Sunshine in a bottle!
On a short and very wet break to Brixham in Devon recently, we clocked a gin shop along the windy harbour front; this was before dashing into a cosy pub for shelter, having just survived what the news later described as a “mini tornado.” One spiteful squall nearly blew my very sturdy hubby off his legs – luckily, I was behind his large, protective frame!
Refreshed and slightly drier after a couple in the Rising Sun, and with the rain not quite so horizontal, we ventured down the cobbles to investigate ‘Inspirations,’ which boasts the best selection of artisan gins we’ve ever seen. After much dithering, we opted for a bottle of Marmalade Gin; possibly due to its endearingly cheerful paper label, depicting a rabbit and a ginger ‘marmalade’ cat enjoying the sunshine in an orange orchard. The scene reminded me very much of the illustrations from childhood books, such as are still printed by Ladybird.
Manassés Machado is the artist designing the labels for the Copper in the Clouds Distillery, which is based on a small farm in Hertfordshire and makes a range of limited edition gins: our 41% ABV distillation is bottle number 33, from batch 16 – although we both love it so much, by the time you read this, it will be ‘was’ no 33, it ‘was’ the sixteenth batch …
As the distiller recommends, it can be enjoyed neat as a winter warmer, or as a G&T – we feel that it’s too good to mix with anything at all, and have been enjoying this zesty, citrusy concoction as an appetizer. Due to the very strong marmalade bent, I can see why the distiller also suggests trying this gin as a Breakfast Martini – recipe below:
Ingredients
- 1tsp good quality Seville orange marmalade
- 50ml Copper in the Clouds Marmalade Gin
- 10ml Cointreau
- 15ml Lemon juice
Method
- Combine all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake vigorously for 10 seconds.
- Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass
- Garnish with a twist of citrus
“We use oodles of thick, sticky, REAL marmalade from blood oranges, Seville oranges and pink grapefruits …”
Indeed, as the makers say, this is a “delightfully tangy and bright spirit” – and just what you need in the depths of a cold, dark and wet British winter – this gin is every bit as good as Aber Falls or Tanqueray Flor De Sevilla.
