My new friend: Hendrick’s Gin

I recently made a new and interesting friend, and during the course of various conversation, he had told me, upon the revelation of my preference for gin, about Hendrick’s Gin, 

I had the opportunity to have a gin & tonic with Hendrick’s Gin at Matador on Pine Street a couple Fridays ago, and it was wonderful–until I realised I couldn’t possibly drink any more lest things would turn horrible, considering I had about three and a half drinks prior to my lovely gin & tonic.  I wound up passing off to my friend Shani while my friend Jack ran and got me french fries from some sports bar nearby.

The morning after was pretty painful, to say the least.  But the gin was not to blame.

After a long recovery from that Friday night (Friday the 13th, no less), I went into Total Wine over on Colonial and Primrose to pick up a bottle of rum for Stardust, as it’s an ingredient I use in some of my cupcake-making (shhh!).  Out of curiosity, I popped over to the nearby gin aisle and, lo and behold, right next to my usual choice of Bombay Sapphire was a black bottle, sitting resplendent with a diamond label: Hendrick’s Gin.  At $22, I figured it was well-worth the cost, considering a small Bombay Sapphire Dry Gin was priced at $19.

I had a little of Hendrick’s Gin last night, coupled simply with club soda, and it was divine.  The bottle is interesting not only for its design, but also because what you assume would be a screw-top is actually a cork, which makes a satisfying sound upon opening.  What makes Hendrick’s so special is the additional ingredients used to infuse the alcohol: rose petal and cucumber.  The combination is ingenious, as the product shows.  The liquid itself, due to the rose-petal infusion, looks ever-so-slightly pink.  Plus, Hendrick’s is a product of Scotland, which makes it cooler somehow.

So, should you be an individual who enjoys the taste of a good gin, I would like to suggest having a sip of an excellent brand from Scotland: Hendrick’s.  Just don’t decide to give it a whirl after you’ve already had three or four drinks.

More about Hendrick’s on the web:

• The Bottle Gang: The Myth of the Scottish Picnic
• Tanqueray vs. Hendrick’s Gin posting on Chowhound
• Liquor Snob: Hendrick’s Gin Review

Beer and cupcakes

Last night I went to Redlight Redlight’s Pinklight Bazaar, which was packed with people in “classy & sassy attire” flipping through vendor goods and gnoshing on cupcakes. The vendor area was too packed for me to elbow my way through, and since I was low on the cash anyway, Hao and I eventually planted ourselves at the cupcake corner of the bar.

So, what beer does one drink when eating a lovely coconut-vanilla cupcake? I opted to go light, with one of my most favourite beers, the Hitachino Nest White Ale. The hint of spice and orange peel in this clean, crisp beer was lovely in washing down the cupcake, and I was finished with my glass too soon. Instead of continuing along the line of witbiers, I made the mistake of getting a frambois-type concoction that was too sweet–I ended up not finishing it. A shame.

Judging by the attendance, the event seemed like it was quite a success–there were worries among my crowd of falling through to the bakery downstairs–but like I said earlier, due to the crowd, I didn’t really get to paw through the goods that were featured by the craftswomen for sale. In any case, the cupcakes were lovely.