Ever since I discovered that I didn’t hate gin, it has been some years now, I have been working my way through the many hundreds of brands. My friend Charlie will tell you that people who say they don’t like gin have probably not tried it with the right mixer. Everyone thinks you need to drink gin with tonic and, whilst I am not averse to the odd G&T, I much prefer my gin mixed with something else.
Jawbox is a small batch gin made in Belfast and is named after the nickname given to the classic Belfast sink, those gorgeously deep and weighty sinks you can find in a traditional style kitchen. The idea is that the party starts in the kitchen and people tend to mill around there with their drinks for a chat at the start of an evening. Now you can do that over a jawbox gin!
There are 11 botanicals used to make the unique recipe including juniper, orris root, cardamom, coriander, lemon peel, angelica, grains of paradise, liquorice root, cubebs, cassia quills and the Belfast black mountain heather. Three secret botanicals are vapour distilled to make the finished product that, as you can probably tell by the botanicals, packs quite a punch!
It is a savoury gin, there is no disputing that, with the cardamom coming through on the nose to give it a spicy aroma, whilst the citrus gives flavour on the palate along with a slight sweetness from the liquorice. Despite this it is perfectly smooth and stands up well to most mixers I have paired it with so far. My favourite is a dash of ginger ale and a wedge of lime, it isn’t a surprise that this is the perfect serve. You can also add some shards of honeycomb to give texture and a little sweetness to proceedings.
You can also mix up a gin twist on a mojito by adding a little sugar syrup, lime juice, mint leaves and soda before muddling together and serving with a glass full of crushed ice.
