Have any of you fellow ginthusiasts visited The Ginstitute?
If so, how did you find the experience? Were there a wide range of botanicals with which to infuse your custom-made gin? Did you learn and drink in equal measure? And above all, was it worth the expense?!
As someone who drinks gin more frequently than any other liquid (well, bar water and tea...) and has a stupidly large selection of varieties in my possession, The Ginstitute has long been on my radar and its recent appearance on Tom Kerridge's cooking program served to remind me that I ought to make a trip down there.
So in the New Year, that's precisely what a friend and I shall be doing - Ledbury for lunch, The Ginstitute for the afternoon's entertainment and Dinner for, well, dinner. And then perhaps The London Gin Bar for afters.
Curiously, and perhaps somewhat ironically, I really have a disliking for Portobello Road No. 171 gin so I'll be interested to see what Mr Jake F Burger has to say for himself on that front and if he can win me round. I find it far too 'soapy' for my palate and it lacks depth of flavour, although I'd still rate it above something like Sipsmith, for want of a better example.
But as far as the experience promises to be, I'm most looking forward to seeing how I can shoehorn vanilla into my gin as it's the flavour covet the most in all the world - we'll see how that one goes!
If so, how did you find the experience? Were there a wide range of botanicals with which to infuse your custom-made gin? Did you learn and drink in equal measure? And above all, was it worth the expense?!
As someone who drinks gin more frequently than any other liquid (well, bar water and tea...) and has a stupidly large selection of varieties in my possession, The Ginstitute has long been on my radar and its recent appearance on Tom Kerridge's cooking program served to remind me that I ought to make a trip down there.
So in the New Year, that's precisely what a friend and I shall be doing - Ledbury for lunch, The Ginstitute for the afternoon's entertainment and Dinner for, well, dinner. And then perhaps The London Gin Bar for afters.
Curiously, and perhaps somewhat ironically, I really have a disliking for Portobello Road No. 171 gin so I'll be interested to see what Mr Jake F Burger has to say for himself on that front and if he can win me round. I find it far too 'soapy' for my palate and it lacks depth of flavour, although I'd still rate it above something like Sipsmith, for want of a better example.
But as far as the experience promises to be, I'm most looking forward to seeing how I can shoehorn vanilla into my gin as it's the flavour covet the most in all the world - we'll see how that one goes!
