A great advantages of going to the same watering hole every Sunday with Sharmila after dinner is that you get to know the folks who work at the bar intimately. Over the years you get to know their background, their aspirations and their difficulties. We have seen some deal with a lot of challenges in life. Frankly, I have always thought that I and my family live an advantaged life and have only a modicum of understanding of how most Americans lead their lives. These folks at the bar with their life stories have kept me grounded on the struggles of many young men and women. Driving back from the bar, many a time I have remarked to Sharmila that we live a blessed life and we need to do something for the younger generation.

On the other hand, we have also shared with these folks some of their most joyous moments. We have seen some of them get engaged, get married and some of them move on to great careers. Over the years we have missed them – Joe, Alexis, Michael…. and so many more – but have been glad that they got some great breaks in life.

The other mundane upside of getting to know everybody at the bar, of course, is that I can ask them to make any drink I want. Real example…

“Can you make me a Perky Goth?”
“What is that?”, would have been a legitimate and somewhat expected response. Not too many people would know a Perky Goth – certainly not in the cocktail form.
And that is what precisely Caroline asked – who was rather startled with my request – right in the middle of giving us an update on her son and daughter.
“Gin, Ginger Liqueur, Absinthe, Blood Orange Bitters and Simple Syrup”

She was rather happy with the output once she was done carefully making it. It actually tastes pretty good – if you have not tried it out, I would recommend it. She also had the portions perfect.

It was good enough that I wanted to keep the moment for posterity with a picture of the drink and the creator!!

Following up with my last two write ups on the Green House gin – unique gin but felt can’t go well with most cocktails. The citrusy one I tried – Lime Rickey – did not work well. Tried one where the gin does not have to carry most of the character – a Negroni. And this one turned out to be far better. Of course the palate and the nose of Campari and somewhat that of the Sweet Vermouth took the dominance out of the Gin.

Used the Green House Gin from Dallas with lime juice and tonic water. As suspected yesterday, this gin does not go well at all in this cocktail. I would not recommend you make it. I will try something very non-citrusy today and see how it goes. My hunch is still that this gin is best had neat or on the rocks.

You probably would not expect much from distilleries in Texas. Although there is that Tito’s vodka from Austin that is definitely top notch. This gin, while not in the same class as a Hendricks or Malfy has enough uniqueness that makes it worth a try. First, I tried it thinking it would be one more of the so-called “hand crafted”, “artisan”, “small batch” etc etc gins. All the adjectives used to try to position the uniqueness. I expected it to be very juniper forward and not expect much more.

Quite to the contrary, the juniper is subdued. Unlike some other reviewers, I would not call this as a traditional gin. This is more in the American Style gin to me.

Now comes the frustrating part… there is a overwhelming aroma of something in this gin – which is very pronounced when you exhale – but for the life of me, I cannot pinpoint what it is. I do not think it is any of the berries (like the açaí berry in it) – it is definitely a mix of citrus (probe the Sicilian bergamot – something that I have never had in my life) and something else – more flowery. Kind of like lavender but less pronounced.

I had Sharmila try it – who is far better in pin pointing the components than me, but between us, we are still struggling. If any one of you can nail it, please let me know.

You definitely want to have the first one neat. Take in small sips and let it sit on your tongue for a while. The nose has that flowery aroma that I talked about. But as you let the gin sit on your tongue and breathe in and out for the first time, it breaks down into a very rich mixture of that citrusy-flowery smell. You can quickly smell the juniper right after it. On the palate, it has a buttery feel to it. The length is very long and sweet.

I am still not sure how this will go in a cocktail or even with tonic water. I have a feeling the character of the gin might get totally killed with some of the stronger components. I will try it and see how it comes out.

From the distiller’s notes, the following are some of the botanicals – but not the complete list, they insist:  juniper berries, cardamom, coriander, Sicilian bergamot, lemon, lime, orange, açai berry, and cucumber.

It is probably still not proper season to make Gimlets – but what the heck?, the sun has been out for a few hours here in Milton. This very old cocktail (some of the early mentions of this drink goes back to 1920s) has somewhat of a contested view on the origin of the name. The more common one was that this was named after Surgeon General Sir Thomas Gimlette who is said to have added lime cordial to the daily ration of gin for the British shipmen to fight scurvy that used to afflict many a sailor on long voyages.

Greenhat Gin, fresh lime juice and some simple syrup.