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I know the obvious answer here is Hendricks. That said, I only use gin for mixing old school cocktails and gin and tonics.
So...is Hendricks too much gin for those purposes or would those things be that much better with the Hendricks?
Thanks.
Unpossible
Feb 09, 2007 10:35AM
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Hendricks makes a fine martini - not sure about its value to a G & T.
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While I'm definitely a Hendricks man for martinis, I honestly prefer Tanqueray 10 for a G&T. Its botanicals stand out above the tonic more distinctly.
I think the overlooked (and important) factor to a G&T is the tonic. Spend the extra $0.20 and get the better tonic (i.e. not Polar). For my drinks, I think that extra couple cents on tonic water makes as much of a difference as an extra $10 on gin.
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What are good brands of tonic? I never thought about there being a big difference between brands.
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Of the regular brands Schwepps is the best. Canada Dry is pretty good. But expect to see premium crafted, small batch tonic water available in limited quantities right now.
Q premium tonic water, sweetened with agave nectar. I haven't tried it yet but have heard that it is sharper and less sweet with much more flavor than the old tonic waters. there are a few other brands as well just coming in to production.
http://qtonicwater.com/
Fever-Tree Premium Indian Tonic Water (from the UK) and Stirrings triple filtered tonic water (Massachustets) are both sweetened with pure cane sugar. They are both supposed to be very tasty. Fever Tree is only available in the Uk at this time.
http://www.fever-tree.com
http://www.stirrings.com/sodastonic.php
Jim Meehan a mixologist at Gramercy Tavern and the Pegu Club is working on a lime and lemongrass tonic water.
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I'd like to try Q, but their site gives no indication of where it might be available.
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I called them and I will post that info when they return my call.
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In reading posts from the creator of Q Tonic on eGullet, I have my doubts that it's available.
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Just got a call and it will be available soon. Maybe before spring.
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Available . . . in stores?
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Yes
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The better the spirit, the better the cocktail or drink. Also the better the mixer, the better the drink. But you also have to look at the flavor profile of the spirit. There are so many different types of gin on the market today, it seems a new premium one pops up every few months. They taste different and so you need to look at what type of drink you are mixing.
Hendricks has a unique flavor profile (the floral and vegetal style), as does Tanqeuray (a classic London Dry Gin) and Tanqueray No. 10 (a citrus forward, heavy bodied gin). I really like regular Tanqueray, and Hendricks, but don't care much for T-10. It is too citrusy with a glycerin like body and I find it fights with the vermouth in a martini. But in a gin and tonic the T-10 goes ok because the citrus matches with the quinine. Hendricks gets overwhelmed in a gin and tonic, and regular Tanqueray to me tastes best of the three in a GnT.
I really like the musky, orange taste of Bluecoat gin. It's very smooth and unique.
South is very different with its Maori medicinal herbs.
G'Vine is amazingly floral, it's made from grape spirits and has green grape flowers as a major component.
I have 2 dozen different gins right next to me an each one has different flavors and goes better or worse with different types of cocktails. I was at a gin for charity event recently where the same cocktail (The Aviation) was made with different gins and you tasted mini glasses full to compare. This really pointed out to me just how different each gin is when used in a cocktail, not just on the rocks.
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Two dozen gins! JMF, just off the top of your head, which gin would you you go for when making a martini?
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I now have over 40+ gins here in my office and have reviewed around 36 so far over at www.slashfood.com and also compiled the reviews on my site www.drinkingtheworld.com.
They are so many different types that you can't say any one is a favorite. It all depends upon the mood.
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Thanks for the links...
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My husband drinks gin and tonics and always prefers 10 to either of yours.
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To me the sign of a good gin is when it is good on its own... I love a Tanqueray on the rocks with olives...
mmm i think I will have one now...
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The definition of which is the better gin depends strictly on its application. Tanqueray is a more classic London Dry style of gin, with a very assertive juniper flavor. I think Hendrick's has been formulated to appeal to super-premium vodka drinkers who are bored with vodka (as they probably should be) but don't love juniper. Hendrick's tones the juniper way down in favor of rose and cucumber notes.
I like both. I think Hendrick's makes a lovely G&T, especially when garnished with both a cucumber slice and a lime wedge. But its subtleties get clobbered in a good gin cocktail like a Negroni (one of my favorites). The assertiveness of a Negroni's other components, especially Campari, require a drier, beefier gin like Tanqueray for balance.
Probably my favorite use of Hendrick's is as a "gateway gin" for folks I'm trying to convert to gin's charms. Make an Aviation cocktail with Hendrick's for someone who claims to hate gin, and tell them it's made with vodka. Most folks I've done this to actually like it, and start approaching other gin drinks with a more open mind.
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The first time I bought a bottle of Hendrick's I sort of liked it in a martini garnished with a cucumber, but still preferred martinis made with Plymouth or Boodles.
Then I recently had a Hendrick's martini at a bar with a big wedge of cucmber and was blown away by the floral (rose) and cucumber flavor--fantastic! I found that I hadn't been thrilled at home because I was adding too much vermouth. The bar had made the typical "super dry wave the vermouth bottle at the shaker" vodka martini recipe and it worked perfectly with Hendrick's. The flavors are subtle and, for me, best enjoyed without embellishment, unlike other martinis, which I like with a real amount of vermouth, maybe 1:5.
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Hendrick's is hands down my favorite gin. Not because I drink vodka and need to have a gin-baby-blanket but because I appreciate the subtlety of its flavors to those of Tanqueray. While I know many people enjoy Tanqueray, I feel like I'm licking a pine air freshener when I drink it. Hendricks retains a hint of juniper flavor with a smooth cucumber note and a hint of rose. The overall result is an incredibly fresh and juniper light gin. It is not, as mentioned above, a London Dry Gin but rather a unique product of Scotland which is made in a Carter-Head Still-of which there are only four still in existence.
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Who referred to Hendrick's as London Dry gin?
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My fault, I was unclear. Not that Hendrick's had been referred to as a London dry... rather, I was referring to London dry as a category in general to which it may be compared
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I would suggest you give the brand new kid on the block, Tanqueray Rangpur (lime), a little test drive. It has a completely different taste profile than it's brethrens. Hell, it even taste great neat or on the rocks.
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Depends on your mood, I had a martini with Hendrick's gin the other day with a cucumber, it was wonderful… although I tend to drink more Tanqueray.
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I've been a fan of Hendrick's since my girlfiend made me a G&T with it, as for a martini
I still prefer Tanqueray 10. However, the owner of my local package store recomend
Miller's ...*very* nice, crisp taste, clean finish, and not too expenseive. It has since
become my "everyday" gin of choice.
http://www.millersgin.com
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Quick G & T story. 16 years old working one summer with my Uncle in construction. After work one day we visit his friend and he makes us each a G & T. Great off the boat German guy says he made mine real weak. German guy asks my Uncle what he thinks, my Uncle being off the boat Italian doesn't due G & T, and my Uncle is unimpressed. German guy makes my Uncle another and that one he liked. Turns out the crazy German mixed up the drinks. Needless to say I passed out when I got home and I have been a G & T guy ever since. The only way to have them Tanquery Schweppes Tonic and a lime. Serve with lots of ice in a high ball and dream of Summer.
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If I could throw a darkhorse gin in here for some of y'alls' opinion, has anyone else had Old Raj? Smooth and easy like Hendricks but infused with saffron, which in addition to adding a really neat gold color makes for a new taste for gin away from the traditional flavors.
For G&T's, I strongly prefer T10 with lemon, Gordons 2nd, Hendricks 3rd. Tanqueray only if it's the well gin.
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I like Cadenheads Old Raj a lot, I have a bottle of it on my desk to review in the next few days. (Along side 7 other gins for review) I like Hendricks, but think Old Raj is much better. There are so many good gins out there and new ones coming out all the time.
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I do "reviews" of liquor at my desk all the time too!
Just kidding, in case you're reading bos. . .
My chief concern with Old Raj, aside from the price, is that it seems too good to be taken seriously, kind of like a white russian or a s'more or macaroni and cheese.
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I don't understand what you mean. "white russian or a s'more or macaroni and cheese" I don't think I would put Old Raj in the class of comfort foods/drinks like those. I would put it more in the realm of caviar, foie gras, etc.
The price may be the highest for any gin at around $44, it isn't that bad for a special occasion, super premium gin. I don't use it in cocktails or with tonic, only sipped on the rocks. I pay a lot more for fine sipping single malts.
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Um, I like Tangueray. Hendrick's is too soft for me. Sometimes I like a Hendrick's martini, but Tangueray I just love.
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Neither. Plymouth if I can find it for a martini if not, then a G&T w/ Gordons (my dad's gin) But gin is such a matter of taste. Most bars in my area would have you believe that only Tanq. and Bombay Sapphire exist.
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That's sad and so much the truth. I have been to many very good bars in NYC and they have only the big players. Bombay and Bombay Sapphire, Tanqueray and Tanqueray 10, Beefeaters and rarely Beefeaters Wet, etc. Maybe they will have Gordons as one step above well (I think it is a premium gin at a regular gin price) if it is an older place. I like Tanqueray and Bombay, dislike Sapphire and 10, and I'll take Gordons over any of them If I'm sticking to gin rocks or GnT for the evening. Gordons is an easy sipping gin with a classic taste. I mentally use it as the benchmark for a classic London Dry style. It has incredible balance and structure, but is light and lean, not too much or too little of anything.
Lately I have been proselytizing about the new premium gins. There are so many great ones, reasonably priced, with such unique flavors and riffs on the traditional styles.
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All those softer gins don't do it for me... I want my gin to taste like gin.
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What softer gins? And what do you specifically mean by softer? That's a loose term.
Many of the new gins are very big, full of juniper and other botanicals.
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Sorry for the vagary. It's a term I read used to describe the Tang 10 and Beefeater Wet bottles. I'm sure the new gins are beautiful, any brands you recommend?
I just committed a vague description sin...it's like when people ask me for a dry red in my bar...
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I agree about T-10. I don't care for it. I feel it has a too sweet and citrus taste, also a glycerin feel. I was told by a friend who is a UK spirts expert that he felt the same about glycerin in T-10 and actually asked them if there was any added and they said no. BUT I found out that glydcerin is a by product of the distilling process and so by maneuvering the process there could be glycerin in it anyway. Glycerin would give that smooth, slightly thick, slightly sweet, almost viscous feel to the T-10.
I haven't tried Beefeater Wet yet. I have been putting it off because Beefeater London Dry isn't one of my favorite gins. It is a well executed and traditional London Dry but a little to steel and flint like for me.
If you want to know what bottles I recommend look back up any gin threads or go to my reviews, see link below.
http://www.slashfood.com/search/?q=gin
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Cool! Thanks.
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After reading all this, and being a true gin lover (no matter the gin) I think it all depends on the person consuming a gin related drink.
I prefer what I like in gin, but as a bartender, I have to take into consideration every consumers taste (as different as it could be). It's just like wine,we each like what we like-that's just it!! Whether it runs the gamat from Beefeaters to Old Raj...you just have to taste your way through them.
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Well spoken, there are no absolutes (no pun intended) when coming to the world of spirits. Try a variety of brands & styles then decide what YOU like not someone else's idea of marketing image.
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Is anyone else simply not convinced by the alleged cucumber/rose notes in Hendricks? When I sampled it (with just soda water), all I got was a big wallop of coriander-- so much so that it reminded me of some coriander-infused vodka I'd had a Russian restaurant! (But maybe I'm just a philistine and am not getting the subtler notes?)
I generally tend to go for Tanq., but Beefeater's has some nostalgic associations for me- ah, the sound of my grandfather's martini shaker every afternoon...
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When I had a Hendrick's martini made the "modern" way (hardly any vermouth, maybe none at all--this was at a hotel lounge and I didnt see it being made), garnished with a cucumber spear, I was blown away by the floral rose notes (obviously the cucumber was there as well). I guess its aromatics can't stand up to any competition.
If I ever buy it again (so pricey! plus I am hooked on Plymouth right now) I will make vermouth-free "martinis" with it (not really a martini, obviously).
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I can definitely taste the cucumber when I drink it on the rocks or in a very dry martini. I would never use it for a G&T, since it would be overwhelmed.
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