Gin Tip

John So I’m gonna revisit gin with a story.

Adam Gin? You mean the drink gin?

John Yeah, it turns out I’m watching the millennials and the older millennials are… they’re gravitating toward gin as like an after-dinner drink. I think they’re gonna end up drinking martinis. So people need to know what a good gin is. This’ll bring me to a story when I was doing tasting at the International Spirits and Wine Tasting Competition. I was a professional judge.

And this was in the year 2000 when these products first came out. And there were two products that were vying for the best gins in the competition. And one of them was Tank 10 from Tanqueray, which is my go-to gin, and that’s part of the tip. Tank 10 is the gin of gins. You can try Bombay Sapphire and all these other ones, but Tank 10 is a real killer. And what was then Anchor, they had a spirits division and they made this product called Junípero, which is still available with the new owners. And unfortunately they’ve gayed up the bottle and it’s a little bit effeminate.

Adam They’ve gayed up?

John They gayed up. It’s too bad, but the product is still the same. And so we’re going into the finals of the best gin that’s gonna win the gin award for the best double gold gin. And it was between Tank 10 and Junípero. And Junípero, which is a very interesting product, because it is just concentrated juniper. It’s incredibly intense, and people should check it out. You wanna blow away somebody with a martini using this stuff, you got something going on. And the Tank 10, which had just come out… and it was like everybody, I’m telling you, just the vibe of the tasting was, you know, we all really love this Junípero, but it’s so off-classic. It’s not… it’s not gin, it’s something else. And Tank 10 ended up getting the award, which became… it’s a fabulous product. But in fact, I think everybody liked the Junípero more, including myself. And it’s something people should check out and have at least once in their life.

Adam You know, a friend of mine has a distillery here called Salvation Spirits. And I’ve never really been a gin drinker, but he has some dynamite gin, which, wait for it, is bourbon barrel aged, which just kind of goes along with your wine tips. And it’s really good. So this Tank 10, I mean, do you just drink it straight up, or do you mix it with something?

John Tank 10 can be drunk straight.

Adam It can be drank, it can be drank straight up, man.

John It can be drank straight. Junípero for sure can be straight up, but no, it’s designed to be in a martini or some gin drink. Or gin and tonic is my favorite gin drink. And gin and tonic with Junípero or Tank 10 is dynamite.

Adam A G and T, as we say.

John But people, these are the two gins that should be in everybody’s bar.

Adam All right, everybody go out, get some for your bar. Let us know how it was. Drunk donations are always appreciated.