I was gifted this bottle about a year back by a friend in Florida. Folks outside of USA might not be aware that St. Augustine in Florida is the oldest city in this country. Its roots go back to the very early 1500s. This gin is actually made in that city.

One more of those small batch distilleries that seem to be sprouting up all over the country, this one too has focused on the American Style Gins (and not the London Dry style) and the stress on local botanicals. To add a twist to it (perhaps as a throw back to the old habits of many centuries back), the distillery advertises how their botanicals are not ground by machine but by hand. The distillery is situated in an old power and ice building that is over a hundred years old.

Coming to the gin itself, as I mentioned, this is American Style – so the focus on juniper is less. Once I opened the bottle earlier this week, out of of sheer habit I held the bottle to my nose. I was not sure whether to expect anything from a Florida gin. (The week before the Georgia gin was not something to write home about). But I was pleasantly surprised by the floral aroma and the lemony nose that came right after that. I believe the base is cane. The botanicals (and this is not an exhaustive list) includes juniper, cassia bark, angelica, lemon and orange (my guess is peels although from the research I could not find out the details), coriander and cinnamon.

As mentioned, the nose is very smooth with the floral and citrus notes. The palate is distinctly citrusy – a mix of both the zingy lemony side as well as the softer orange-y part followed by the junipers. The finish is not very long but you can feel the traces of the spicy elements (coriander, for example).

Overall, I would give this a thumbs up. I had it neat the first evening and then with tonic water the next. I have not made any cocktails yet with it but intend to fix that problem this week 🙂

Old Fourth Gin, Grand Marnier and Lemon Juice

This is a normal Fitzgerald with the Old Fourth Distillery gin. I like this drink more bitter than normal. So, I go with relatively more Angostura bitters than lemon juice or simple syrup…

This one is a local one. Made right here in East Atlanta. I have not visited their distillery but I want to. The distillery was opened by five friends in 2014. The first product was vodka. Gin came later. So, the gin production cannot be more than 2 or 3 years.

The most interesting aspect of the gin is the base. Remember how I had featured a Colombian Gin that used sugarcane as the base (instead of corn and all that). Well, this one uses cane sugar sourced from an organic provider in Louisiana.

There are nine herbs and botanicals including juniper. At least some of them are vapor infused – like the pink peppermint. The other botanicals include grapefruit, lemon & orange Peel, cardamom, angelica root and coriander

The nose is that of a typical gin – juniper forward. The palate is mostly citrusy and the faint traces of coriander is decipherable in the end. The finish was short and rather abrupt.

This gin might go better in cocktails rather than with tonic water.

Very citrus forward cocktail comprising of gin, maraschino liqueur, green chartreuse and lime juice.

The Harvey Wallbanger was a pretty big hit at Nanette’s birthday. Usually aniseeds evoke strong reaction – some just love it. And some just do not. I am one of those in the side of “love it”. From ouzo (Greece) to licor beirao (Portugal) to sambuca (italy), I like it in my cocktail as well as a post-dinner aperitif. Harvey Wallbanger uses Galliano (Italy) whic as aniseed as well as other herbs.

To mix it with Gin, I made a Lady Leon today. A LL is gin with Galliano, dry vermouth and orange curacao. It is usually shaken with crushed ice and served in a champagne flute.

Perfect pick me up drink after 350 miles of driving in some crazy traffic at times…

What started as an innocuous goal “Learn how to mix drinks” during one of the off years, soon became a passion. Most of my learning has been old style – I read up a lot of books and I experimented a lot. And bugged a lot of bartenders at bars to learn some of their unique tricks. Over the last four years, I have probably made 500+ different cocktails, visited multiple distilleries and collected some esoteric stuff from different countries to experiment with.

While I have bartended in a few informal events and a couple of corporate events, today was the first time I had a paid gig. Of course, I do this as a hobby. So all money – inclusive of tips was donated to the hostess’s favorite charity.

Thank you Tim and Nanette for featuring me as the mixologist at your private event. I loved the venue. And I loved the guests. Sharmila and I really had a great time. None of this would have been possible without Tim’s meticulous planning, Tanya working with us to set everything to the last bit of detail and an immense amount of help I got from Telvin.

It was Nanette’s birthday. 50th one in fact. It was a lot of fun to research what was America like in 1968 and what were the common drinks being served at New York bars. Eventually, I went with Bourbon Sidecar, Harvey Wallbanger, Seabreeze and Pegu Club. As always in such events, some guests have different tastes leading to some on the spot improvisations – there were a few Cosmopolitans, a couple of Old Fashioneds and a Cape Codder too!

I cannot wait for Nanette to be 40 now!!! 🙂

3 Howls gin, freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, fresh lemon juice, yellow chartreuse and superfine sugar.

Very tasty and refreshing. The fresh grapefruit juice makes a big difference!!

To switch up a little, went with a vodka based cocktail rather than a gin based cocktail. Although martinis used to be originally with gin, most are made with vodka today.

This has Smirnoff vanilla vodka, Chambord raspberry liqueur and Godiva dark chocolate liqueur.

The proper garnish for this drink is a raspberry which I had none of. Another variation is to sprinkle chocolate on the rim…

3 Howls Gin, dry vermouth and orange bitters.