Liverpool Gin | Gin Tonic Time

The gin market seems to be expanding and expanding with new brands coming in all the time! I think last year alone I saw around 20 new names on various shop shelves. This blog entry covers a rather unique and innovative gin: Liverpool Gin. This is without question one of the best tasting gins I’ve had in the last 6 years! I’ll tell you more about my experiences, but first, let’s go over some interesting facts.

Liverpool Gin is a premium organic spirit (you read that right!), distilled with certified organic botanicals since 2013. The distillery produces 600-700 bottles a week and these are individually numbered by hand, indicating a production process that is smaller in scale and more personal. Named after the maritime city of Liverpool and inspired by the same gin that was produced there many years ago, it has no reason to envy those made in Plymouth or London. Its port, once considered the largest in the world, used to receive many of the botanicals that are now carefully combined with an organic Italian grain from Piedmont to create this exquisite gin.

The makers of Liverpool Gin were confident they could create a product that would prove worthy enough to compete side by side with some of the world’s best gins. And it just so happens that last year, Liverpool Gin was awarded two gold medals in the Ultra Premium and Organic categories at the annual Global Spirit Masters Competition and was also rated ‘Silver Outstanding’ by the International Wine and Spirit Competition in the Contemporary Gin category. John O’Dowd, head distiller at Liverpool Distillery Ltd., stated that “[l]ast year’s results gave [them] confidence that [they] were on the right path and these recent awards are testament to [their] continued pursuit of excellence.”

Excellence is certainly the name of the game as I sampled my first G&T with Liverpool Gin. I was blown away by the high quality of the spirit! As far as we know, Liverpool Gin is crafted with angelica root, angelica seeds, coriander seeds, lemon and bitter orange peels, and the quintessential juniper berries. The fragrance emanating from the bottle is woody and peppery with a sweet, citrusy finish. The pine-like aroma can perhaps be due to an organic compound found in the oils of fresh angelica root called “alpha pinene”, while the pronounced citrus smell comes from an organic compound found in the juniper berries and lemon rinds called “limonene”. Maybe this is why they call it a “Complex Organic” gin?

Liverpool Gin + Fever-Tree Tonic Water + Star Anise

Simply THE best organic gin!

Out of the various serving suggestions included with the bottle, I went with the star anise option for my first mix. The recipe was unusual and this attracted my eye. The gin itself is a bit yellowish in colour and as I poured in the tonic water, the spices and fresh citrus tones burst out of the high ball glass, tingling my nose and my curiosity as to what the tasting experience would bring. The drink was incredibly silky and smooth, with a slight bitter aftertaste and a strong, sweet finish. The sweet taste is most probably due to the licorice-flavoured essential oils of the star anise, which combined with the citrus elements of the gin enormously improves the overall combination.

I didn’t find this gin to be very dry, unlike many other gins on the market. The Fever-Tree tonic water, as has happened many times in the past, gave a very neutral and balanced flavour to the cocktail. The perfect and tiny bubbles bringing the best out of this complex gin. And here I thought I had tasted quality spiced gins before, but Liverpool is definitely in a whole new league! The makers of the gin have done their homework and done it VERY well!

Liverpool Gin is by far my favorite organic gin and if combined with Fever-Tree tonic water it most certainly makes the perfect serve! You can also try adding orange peel to this concoction to give it a more intense take. I still think however that star anise by itself does wonders!

Liverpool Gin + Schweppes Ginger & Cardamom Tonic Water + Star Anise

This cocktail didn’t pan out nearly as well as I thought and illustrates the process of trial and error when researching G&T combinations. Initially when thinking about alternative possibilities to Fever-Tree, I had the idea of pairing a spiced tonic water with the spiced element found in Liverpool Gin.

Unfortunately, there was an excess amount of cardamom that hit both my palate and my nose, leaving little to no space for the garnish and the gin’s delicate flavours to flourish in equal measure. Schweppes tonic waters are known to be very bubbly and in this case it amplified more of its own elements rather than harmonizing with the gin itself. This is why I can’t stress enough the importance of using a clean-flavoured tonic water when giving a new gin a try as it really allows you to enjoy the gin to the fullest without adding any unnecessary flavours which might otherwise spoil the beverage.

My experiment may not have been successful, but one thing for sure is that I still have plenty of Liverpool Gin left in the bottle and many other eye-catching perfect serve suggestions by the makers themselves that I will definitely be trying. Do you know of any other gins that combine watermelon or orange peel and mint leaves to their combinations? And the best thing of all is that they now have two new additions to their gin family: Liverpool Gin Rose and Liverpool Gin Valencian Orange. I simply can’t wait to give those a try. So, what are you waiting for to get ahold of one of their bottles?

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