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From the Kijabe Forest to your table....
Juniper! This is at the heart of every gin, but Procera Gin is quite special as it uses fresh juniper, harvested from tall trees that grow in the Kijabe forest, 50 miles from the first craft distillery in Kenya. The procera juniper grows at a high altitude - some trees at around 3500m - and it gives the juniper a distinct and unique flavour profile. It's green, nutty and earthy due to being bathed in sunlight year round. These berries are plump, ripe and green after the seasonal rain and full of bright citrussy notes.
Procera juniper blends beautifully with other African botanicals in a Kenyan sugarcane base - Madagascan Pink peppercorns, Swahili limes and Pixie Oranges from Kenya, Somalian acacia honey, Moroccan coriander and orris root, Mace and Cardamom from Zanzibar and Selim Pepper from Nigeria. It's the brainchild of Australian Guy Brennan, but it's the master distiller that has managed to bring this all together to make an exceptional and truly African gin, which is winning world awards and gaining recognition and accolades from bar professionals.
Roger Jorgensen is known as the father of distilling and dare I say it, gin, in South Africa. He's the font of knowledge, a farmer, and crazy scientist, having taught himself the art of distilling and having led the fight in South Africa to allow small distillers to gain their rights back and enable them to produce artisan spirits. His Savignac potstill brandy, aged in oak for 12 years, is renowned and one of the first spirits he produced at Jorgensen's Distillery after the "potstill revolution". He is the leading guru on panels in spirits award and assists with bringing other local brands to market. Roger as spoken highly of the South African gin industry - calling the Cape the new Gin Capital of the World back in 2019.
Africa has romanced many and Guy is no exception - having fallen in love with the continent several years ago when working in the Congo and Uganda. He settled in Nairobi where he met his wife and it was over sundowners that he and a group of friends had the idea to make gin. I've covered several gins over the past week and it's just a handful of the UK/European gins which are either inspired by Africa and/or which use African botanicals. Yet none use African juniper! So Guy smuggled some Procera juniper in his baggage and took a visit to Cape Town, South Africa to see what Roger could do with it. The rest is history. Roger sold his farm and moved to Kenya, experimenting with the recipe until it was 100% and even collecting the juniper with the rest of the team. They do add a third Macedonian juniper in order to get the flavour profile "just right", but all other botanicals are African. Blue Dot makes that elusive perfect dry martini that Roger spent all his life yearning for.
Red dot was recently launched with a heavier botanical profile and is perfect in a Negroni but the current batch is already sold out! Green (New) dot - a solely African juniper gin, using fresh and dried procera berries, foliage and juniper wood won't be out till later this year. And let's not forget the botanical salt - perfect for pimping up your G&T!
I was disappointed to hear they have put on hold any plans for an African 55 Gin that I'd read about - containing 1 botanical from each African country, but I'm sure they won't disappoint with what's in the pipeline. It's a growing brand and definitely one to watch, especially with London-based spirits specialist Ivan Dixon now co-owner of the brand.
Maisha marefu! (Swahili for Cheers)
See their website for more information: Procera
Where did our Christmas traditions start? This blogpost explores some of our favourite Christmas traditions, discovering where they came from, when they started and why we enjoy them year after year.
For the past few years I've set myself a 12 Days of Christmas challenge with a gin-twist! The theme is loosely based on the song "Twelve Days of Christmas" and it's a gin-terpretation (yes, a made up word!) of the song! I have posted brands and cocktails which relate to each of the 12 gifts and last year chose to use gins that had numbers in their branding. Whilst this is a personal challenge, it's open to everyone, so if you want to join in for a few or all of the days, then please do feel free - just tag me and I'll reshare!
Full Disclosure: All expenses paid press trip to Seville with Puerto de Indias and Hatch PR - October 2022
It's a bit early for clover but I did manage to find a few leaves poking out the ground and they were perfect to use for a post for St Patrick's Day. Other foliage or flowers work and even citrus peel, so if you aren't trying to theme your cocktails, then you can just pretty them up with something else. Sometimes condensation is enough to hold light objects onto the glass, but it wasn't working this time, so I had a trick up my sleeve!
Compiling a list of my top 10 gins is almost impossible, as what I feel like drinking will change daily depending on my mood. I enjoy gins that are different, but they may not be for everyone, so if you are looking to get into drinking gin or want to try something new, then this is a list of classic gins, which are excellent value for money and won't disappoint. All of these brands have a good range, including some flavoured gins, so there should be something for everyone in this list! Are there other brands on my shelf which are worthy of inclusion in a top 10 list? Yes of course and I may be a little biased as I've visited most of these distilleries and they all have something different to offer and make excellent spirits. However, they are all good starting points for those new to drinking gin and wanting to learn a little bit more about the history and how gin is made. Click on the links or photos to be taken to the brand websites or my reviews on Instagram .
Given this week is National Storytelling Week, I thought I would expand on my Top 10 favourite Gin Stories and share them again with you all in more detail. They are not in any particular order and although they are all good gins, it's impossible to make a list of my 10 favourite gins, as I have too many! If you want to read more of my gin stories, they are part of my Virtual Gin Tours which are either on my Instagram account or filed here on my website too for easy reading. Hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed researching and writing them all. Allison As seen in The Daily Mail