Hidden Curiosities Gin
Hand crafted in the Surrey Hills
In The Keep, Hidden Curiosities Gin set up a gin pop up shop and free tasting.
Curious I decided to pop along.
Not in the Gin Alley, oops Gin Parlour upstairs at The Keep, an area had been set aside downstairs.
I am no fan of gin, cannot stand the smell let alone the taste, but was curious, this was craft gin.
For some perverse reason, gin has become the in drink.
Did I wish to try?
The aroma was quite pleasant, not at all like that normally associated with gin. To drink, like drinking firewater, lacking the maturity of a good brandy. I could see why it is usually drunk diluted. It also has potential for cocktails with cold brew coffee.
A long chat with Jenny, she is also a fashion designer, who had designed the gin.
We have craft beer, speciality coffee and now craft gin.
Chatting with Jenny as passionate about craft gin, as brewers are about craft beer, or roasters and baristas about single origin, direct trade speciality coffee, and equally passionate about slow fashion.
She does not distil the gin, this is done using spare capacity at a distillery, but it is carried out to her recipe with her overseeing the distillation.
Twenty botanicals are added.
Botanicals? This sound like alchemy, or maybe something out of a steam punk novel. Why botanicals, why not simply call herbs?
Because more than herbs are added, spices and berries are added, and this is what gives the interesting aroma, not what could be described as the crude unpleasant smell of gin.
And the gin itself then forms the foundations for something else, it could be as simple as a gin and tonic or maybe an exotic cocktail using cold brew coffee.
It was only later I thought of last year at Union Summer Festival, Martin Hudak had won World Champion Barista for Coffee in Good Spirits and later at The Underdog in Athens a V60 from Manos Mamatis, the No 2, and also in The Underdog three previous winners of Coffee in Good Spirits.
Maybe something for Robustos to consider, a speciality coffee shop with excellent wines, whiskey and of course coffee.
Or The Square in Winchester.
Something I had not seen before, copper straws.
I am now intrigued to try Silent Pool Gin at the Guildford farmers market and hopefully see Hidden Curiosities Gin and Chimney Fire Coffee with a stall, especially if a few coffee cocktails to try.
