So, Hec, this is gin that's so fancy it has a number instead of a name? (I know very little of gin, since it is to me the devil's own drink.)

So, Hec, this is gin that's so fancy it has a number instead of a name?

Correct. There's been an explosion in upper tier small batch gins in the last ten years, some by boutique distillers, some by established gin makers putting out a specialty item. So gins like 209, Tanqueray's 10 (another number), Junipero (by Anchor Steam), Aviation and Broker's would all be in this group.

There's also an interest in older styles of gin, like the classic Plymouth, and Old Raj which have very different feels on the palate. This is not unlike rediscovering older beer styles (Anchor Steam being one example).

Gins vary quite a bit in flavor, defined only by a neutral spirit infused by a certain amount of juniper (in the case of Junipero - a lot of juniper) and a bunch of generally "grassy" botanicals. Bright, herbaceous flavors.

I don't know if you'd ever come around to gin, but used in cocktails the flavors you don't like would be buried a bit, but adding complexity to the cocktail.

Not in a martini, though, which is just really cold gin and vermouth. And olives.

Sean, excellent work on the mentions in the reviews. That is really something to be proud of.

:: bangs head on tech table ::
:: does it again because, well, why not ::
I guess it's going well, we are close to intermission on the first day, and we don't have audience until Friday. But. The director keeps changing her mind, and the actors aren't off book yet. After 3 weeks of rehearsal for 8 hours a day, it's rare that actors aren't. And the fact it's not just one, but MOST of them calling for line, well, it's really frustrating. So I kinda want to go home, and watch those Netflix DVD's I have, tape up some boxes, and start packing the books. But no. Gotta sit in the theater. :: sigh :: Maybe I finally have 'short timers' or something.

Tom Harkin's a great disability advocate, but he's no Barbara Gordon.

erikaj, are you in Iowa?

Gins vary quite a bit in flavor, defined only by a neutral spirit infused by a certain amount of juniper (in the case of Junipero - a lot of juniper) and a bunch of generally "grassy" botanicals. Bright, herbaceous flavors.

Herbaceous is what I avoid like the Black Death in, for instance, white wine. Like grassy Sauvignon Blancs. My palate is not a fan of the herbaceous ouevre.

I don't know if you'd ever come around to gin, but used in cocktails the flavors you don't like would be buried a bit, but adding complexity to the cocktail.

Not in a martini, though, which is just really cold gin and vermouth. And olives.

I can tolerate a really dirty martini, though ideally it would be a dirty vodka martini.

My brother's joke -- not *his* joke; I imagine it's as old as the martini itself; it's just a joke he often makes -- is that the ideal martini is ice-cold gin poured in a martini glass with a bottle of vermouth waved in the general direction of the glass. "Hello, Mr. Gin." "Hello, Mr. Vermouth." And never the twain shall intermingle.

If we're talking spirits, I'm still a bourbon woman. Mmmm.

the ideal martini is ice-cold gin poured in a martini glass with a bottle of vermouth waved in the general direction of the glass. "Hello, Mr. Gin." "Hello, Mr. Vermouth." And never the twain shall intermingle.

That's a gintini.

it's just a joke he often makes -- is that the ideal martini is ice-cold gin poured in a martini glass with a bottle of vermouth waved in the general direction of the glass. "Hello, Mr. Gin." "Hello, Mr. Vermouth."

Yeah, he needs to let go of that one. In mixology circles this is basically the problem: drinking as a macho exercise. Vermouth is not the enemy. In fact, on the chalkboard outside of Alembic they'll announce this: We like the taste of vermouth in our martinis. If you want cold gin, that's fine but it's not a martini.

Ditto with misting the glass with vermouth.

It's all about the right ingredients in the proper proportions. Just like in a recipe.

Or as Lorne said on Angel, "I can hold a note forever, but it's not about the note but the space in between the notes."

It's not a fetish of The One Thing; it's about the Balance Between Things.

I can tolerate a really dirty martini, though ideally it would be a dirty vodka martini.

I'll note also that a dirty martini is a waste to a good bartender. You're taking the carefully crafted botanicals of the gin and pouring the equivalent of ketchup all over it. And a dirty vodka martini is barely even a drink. You might as well alternate shots of vodka and swigs from your olive jar.

Which is to say: just drink a beer you'd enjoy instead.

Not to be snooty but, why waste your time on something you don't really enjoy when you could have something you do like? Why have something you can merely tolerate?

Be a sophisticated beer drinker instead of a reluctant cocktail drinker.

If you want cold gin, that's fine but it's not a martini.

Words to live by.

Also, living in a barn doesn't make you a cow and putting a drink in a martini glass doesn't make it a martini.