin-flavoured sweets, and gin ice cream, all of which can now be found on supermarket shelves around the country.
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Celebrated chefs are also deploying gin in their recipes to create interesting new flavour combinations. For instance Mark Hix’s ‘Roast saddle of Kingairloch red deer with braised white cabbage, red current jelly and Greenall’s slow gin gravy,’ which features in his carving master classes at Brown’s Hotel; intimate occasions embraced by game-loving men and women alike.
At the same time we have watched the popularity of the Craft Gin Club soar. After being featured on Dragon’s Den, it has become the UK’s most popular subscription club for gin enthusiasts.
Greenall’s has a rather longer history, however. As Britain’s original distiller, their London Dry Gin dates back to 1761. The original juniper-led recipe from this time, with its citrus notes, remains unchanged. It is a closely guarded secret and Joanne Moore, Greenall’s seventh Master Distiller, is the recipe’s current guardian. She is also one of the world’s first female Gin Masters.
The company’s new Sloe Gin, available next month, has a smooth almond and cherry flavour, with a hint of marzipan. Mixed with cloudy lemonade it creates the Greenall’s Sloe Thyme, or heated with apple juice and spices it can north into Greenall’s Take it Sloe Toddy; a warming way to digest the crisp new winter air, settle into lazy nights by crackling fires, and wait patiently for the festive season to arrive.
The new recipe Greenall’s Sloe Gin will be available in the UK through Amazon from November, RRP £18
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