I have a problem...

The first step, I'm told, is recognising that you have a problem. I like containers, there I said it! I like containers and I like collecting things. Containers are useful and you shouldn't throw away things that are useful...

They're useful, ok? I'll use them!

But often useful containers look alike and then having a set of them means they'll tessellate well making the most of the space... and also they'll look cool!

Maybe I'll refill them with spice, it'll save us money!

Then of course some things have nostalgic value as well. I have fond memories of being allowed Golden Syrup drizzled on my rice crispies when visiting Nain and Taid. It's also the only food stuff that comes in paint tins. 

Come the apocalypse I'll have to choose between using these for target practice or storage

And then sometimes containers contain good things and keeping them is a way to keep a sort of journal of your other hobbies. Bottles with cork stoppers are cool.

Referring to Gin as a hobby is probably a bad sign.

These four photos catalogue everything I'm throwing out today*, inspired by the possibility of moving house and not wanting to carry empty containers! I am ashamed to admit that my collection extends far further than this, but I've made the first step on my path to recovery.





*except those 4 identical jam jars, they'll be useful!

Things of Ginterest

I like gin, I've liked a gin and tonic since a uni friend introduced me to them. When buying you a drink he tended not to wait to find out what you wanted instead you drank whatever he was, which was usually a few pints of Guinness followed by G&Ts to round the night off. A rather excellent combination, the light crispness of the gin is the perfect counterpoint to the heaviness of the stout. In case you hadn't realised it gin is having a pretty big revival and reinvention - the gins that remind you of your grandparents are still around, medicinal and pretty hard but more and more are becoming available with subtler flavours and greater depths of taste.

It turns out that the gin industry took a huge battering thanks to Smirnov who owned the spirits market through the 80's and late into the 90's. The rebirth is at least in part to the Bombay company who added more botanicals (shown on the side of the bottle) to their gin to give it a more floral taste, served it in a blue bottle, called it Bombay Sapphire, and marketed it primarily to women. It showed the greater potential of gin with the addition of extra botanicals. The trend now is to have anywhere from six to twelve botanicals. A botanical is just something derived directly from a plant - seed, bark, berry, etc. to make a gin you get alcohol (pure as possible ethanol) and bung all your botanicals in it, boil it up and condense it down!

Earlier this year I went to the Portobello Road Ginstitute, it was amazing. Best described as a school trip where instead of having to look after children I had to "look after" gin! There is education, science and gin, a fine combination in appropriate proportions. On arrival  naturally there's a gin and tonic waiting for you as you wait for everyone to gather in the bar (about 12 total). Once assembled we we're taken upstairs to the Ginstitute proper by master gin maker Jake. The Ginstitute is a small room done out in the style of a gin palace - ornate mirrors, brass detailing, and glass cabinets filled with ancient bottle and cocktail recipes. 

Jake makes us a Tom Collins and begins to tell us about the, let's face it wretched, history of gin. On talking about Hogarth's gin alley we sample a truly unpleasant gin which has been created based on historic accounts to taste as it would have done then, I've tasted better paint thinner! We're told of the military's struggles to get the men to take their malaria medicine (having recently had to take some I can sympathise) and someone coming up with the cunning plan of combining this tonic with their daily gin ration and lo the G&T was born, for purely illustrative purposes we get and gin and tonic at this point. Jake is a fantastic raconteur, who has a great passion for his subject matter and is consequently a delight to listen to.

His story done he takes us upstairs to the distillery/mixing room it's a clean crisp white room that speaks of great works of science! Clear bottles of great size line the walls, smaller ones with taps sit on shelves, Jake sits at the head of the table, in front of him is a massive array of botanicals in different size jars, phials, and dishes. He talks us through each in turn and how they add to a gin's flavour and what combinations work well. We smell the botanicals themselves, but better still for each the Ginstitute has distilled a gin with a single botanical flavour so we can taste each individually. Now it's our turn to do some work as, under Jake's careful guidance, we have to decide on a blend of botanicals for our own personal Gins. Jake then makes them for us, mixed from the single botanical gins, we taste them all and have a bottle each to take away with us!

Science!

Technically of course it's a bit of a cheat creating them this way instead of mixing all the botanicals first then distilling but it's a very worthy shortcut to do it the other way round, makes for an excellent experience, and of course lets me walk away with a bottle of my own gin!

Proud father

So gin made we head back down to the bar and are furnished with a martini for the road and we wend our merry way a bottle of our very own blended gin and one of Portobello Road. A final cherry on this magnificently alcoholic cake is that they keep all the gins people make on file so you can order more of your gin if you feel you've done a particularly fine job! Mine is 5302 if you are looking for a summery gin with tones of lavender!

Find an excuse, find someone to go with, get yourself to Portobello Road and get Ginstitutionalised! Huge thanks to Gemma for buying this experience for me and to Aled for being my partner in Gin that day at the Ginstitute.

The Brothers Gin