How to mix Whitley Neill Rhubarb and Ginger (Part I)
Today we did a little „Workshop“ on our August Special Drinks recommendation. Each month we have a Drink of the Month at Boilerman Bars and love the idea of also starting this at MONKEY BAR Cologne. And this time we are thinking about importing a not available Gin for our August specials to Germany.
While for P(our) in London, I met Johnny Neill and talked about his Gins. Next, to his new Rum Cask aged Marylebone Gin, we talked about his best selling new version of Whitley Neill Gins. A little bit than two years ago Team Whitley Neill created Gins with Flavour. Now there is a Whitley Neill Raspberry Gin, an Blood Orange Gin, Quince Gin, Parma Violet Gin, Protea and Hibiscus Gin, Aloe, and Cucumber Gin, Lemongrass & Ginger Gin and a Rhubarb and Ginger Gin. I have never heard about this portfolio extension. Johnny told they are really successful in the UK.
Only the Rhubard and Ginger Version sold in the last 12 month nearly kind of 2,4 Million 0,7 ltr bottles. That really fascinated me. I posted a few pictures about this in my Instagram Stories, and some German shops told me: Yeah, the Blood Orange is killing it, other gave me note: We sell a lot of Quince. Again, that was strange. This flavored Gins never made into a German distribution portfolio, most of it seemed to be small routes coming currently from England.
But the shops who listed it seemed quite happy with the sales numbers. So I asked Johnny to send us a few sample bottles to play around with. If the consumer in the UK had chosen, I would like to test it for a BOILERMAN BAR and Monkey Bar monthly special. Gin is still one of the best sellers in Germany for sure.
So, a few days ago, the free samples from Johnny arrived, and I gave it a try.
Puh, I did not like it the first impression as a Gin & Tonic. I tried it with our Polidori Tonic. Second try: Fentimans Tonic. Not my taste. Third try: Britivic Tonic, not my palate again.
The Rhubard and Ginger Gin contain a little sugar, and next to some intense flavors, the Gin & Tonic became just too sweet for my palate.
I tried another G&T with Fever Tree, and this got my first attention. Not perfect for my taste, but I could understand why some people would love this mixture. What fascinates me was, that mixing this Gin with the regular Fever Tree (quite rich in sugar) did taste as a Gin & Tonic less sweet than the other ones before. Strange thing: when you do the math, the amount of sugar is the same, but it tastes less sweet.
I mixed is with fresh Sweet&Sour, and results became much better for my palette. A Whitley Neill Rhubard and Ginger Gin Collins got some Thumbs up from the Team, it had a funky taste, many liked it, some didn’t.
We were onto something. A good bartender can handle all kinds of weapon if you ask me. That separates the pro bartender from bartenders with too strong opinions regarding what guests would like to enjoy.
Before I needed to run to another appointment, we mixed it with SUPASAWA instead of fresh lemon. What was interesting here was that fresh lemon very much features the Rhubarb Taste while SUPASAWA makes it a spicy drink featuring Ginger. Do not ask me why. Just a tasteful fact.
No precise results, but for a first tasting something like: we need to dive deeper — some drink will definitely work like a Triple-A drink — we just needed more time to understand the right balance and partners.
An unusual Gin may need some unusual drink recipes, I guess.
So we scheduled a proper drinks meeting for yesterday. We still needed to check out: Will the results end up in great drinks to make us import a little amount to Germany for our AUGUST Boilerman / 25hours Drinks ideas?
I was definitely in the mood that a classic Gin & Tonic is not my favorite way to mix Whitley Neill Rhubard and Ginger.
I checked the internet and many people who love WN R&G Gin go for a Ginger Ale and some classic Lemonade Fillers. This also did not get my attention. I had the feeling that Rhubarb and Ginger as intense flavors called for other Herbs and Spices. So I decided to go for a very famous Gin Drink from Germany created a long time ago by AXEL KLUBESCHEIDT: LE GURK.
You muddle 1/8 of a proper cucumber in a shaker, add Lemon, Elderflower Gin and cloudy Apple Juice with a splash of Simple Sirup. I reduced the Simple a little, cause the Whjiltey Neils Rhubard and Ginger contains already a low sugar and boooooom, — JACKPOT.
These drinks work very well with this flavorful Gin. It really stands out of it.
LE GURK by Axel Klubescheidt,
- Muddle 1/8 of fresh Cucumber in a Shaker Tin.
- 40 ml of Whitley Neill Rhubarb and Ginger Gin
- 20 ml fresh lemon juice
- 20 ml St. Germain
- 40 ml cloudy apple juice
- 5 ml simple syrup.
Shake, double-strain, serve on nugget ice, garnish with cucumber slices.
Andrej and I started to the thing in Tiki direction. A Gin Tai, A Mai Tai with Rhubarb and Ginger Gin was our next hit. Boom. Works well. For the Fun of it, we took our learning from the first quick tasting and changed Lime for SUPASAWA in a Gin Tai, and it became, as expected, spicier, featuring the Ginger in the Gin.
We started to note Gin Drinks which go in the same direction. The Richmond Gimlet with fresh mint came in our mind. The Gin Gin Mule will need a little adjustment but will definitely work like hell. These are now all ideas we will give to the MONKEY BAR Cologne to work in this direction for a perfect AUGUST Summer Drink.
For the three Boilerman Bar, we needed to find a simple way of a Highball serve.
We started classic with a Thomas Henry Tonic, which was much better as a combination than the ones I tried days before, but still not one of my favorite Highballs.
We tried it in a Gin Basil Highball for the Fun of it, and hell yes: it works and gives a special fruity note to it. Trying all kinds of Mixers, we all of a sudden had a Thomas Henry Coffe Tonic in our Hands.
And unexpected we had: JACKPOT №2… It worked very well. You need a healthy ration of 1 Part Whitley Neill Rhubarb and Ginger and two parts of Thomas Henry Coffe Tonic to get a best of two worlds. The intense flavors of the Gin but also the strong coffee note. We started to perfect it with a splash of SUPASAWA. Wow, this started to become really very good. Finally, we ended up in the final touch for the drink. An Orange Zeste really was a beautiful perfect add to feature the coffee. Arne Lübke, Bar manager of BOILERMAN BAR, all of a sudden served this Highball with Cucumber Slices. REALLY? Gin, Rhubard, Ginger, Coffee, Tonic, and Cucumber? HELL YES. This was great.
Rhubarb Ginger Cucumber Coffee
- 50 ml of Whitley Neill Rhubard and Ginger Gin
- 100ml chilled Thomas Henry Coffee Tonic
- 5 ml of SUPASAWA
all served in a Highball Glass, garnished with Cucumber! Or if you prefer it more classic: with an orange twist.
So, this is something we will give as an idea into our Boilerman Cocsmu to create a great Whitley Neils Rhubard and Ginger Highball as the HIGHBALL OF THE MONTH FOR AUGUST.
We will definitely bring over a palette of Johnny Neils WN Rhubard and Ginger Version to do some unusual Summer Rhubarb and Ginger Drinks in our 25hours / Boilerman Bars. And we will definitely fine tune the recipes and let you know results on our channels.
But: If you are a bar owner/wholesaler and a curious to try this Gin and want to join our order in the UK for an unusual Summer Gin Experience: Please contact us. Our order has to go out the second week of July to set things up, but if you are interested in getting some stuff for your bar, we might add up the order. Otherwise, come in AUGUST to Boilerman Bar to try UK’s favorite flavored Gin in a purple bottle ;)
