Whether you’re entertaining a few friends at home this festive season or planning a fabulous canape hour for your birthday or wedding, one item that will certainly be on the drinks menu is gin. Once viewed as ‘Granny Juice’ by the younger generations, over the past few years gin has had a tremendous blast to the forefront of food and drink culture – although it was recently revealed by former Buckingham Palace Chef Darryn McGrady that HM Queen Elizabeth II enjoys up to three generous gin and Dubonnet’s a day and has done so for most of her reign!
With so many products on the market – not to mention the recent explosion of Proudly South African craft gins – it may be overwhelming to know where to start. I met up with my friend and local gin connoisseur Alex Etchells, co-owner of Alchemy Bar in The Ballito Lifestyle Centre, to get some tips and ideas for creating the perfect gin trolley at home.
Alex’s Top Tips:
~ Whether you are enjoying a quiet drink after a long day or entertaining family and friends, it certainly helps to begin with the classic flavour pairings and build from there. Start with the traditional and slowly increase your collection to include bottles from near and far.
~ Make sure your garnishes are of the highest quality and are as fresh as possible.
~ Glass straws are not only practical, but they are good for the environment too. All our cocktails at the bar are served with glass straws so that we too can do our part for the planet.
~ Most importantly, there are no rules and it’s all down to personal taste. The whole idea is to create your own mixologies and try out different flavour combinations.
These days the old-school Gordon’s Gin gets a bit of a bad rep when compared to the exciting flavour combinations that have emerged from craft distilleries around the world, but few know that it has had a Royal Warrant since 1925 and is still the preferred gin of choice for HM Queen Elizabeth II. Looking closer to home, we believe that every gin connoisseur should have a bottle of Alex’s award-winning Ginsala on their trolley or bar shelf, produced by his very own local Blackstrap Distillery. Drawing inspiration from the mixing pot of Durban’s cultural heritage, Ginsla is a delicate blend of traditional Juniper Berry accents and Masala Spice - a community favourite which won a gold medal at the South African Spirit’s Trophy Awards in 2019.
This idea of blending the traditional with the modern can extend through to your trolley and styling too. Again there are no rules, so mix and match to your home decor as you please, but ensure you have all the necessary items such as glasses, garnishes, ice, and mixers close at hand. Then all that’s left to do is have fun with more botanical pairings by trying the full range of Fitch and Leeds cocktail mixers, that not only taste great but look the part too – cheers!
Photography by Stories by Goya.
