Gin help

[TwoHoots74]

I realise I'm late to the party but I've never tried gin. There's so many varieties now and mixers I've no idea where to start.

Where is a good starting point?

It’s all about the tonic, I love Fever Tree. Mediterranean is nice.

I don’t like flavoured gins, I’ll make an exception for spiced gin, and my absolute favourite is Monkey 47 but it’s not cheap.

Bombay sapphire or The Botanist are nice and a bit cheaper? Enjoy! X

Beefeater gin is a standard London Dry at 40% alcohol. Usually competitively priced and widely available. Better quality than 37.5% spirits and better overall value than some at silly prices. Start with Beefeater and, if you acquire the taste, go for slightly stronger export strength stuff like Morrison's Best and Tanqueray. I advise not spending more money on tonics like Fentiman or Fevertree. Aldi tonic is inexpensive and won't kill the flavour of the gin. I used to buy Schweppes but I might stick to Aldi now.

Don't forget a wedge of lime. Or pink grapefruit, if you prefer.

Roku by Suntory is my favourite with a good tonic (or neat with a dash of water) and plenty of ice.

It all feels like a minefield.

So if you have a flavoured gin do you get a plain tonic?

A lot of flavoured gins are absolute cack, and many are "gin liqueurs" dressed up as gins. Liqueurs often have a sugary, viscous quality and are around 20% vol.
proper gin is water thin and 40% vol, or more!

My favourite is wildfox twelve bore, a friend of mine had a bottle and made me one one night. It's not available in the shops, only direct from the distillery.

With a flavoured gin, plain tonic, yes. As other have said, Fevertree is really good, their naturally light will go with most gins.

Personally, I’d start with a good quality, plain gin. Gordon’s is always reliable, also Bombay Sapphire. At the moment, I’m drinking Jawbox, mainly because it was on offer in the supermarket. Roku is a lovely gin, and I like Twisted Nose, which has a peppery quality.

If you’re going with a flavoured gin, I’d go for a citrus one, Gordon’s Sicilian lemon, Tanqueray Orange or Tanqueray Rangpur, which is limey. I don’t like gins flavoured with berries, but if you like a sweeter drink, you might enjoy one.

Sorry, was interrupted and sent too soon.

My favourite universal pub available gin is Hendricks. So smooth, I really enjoy it.

But I agree with previous posts that a tonic can massively alter how a gin tastes. A lot of gin companies have guides as to what tonics they recommend (or don't recommend!) for each gin.
And I think the best way to find out what you like to is to go to a pub and try some, then you're not forking out £18-£40 on a full bottle and you only have to suffer through one drink if you don't like it.

Zymurgorium - the Manchester original or Thomas Dakin. Very lovely gins - good 'starter' ones.

There's no right or wrong, just what you like.

I like flavoured gins with plain tonic water, and traditional gins with flavoured tonics. Fever tree is good, I like Aldi too though, its good to buy smaller bottles or cans as its always fresh and fizzy.

Of traditional gins, I like Harris gin and Plymouth gin. Favoured ones, Lundin raspberry or gin bothy, or red castle.

But experiment and see what you like!

Tanqueray. Put it in the freezer all day. It’ll go lovely and cold and syrupy. Find a nice glass. Mix 25ml gin with one small can of refrigerated yellow Fever Tree and ice. A slice of orange or cucumber is nice too.

If you really want to to try gin, then try a London dry unflavoured gin, so you can decide whether you actually like the taste of gin.

I like gin. I'm not snobby about it and enjoy Gordon's gin as well as others, but I'm not keen on flavoured gins because they don't taste of gin (juniper)

IMO flavoured gins and gin liquers should be treated as drinks in their own right and not classed as gins. They are for people who don't like gin (sorry).

Just start off with Gordon's gin and Schweppes tonic with a slice of lemon it's lovely and refreshing on a hot summers day.

Then try out all the other suggestions above

But make sure it isn't diet tonic water. It ruins the taste of the gin and leaves a nasty aftertaste.

Having foregone gin and tonic for a while, as I realised I liked the gin, but, the tonic was putting me off, I tried some Fevertree Premium Dry and can recommend. It lets the botanicals in the gin through without the odd aftertaste.

I think the easiest to drink gin is bloom.

I really rate the Cotswold gin tho.

My favourite tonic is the fever tree Sicilian lemon.

Also partial to a rhubarb gin with a fancy ginger beer/ale like Bundaberg. Slips down a treat, but will get you pissed if your not careful!

Agree with @JengaTower. Start with the basics and then try flavoured if you want to.

IMO Fevertree is overpriced and over flavoured and ruins gin, so each to their own.

If you're starting with basics, then I recommend Waitrose own label gin, and tbh I expect most supermarket gins are much the same.

But supermarket tonics are not. Waitrose is, I think, the best by a mile. I get Schweppes when it's on offer. And occasionally Fever Tree - theirs have rather different flavours and you might or might not like it.

I don't bother with flavoured gins (though I have liked some I've been given).

Sipsmith is a good brand is you want to try a better quality one. The VSOJ is over proof at 57.7%!

We drink tanqueray 10. DH likes it with yellow fevertree, I go light fevertree. With grapefruit or lime or strips of cucumber.