THE GIN QUEEN
by David Green
It is the quintessentially British drink ‘Gin and Tonic’,
seen by many as ‘Mothers ruin’ or a drink only for old
people. Perhaps bars and clubs would stock one or two
different gins, well a lot has changed over the past few
years as people discover gin once again.
The Red Fox in Thornton Hough, formerly ‘The Grange’ reopened in 2015 with 15 gins on the back bar, however, the love
and passion for gin shone through and the number of bottles
started to increase. After two gin festivals and many tasting
events The Red Fox now have a separate gin bar stocking over
120 gins, 8 different tonics and lots of garnishes.
The 'gin-assaisance' has seen the spirit grow in popularity among
the younger generations and it’s estimated that Britons alone will
drink 32m litres of gin this year spending £1.04bn on the juniper
berry spirit.
Before this years Gin festival they decided they wanted a gin that
they could call there own. Something a little different and one
that people would talk about and want to drink. They enlisted
the help of local distillers ‘Ginhouse Beverages Limited’ the guys
behind ‘Wirral Gin’ to help create ‘The Red Fox Gin’.
A surge in popularity has seen a dramatic rise in the number of
craft gin makers setting up business. Just five micro-distilleries
opened in the UK between 2008 and 2011: the same number
opened in 2012, 11 started in 2013, 15 more in 2014 and by the
end of 2015 another 19 distillery’s had opened, all producing
varieties of the three gin classifications – standard, premium and
London Dry.
It’s not just the new distillery’s that are increasing the number of
gins on the market, existing distillery’s including whisky masters
‘Bruchladdich’ now produce a gin, perhaps because it’s a quick
to produce and sell spirit - unlike whisky which has to be aged
for at least 3 years. Either way the UK has never seen so many
distillery’s or brands and it continues to grow with more and
more different ideas, flavours and tastes.
18 wirrallife.com
Many hours were spent looking at different botanicals and
flavour combinations, and the one that stood out was bergamot,
which is a citrus fruit the size of an orange and is the driving
flavour in earl grey tea. Heather was also a big hit probably due
to the sweetness it brought to the taste which they thought was
a lovely finish.
It took six batches to get a gin that everyone was happy with and
they describe it as ‘a floral led English Gin featuring a special
tea infusion. A hint of heather provides a wonderfully smooth
finish’. The perfect serve they recommend is simply with a slice of
lemon, lots of ice and fevertree tonic.
It’s available to buy exclusively at The Red Fox, £3.80 for 25ml or
to take away at £39.50 a bottle. www.redfox.pub / 0151 353 2920