Craft Gin Club - August

We arrived home from Dublin with my parents to find our August gin box waiting for us. It was fun to share the unboxing and tasting with my mom (my dad said no thanks to the gin).

Sadly, I only took the one picture, since our time was otherwise occupied. But here's this month's breakdown.

Four Pillars & Hernö Dry Island Gin 

This month's spirit was a special collaboration by Swedish distillery Hernö and Australian gin maker Four Pillars.

Tasting notes from Ginned!: A bright, lifted gin with beautiful citrus notes and a cut-grass character. The palate is weighty with a fresh, pine forest character. Clean and pure, in a classic London Dry style.

Leann says: Light and summery. There's a hint of strawberry, sort of like candy but it's subtle.  (I didn't get any cut-grass character. Obviously I'm not an expert.)

Matt says: I don't know what to say. I like it.

Fentimans Valencian Orange Tonic Water 

I haven't loved any of the Fentimans tonics I've tried before, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It had a mild orange taste, and wasn't overly sweet. I liked this a lot paired with the gin, and would buy it again.

Tyrell's Poshcorn Summer Strawberries and Cream 

Subtle flavor, which was not bad but I would have liked a little more flavor on each piece. I don't think I'd buy this kind, although I've liked other varieties of Poshcorn.

Whitworths Shots Berry and White Chocolate 

Each packet has only 93 calories. This "shot" had raisins, cranberries, and white chocolate pieces.  They had a nice taste - mostly fruit with just a bit of white chocolate sweetness. I've just seen that these come in packs of four, so I may look to see if there's one with dark chocolate in it.

Whitworths Shots Nuts with a touch of Chilli 

This "shot" contained peanuts, pistachios, and chilli almonds. The mild chilli powder seasoning was not bad, not spicy. Maybe could use a hint of salt as well? There was just something flat about the flavor that I couldn't put my finger on.

Green and Black's Velvet Edition Assorted Chocolates 

I have actually bought these before, and love them. The assortment comes with dark chocolate, sea salt, and salted caramel mini bars. They are all great, but my favorite is the salted caramel. There's a bit of caramel flavoring in the chocolate, with flecks of sea salt tempering the sweetness. These are a perfect small indulgence.

Overall it was another winning month, and I hope this streak continues!

Craft Gin Club - July

After last month's dud, we had high hopes for our July gin box. We were not disappointed.

Osmoz Citrus Gin 

This is a French gin, distilled from grapes.

Tasting notes from Ginned!: On the nose, note the subtle aromas of liquorice root, apple and apricot. On the palate, the freshness of juniper is bolstered by citrus notes, joined by a chorus of fruit and fresh herbal notes. The long finish is fresh and spicy, with notes of clove and saffron.

Leann says: Very light, fruity but not overwhelming. Makes a great summer drink with the recommended basil and strawberry garnish. Definitely one of the top gins we have received.   

Matt: It has alcohol in it, I'm pretty excited about that.  There's a little fruit and some other stuff. I don't know. (He did like it though).

Double Dutch Cucumber and Watermelon Premium Mixer 

The cucumber flavor comes across first, and is strong but not overwhelming. There is an underlying sweetness of the watermelon, and it does complement the gin very nicely. I would seek this out and try other Double Dutch flavors.

St Germain Elderflower Liqueur 

This has a light, sweet, and smooth flavor. It was good in the gin and tonic. I'm looking forward to trying it with another gin as well.

Green & Black's Praline Milk Chocolates 

Very nice, creamy milk chocolate with a whole hazelnut inside. We had to put these in the fridge because of our heat wave (80°+ with no air conditioning). I prefer this brand's dark chocolate, but this was a nice treat (and a full sized container).

Real Hand Cooked Strong Cheese & Onion Flavour Potato Crisps 

These are crunchy, kettle style crisps. The mature cheese and onion flavor is strong, but not overpowering. Tasty and tangy, they do complement the gin. Some of the other flavors sound interesting as well.

Flower & White Chocolate Meringue Bar

I guess what's attractive about this is that it has less than 100 calories.  It was not good at all.  It has a strange after taste, almost plastic like. The kids ate it.

Overall, this was a fantastic month, and we really enjoyed almost everything. As long as there's no more window cleaner, I think I'll be excited for next month.

Craft Gin Club - June

Catching up with our gin subscription boxes (barely making this one in the same month we received it).

Vidda Tørr Gin 

Ginned! says: Intense juniper greets the nose, with the aromas of a pine forest. On the palate, an earthy sweetness is enhanced by peppery and herbal flavours. A clean, herbaceous finish lingers with a slight floral sweetness.

Leann says: I taste the pine and juniper, but it's not completely terrible. Has a fresh, green, naturey flavor with a weird aftertaste. I did not like the lime garnish that was recommended at all, and drank this without any garnish.
This was easily my least favorite of all the gins we've received so far. It tastes more like what I imagined gin to be before we started drinking it. The more I tried, the less I liked it, and by the end of the bottle I didn't care for it at all.

Matt says: Tastes like window cleaner.

Franklin & Sons LTD Natural Indian Tonic Water 

This is slightly more bitter than I prefer. It's just okay, but I can see how it might complement the gin.

Purdey's Rejuvenate Multivitamin Energy 

Made of spring water, fruit juice, and vitamins, this is a natural alternative to popular energy drinks. I have never liked drinks like Red Bull because they have a weird fake taste to me. I was hesitant to try this, but it actually helped the gin taste a little better. It's not a product I would buy, but it wasn't bad.

Bottlegreen Cordial Rhubarb with a Hint of Ginger 

I love rhubarb, but do prefer it without ginger. I tried the cordial with the Vidda Tørr gin, and the gin completely overwhelmed the rhubarb taste. I'm saving the rest of the sample to pair with a cleaner tasting gin.

Coco Chocolatier Gin and Tonic Dark Chocolate 

This starts out with nice dark chocolate flavor, but gets a bit purfumey. Meh.

Arden's Lockbrie Cheddar and Caramelized Onion Chutney Bites 

This one item redeemed an otherwise disappointing selection. These bite sized biscuits were buttery, savory, and richly delicious. I have already bought them again, in addition to two other types of Arden's snacks (which were also lovely).

Overall, this was my least favorite overall box. I'm hoping for another winner in July.

Craft Gin Club - May

Now that I've finally finished our trip from two months ago, it's time to catch up with our gin subscription boxes.

The Boatyard Distillery Boatyard Double Gin

Tasting notes from Ginned!: The piney freshness of juniper leads, thanks to the unique double distillation process used at the Boatyard Distillery. Light and elegant on the palate, floral notes are balanced by the sweetness of liquorice root, with a hint of vanilla developing on the finish.

My notes: There is a light juniper taste, but it's not overwhelming. Hint of citrus and smooth mellow finish. Not bad, although we probably wouldn't buy it again. Matt did not care for this one.

Merchant's Heart Tonic Water with a hint of Pink Peppercorn

This tonic was lightly sweet, without the bitterness that comes with many tonics. There was the slightest hint of the peppercorn flavor in the after taste. I really liked this, and would buy it regularly. Matt said it's okay.


Merchant's Heart Tonic Water with a hint of Floral Aromatics

This tonic had a heavy floral flavor. It made the gin taste a bit more like alcohol, with flowers. But I did like it, and would buy it again to switch things up sometimes.

Indie Bay Quinoa Pretzel Bites, Cracked Pepper

The Indie Bay snacks are meant to be more wholesome versions of classic snacks.
These were very dry. The pepper flavor was great, but the dryness sort of makes it taste like sawdust. I do like a nice low calorie nibble, but I wouldn't eat these again.

Bailey's Chocolate Mini Delights

This is my kind of chocolate. They were very smooth, and didn't have a strong alcohol flavor. They were rich, so just a few satisfy a craving. A lovely indulgence.

Britvic Tomato Juice Cocktail

Neither Matt nor I are fans of tomato juice, but for some reason we decided to try this anyway.
Well, we tried it. And we still don't do tomato juice. I can't believe we wasted the gin, and if we receive more tomato juice in a future box, we will let someone else try it for us.

So our May subscription box was a mixed bag, but I was still pleased overall for the month.

Craft Gin Club - April

I'm interrupting our holiday posts to talk about our April gin box (before I forget about it).

Our April gin box arrived the first week of the month, and I could hardly wait for Matt to get home from work so we could open it. And we seemed to have a lot this time!

Manchester Gin Distillers Cut 

The tasting notes in the magazine are as follows:
On the nose, a burst of pine and lemon is tickled by hints of creamy vanilla. This moves to a sweet and citrusy kiss on the pallet from elderberries and succulent grapefruit. A light, peppery warmth gives way to a seductively smooth finish.

My notes:
Smooth, slightly sweet. I did get the creamy vanilla, which was nice. But there are several gins we've liked better, so we probably won't seek this out.

Manchester Gin Raspberry Infused

This had a tart and true-tasting raspberry flavor. We're not huge fans of raspberry, so this was not our favorite. I tried it with the rose botanicals and lemonade (sprite in the US), which was better, but still not one I'd choose again.

Not only did we receive two types of gin, we also got three tonic samples!

Schweppes 1783 

This is a new line of higher end tonics by Schweppes. We received cucumber, salty lemon, and light.
The salty lemon was good. A mild lemon taste at first, but earthy with a salty finish. It went well with the Manchester Gin, and definitely was different than the kinds we have had before. 
Cucumber was our favorite of the three. It had a light, fresh cucumber taste. It would go well with Hendricks, but I'd probably still use my regular tonic with cucumber garnish.   
Light tonic. Not bad. It didn't have a heavy bitter taste, which I liked, but I think I'll stick to my standard Schweppes Slimline tonic.

Ginfusion Bespoke Gin Botanicals 

I admit that we tend to get stuck in a rut with our drink garnishes. Our favorite is lemon, although we also like lime or cucumber. But I'm up for trying new things, so I was happy to try these dried bits of fruit, herbs, and flowers. We received samples of each of the four flavors, which you just tip into the glass and let sit for a few minutes before drinking.

Rose- I tried this in the raspberry gin with tonic. It had a nice soft flavor, and I would try it again with different gin.  It was my favorite of the lot.   
Spiced- We didn't try this because it has star anise in it. We don't care for licorice, so we didn't subject ourselves to it.   
Citrus- This had a light citrus flavor, with a hint of green (probably from the lemongrass). Not bad.           
Tropical- This had a very mild flavor. Floral and a hint of pepper. I thought it wasn't bad, but Matt didn't really care for any of these samples. I might try a different brand if I found something that looks good.

Kallø Pop-Crisps, Himalayan Pink Salt with a hint of Black Pepper   

These are pea and corn popped snacks, so they're light and low calorie. There's not a heavy pea taste, which is good for me. The salt and pepper flavor isn't overwhelming either, but just enough so they aren't boring. I would definitely buy these for a snack.

Willie's Cacao Raspberries and Cream 

I love chocolate, but this was just okay. It isn't made with lots of sugar, so it doesn't have that overly sweet vanilla kind of flavor that white chocolate sometimes has. But again, I think it was the raspberry flavor that missed the mark for me. I might try a different flavor if I came across it.

There seemed to be more items this month that weren't our favorites. But there was a lot to choose from, and overall I still liked the selection. I'll be posting about the May box soon!

Craft Gin Club - March

We received our second gin subscription box, perfectly timed when we were still snuggled inside away from the snow.

I don't think I mentioned last time, but I receive no compensation for my reviews.

The gin 

This month, we received a bottle of ELG No. 1 Danish gin. The tasting notes in the magazine are as follows:

     Rich juniper flavour dominates this punchy, intense gin. Just three botanicals allow for incredible precision; on the nose, tangerine, black pepper, lemongrass and coriander scents blossom, carrying through to the palate. The finish is creamy, descending into herbaceous and earthy notes.

My notes: This is a strong gin. At 47.2% alcohol by volume, this is one of the stronger ones we've tried. It's got a... distinct flavor, but not in a bad way. I do get a slight hint of the citrus, as noted above, and it's also got a herby flavor. After the initial taste, it mellows nicely, and at the end I do pick up the earthy notes. All of the flavors are subtle and blend nicely together. I like this one, but it wouldn't be my everyday choice.

*Day 2 Update* The magazine we received with our box mentioned using lemon as a garnish instead of lime. So we tried it, and it enhances the flavor of the gin immensely. With lemon, this gin is near the top of the list now, but unfortunately it's not sold in the UK normally. We are sure to savor this bottle.

Franklin & Sons Natural Light Tonic Water 

I'm beginning to develop more of a taste for tonic, but it's still a bit bitter to me. This tonic is not my style. It's dry and the bitterness coats my whole tongue. Matt didn't favor it either, and he's not normally picky in this department.

Newton's Appl Fizzics Just Apple 

This is a sparkling juice drink, and as suggested by the magazine, I used it in a cocktail called the Newton's appl fizz. I mixed the gin with raspberry syrup and the apple drink, and garnished with an apple slice.

The gin and apple drink balanced the sweetness of the syrup, and the result was a nice, refreshing cocktail. Since I now have a whole bottle of raspberry syrup, I'll drink this again. The apple drink on its own is very tasty as well, and the carbonation isn't overwhelming.

Piper Crisp Co Jalapeno & Dill Crisps 

I do love jalapeno chips, so I was eager to try a new one. These had a nice jalapeno flavor, but were short on heat. There was a pleasant sourness as well, which to me made up for the lack of spice. I would try them again, as well as other flavors by this brand.

Bonne Maman Sweet Orange Marmalade 

I am not a fan of marmalade. I find it bitter, and if I want jam, I want it sweet. There were three different varieties of Bonne Maman marmalade sent out in the gin boxes, and we received the sweet one. Consider me converted. There was a recipe in the magazine that involves putting a dollop of this into a gin and tonic, and of course I had to try it. My drink was not completely incorporated, since we don't have a proper cocktail shaker, but it still tasted pretty good. I've enjoyed the marmalade even more on crumpets (which are sort of a dense, porous pancake/biscuit). If I see this in the store, I would pick it up again.

Divine Chocolate Deliciously Dark Smooth Hazelnut

I love a good dark chocolate (well, I love a good chocolate, period).  This bar was mellow and very tasty, and, as the name suggests, it was smooth (no pieces of nut, just the flavor). Also the company supports the empowerment of women cocoa farmers. Between the taste and the business practices, I'll definitely try more from Divine.

After enjoying the first gin box so much, I was hoping that our second wouldn't be a dud. It wasn't, and I am eagerly awaiting our next installment!

Craft Gin Club - February

So some months ago, I joined Bubble Club, which was a subscription box for sparkling wine. I ended up receiving two boxes before I cancelled; Matt doesn't drink bubbles, and I just can't down an entire bottle on my own on a regular basis.

One of my Bubble Club boxes came with a tiny sampler of Haymans Old Tom gin. It sat on the shelf for a while, because I always thought that gin tastes like Christmas trees. Matt finally broke down and tried it one night, and I guess I hadn't tried good gin before, because we both really liked it. Since then, we've had fun trying different kinds, although Haymans is still very high on our list.

When I found out that the company that does Bubble Club has a gin subscription box, I knew we'd want to try it. We joined just in time for the February box (& luckily during a special offer), and here's a peek at what we received.

That is a whole bottle of gin (70 cl), a sample of tonic water, three snacks, and a magazine (not pictured). Of course, we popped open the gin and tried everything right away.

The gin 

The tasting notes in the magazine, Ginned!, say the following about Salcombe Gin Start Point.

     Citrusy and floral on the nose, on the palate the earthy, resinous notes of juniper combine with warming, spiced citrus. A fruity, peppery heat from cubeb pepper mingles with the warmth of cinnamon, descending into a finish lengthened by green cardamom.

Matt and I both really enjoyed this gin. It's very smooth, with a light citrus flavor. Neither of us like a heavy juniper flavor, and we were pleased at the clean flavor of Salcombe. Not quite as sophisticated as the notes above, but we're still new to the game.

The snacks

Tyrrell's Sweet and Salty Poshcorn

Honestly, I didn't think I'd like this at all. I like popcorn, but not kettle corn, which is what I expected this to taste like. In reality, they had combined regular salty popcorn with sort of a sweet glazed variety, in equal measure. And I think I'll give English sweet and salty popcorn another chance, because it was a very nice flavor.

Bahlsen Choco Moments (mint flavor)

This is a light butter biscuit with a thick layer of dark chocolate infused with mint. The mint flavor is very strong, a bit much for me on its own to be honest. But it pairs well with the gin, which mellows the flavor of the biscuit nicely.

The Devon Fudge Company Salcombe Gin Fudge with Pink Grapefruit

Yes, this fudge is actually made with the gin we received. The flavor is lovely, very creamy, and the sweetness of the fudge takes away any bitterness from the grapefruit flavor. I wouldn't mind trying more from this company.

The tonic

Luscombe Grapefruit Tonic Water

Matt likes his gin with tonic, and he's not picky about brand or anything. Tonic can be quite bitter to me, and I usually pair my gin with lemonade (here lemonade is a white soda, like Sprite). The Luscombe tonic was a bit more smooth than others I've tried, but the grapefruit flavor is not for me. I'll stick with lemonade for now.

Overall, Matt and I were both very pleased with our first gin of the month box. Of course, the thing we looked forward to most was the actual spirit, and we weren't disappointed. I can't wait to see what comes in March...