The gin bar in your kitchen

The popularity of gin is so great that there are so many varieties out there to choose from – or should I say try.

As a gin lover I have managed to acquire a small but lovely collection of different brands – some of them I’ve bought myself, some I have been given by friends. For me, a bottle of nice gin is the perfect present for any occasion!

I really like the Blackwells gin, and Pinkster is a really light taste and I love the pink colour. Wirral Gin is good of course, as it is distilled in the place I called home for 10 years, oh and it’s pretty strong too. Not that that’s a requisite for gin in my book, but sometimes it’s nice to have one with a bit of a kick, you know what I mean?

I was given two bottles for Christmas, one bottle of Silent Pool from my sister Katie, who I visited the home of Slingsby gin with last year, and one bottle of Hendricks from my sister-in-law Jehane and mother-in-law Alice. I’ve tried both gins and they are delicious!

These new additions have led to the creation of a mini gin bar in my home, one which was inspired by Rachel The Ordinary Lovely, who transformed a bookcase into a bar last year. Genius, right?

My bar is more of a cupboard top, but still it looks pretty cool and even if it doesn’t stay it will be recreated next time I have friends round for dinner or drinks.

Just before Christmas I was asked if I’d like to try out some gin glasses from Dartington Crystal, and so I’ve been using these two lovely Exmoor Highball ones to see how they make the gin taste. The verdict is, of course, good!

Don’t you find it really makes a difference when you drink from a good quality glass rather than a chunkier wine glass or tumbler? It certainly gives more of a bar/restaurant feel than drinking from the other mismatched water glasses in my cupboard.

They are pretty heavy which makes them feel expensive too – and at £48 a pair I guess they are pricier than anything I’ve bought before, but Dartington is such a classic, quality name that they are worth investing in. My mum and dad said they always used to buy glasses from there and built up a collection bit by bit – which is what I might be doing as I already have a Dartington gin set, a gift from colleagues when I left my last job.

The large ‘copa’ glass you can see in the last photograph was part of the Gintuition set, which is currently out of stock but worth waiting for.

They are the kind of glasses many bars serve their speciality gins in now, garnished with things like juniper berries, or the things I’ve chosen here, redcurrants, fresh rosemary and orange.

So many flavours to play with, so little time! Do you like gin? I’d love to hear how you serve yours. Oh, and let’s be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with ice and a slice, or straight from a can!

x Julia