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

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So it’s really cool, there is a lot of innovation going on. I think it’s also interesting–I mean, interesting for someone like me, who’s perhaps a little bit obsessive about it—since the whole ‘what kind of sugar do you have?’ conversation has come up. A lot of brands have been pushing tonic that’s not overly sweet and does not come from artificial sugar sources.

The Curious Bartender’s Gin Place is a comprehensive guide to all things gin. It covers gin history, various production methods, gin botanicals, gin distilleries and a range of different gins for you to try. Tristan is a celebrated bartender and bar owner, so there are some interesting recipes to try, including a very old gin recipe called Purl. O'Neal's commitment and energy is relentless and she is a natural entrepreneur having comfortably morphed from make-up artist, to shoemaker and now to gin distiller.Gin wasn't necessarily my love. I love creating something that people enjoy and brings people together. It's a bold move for a company in a crowded market, but O'Neal, despite her modesty, is an experienced and confident entrepreneur. So, I don’t have a favourite gin per se. It’s more of a specific gin for a specific occasion. I think that conscious consumption is where I place the value in what I buy. I don’t feel I ever buy a gin for the sake of a flavour. I buy a gin as an endorsement of who, how, and where it’s made.

But now you’re looking at dozens and dozens. Last year alone, there were at least ten new launches. These are ranging from huge scale to very, very small batch and artisanal.VAT rules are set to change post Brexit: here are the key points SMEs need to know so they aren't caught out We meet in 58 and Co's distillery in Haggerston, east London, nestled between other budding startups keen to run their business from the iconic railway arches. It was an amazing time of discovery, not just of alcohol but the effects of alcohol in a pre-police society. There were no police and the only way that society was kept together was by everyone trying to force people into thinking that they had a very set class and were not allowed to move out of that. That was what got the gentry so upset—because if people don’t know their place, then we might get challenged. 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. I just read the opening bit, about him going downstairs and drinking his parents’ tonic when he was a boy and being hooked.

Yes, it reminds you of a place. A good example of this is St. George’s Terroir Gin, which is Californian gin. It’s very well-crafted. The flavours are deliberately reminiscent of a Californian forest on a sun-drenched afternoon. So you get that Douglas fir, bay laurel, warming sun sensation coming through in each and every sip. 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.

Absolutely. She writes well and the best thing about it is that she doesn’t let the research or the academic side get in the way of the story. It clearly shows the references—if you want to look something up, you can—and there’s nice annexing and indexing. But it’s narrative-driven, as opposed to being just academic, although it is an academic project. 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. If you only buy one book on gin, make it this one. There are too many things to say about award-winning author Dave Broom . He is probably one of the world’s best known spirits writer, educator and ambassador. I confess I have fan-girled, several times. You can still see it in the street names. In Camden, there’s Juniper Crescent. So there are remnants in today’s London—even though there’s no hawker on the side of the street flinging gin at you as you walk past. It was a bit light on Australian gins for me, but as the authors admit, there are so many gins coming to market every day, that it would be impossible to make this book a comprehensive list.

Yes. The Hogarth print is from 1751. Jessica presents the lead up to it. The gin craze is essentially over by the time that this famous depiction comes along. What people don’t really talk about with ‘Gin Lane’—this illustration of a debauched, broken society—is the fact that it was commissioned by the beer industry.

I don’t feel I ever buy a gin for the sake of a flavour. I buy a gin as an endorsement of who, how, and where it’s made.”