LONDON, ENGLAND-It’s a well known fact that the British love a drink (or 10) but thanks to the gin-themed lesson I’m receiving from gin expert Del Jones, I’m learning how our ancestors took this liking for liquor one step further.
London distillery Portobello Road Gin has just opened its very own 21st-century gin palace. It has a restaurant, a gin museum, two bars and three boutique bedrooms for those who can’t quite face the stagger home. What’s more, as of December 2016, gin lovers can also sign up for sessions at the distillery’s Ginstitute, where they’ll learn about the drink’s history and get to make their own version of what’s quickly becoming the U.K.’s favorite tipple.
Jones starts by explaining how gin began its ascent to domination in 1688, with the ascension to the throne of William III, who’d waged war against France and its king, Louis XIV. The British government introduced legislations restricting imports of French brandy and encouraging gin production. Around the same time, the monopoly of the London Guild of Distillers was broken, making it much easier to distil large amounts of gin.
In the early 18th century, one in four London properties was being used to make gin. “On average, every Londoner was drinking two pints a week and one in four Londoners was incapacitated at any one time due to gin consumption, which was positively encouraged — some taverns even lowered their bars to make it easier for children to purchase the spirit,” reveals Jones.
With London on the brink of chaos, the government eventually gained control with a series of gin laws. Yet today, gin has become the drink of choice once more. U.K. sales of this very British tipple have just exceeded £1 billion ($1.6 billion Canadian) a year for the first time.
My aforementioned history lesson takes place in the beautiful bar in the basement, home of the Ginstitute. It’s a deliberate tribute to the decadent gin palaces once frequented by London’s elite, and a stunning, bespoke stained-glass window depicts a historic gin ad. Tucked in the corner is a cabinet containing various gin-related gems, including the business card of bartender Jerry Thomas and a copy of his book, The Bartender’s Guide, said to be the first ever cocktail book.
After our history lesson, we’re taken to the distillery room, where we’re shown the gin stills, with their curving pipes (known as “swan’s necks”) protruding from the top, and Jones explains how gin is made. It’s distilled using ethanol and it must start life at just over 96 per cent ABV (alcohol by volume). The finished product must Savoybetting have an ABV of more than 37.5 per cent (at Portobello Road Gin it comes out at 55 per cent) and a strong taste of juniper. The producer decides which botanicals to add to the gin.
Jones shows us neat shelves filled with beautiful glass jars, each one containing a different botanical. The top row has the usual suspects: lemongrass, bitter orange and pink grapefruit. The Portobello Road distillery prefers its gins with a twist: the labels on other jars reveal their contents to be asparagus, Yorkshire tea, Lapsang souchong, a black tea.
We’re then left to sample the botanicals, and we sniff chunks of orange peel and bottles filled with colourless, fragrant liquid. Being a tea addict, I opt for bergamot, along with bitter orange and cubeb, a type of pepper. Jones returns and one by one, as we reel off our chosen ingredients, he tells us which combinations work and which won’t, suggesting better alternatives or larger amounts of certain ingredients. After writing our names on bottle labels, our chosen formulas are prepared, using plastic funnels which remind me of my high-school chemistry lessons.
The session comes to an end and I’m grateful that getting to my bed involves a short stumble upstairs. In my retro-themed room there are three bottles of gin by the bed while my mini-bar (concealed in a wooden cabinet) contains a selection of mixers and some crystal tumblers. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I decide it would be wise to give the nightcap a miss.
Tamara Hinson is a U.K-based writer. Her trip was sponsored by the Ginstitute and Portobello Road Gin, neither of which reviewed or approved this story.
Tamara Hinson is a U.K-based writer. Her trip was sponsored by the Ginstitute and Portobello Road Gin, neither of which reviewed or approved this story.
When you go
Do this:The Ginstitute (theginstitute.com) is located in the Portobello Rd. area of London. Rooms at The Distillery start from $248 (Canadian) and a session at the Ginstitute costs $182.
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