Food

Haymans of London: London Dry Gin Review

Haymans Of London: London Dry Gin is a Gin, we’ve had the pleasure of trying before at a few events, however, ONIN.London thought it deserved it’s own spotlight post!

Haymans gin was founded in 1863 and is still family operated. This True English gin is hand distilled and remains true to the 150 year-old family recipe. Hayman’s has recently unveiled a stylish and contemporary new look for its range of True English Gins following the launch of their new distillery, in Balham. The light blue label showcases a traditional Victorian gas lamp from the 19th Century and reflects the family’s steep history in the world of Gin. It’s definitely a pretty bottle and stands out more than the darker navy predecessor.

The London Dry Gin’s botanicals consist of juniper, coriander, lemon peel, orange peel, orris root, cinnamon, cassia, nutmeg and liquorice. Now as someone, who tends to stay away from cinnamon botanical gins… I’m going to have to say it works in Haymans London Dry especially as in my opinion it contrasts well with the liquorice flavour that comes out as more predominant flavour.

Haymans say a True English Gin and Tonic consists of 50ml Hayman’s London Dry Gin, 100ml premium Indian Tonic Water and a Twist of Lemon peel. We tend to agree with them and my house mate and I found ourselves enjoying an evening of these while the sun continued to shine.

The London Dry is an extremely easy Gin to drink and given that it’s the same recipe used for 150 years, it’s safe to say Haymans know what they’re doing. Haymans does have a range of four other gins to purchase and we have added the Sloe Gin and Old Tom to our widely growing Gin collection.

Now a cocktail perfect for Summer, is the Elsanta Fizz! Inspired by the English Elsanta strawberry and garnished with strawberry and mint, this drink was something my house mate and I both looked forward to trying. We tried both the pre-made syrup and the receipe provided below to make our own strawberry syrup. It’s well worth the extra prep time to make the syrup from scratch and you can find recipes which use sweetener instead for those trying to kick sugar this summer.

Ingredients (Per individual serve):

50ml Hayman’s London Dry Gin

15ml Maraschino Cherry Liqueur

15ml Lemon Juice

20ml Elsanta Strawberry Syrup

Soda Water

Method:

  1. Fill a highball glass with cubed ice.
  2. Shake the gin, liqueur, lemon juice and syrup.
  3. Strain into the glass.
  4. Top with soda water.
  5. Garnish with the taste of an English Summer: a slice of fresh strawberry and sprig of mint.

For the True Taste: Pre-made strawberry syrup is readily available, however, making your own is a fool proof way of capturing the true taste of an English strawberry when they’re in season. To make strawberry sugar syrup, cook down 500g of strawberries with 90mls of Hayman’s London Dry Gin. Pass through a sieve to remove pulp before measuring the resultant quantity of juice. Weigh out the same amount of caster sugar and dissolve the juice and sugar in a pan over a low heat. Pour into a clip-top bottle, and refrigerate to cool.

Priced at a reasonable £26.00 for a 70ml bottle, Haymans London Dry Gin can be purchased online or at all good retailers.

 

Website: www.haymansgin.com

Address:

Hayman’s Distillery,

8a Weir Road,

London,

SW12 0GT

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: www.instagram.com/haymansgin

Twitter: @haymansgin

Facebook: www.facebook.com/haymansgin

Written by Tegan LeBon

Twitter and Instagram: @toogs1