Gin of the month: Albury sloe and damson gins

There are not one but two gins of the month this month - both limited editions from the same distiller Silent Pool in Surrey. One’s a damson and the other a sloe gin and they come in 50cl bottles at - gulp - £30 a bottle.

I nearly didn’t recommend them on that basis but they are basically the best flavoured gins I’ve tasted, homemade included. This is probably because they are unusually high in alcohol - 35% rather than the usual 20-25%% which carries the fruit flavours incredibly well - and I imagine gives them a slightly longer life once open. They are also considerably less sweet than most commercial versions.

Some of you might find them too alcoholic to drink on their own - my gin-loving neighbour did - but I must confess they are exactly the sort of spirits I would want to carry in a hip flask in the unlikely event I were out hunting or yomping across Exmoor. They would also make the perfect nightcap

The damson which is delectably plummy is probably the more approachable of the two though the sloe has a marvellously bitter (but not medicinal) edge that I really find appealing. The distillery recommends you serve it over ice or with a squeeze of lemon but I quite like it neat at room temperature.

The pair would make a great gift for any gin lover. You can buy them from the Silent Pool website*

* they also have a rather lovely gift pack of their own Silent Pool Gin with two beautifully decorated 'copa' glasses

Big Drop Brewing 0.5% Pale Ale

I’ve been focussing quite a lot on alcohol-free drinks recently so I headed along to the Mindful Drinking festival in Spitalfields yesterday where I discovered this brilliant range of low alcohol (0.5%) beers.

They were all impressive - and beautifully packaged with colourful labels that depict rural Suffolk scenes - but I think the award winning pale ale is the most successful. It’s heavy on hops which makes up for the lack of alcohol and has an added dash of lime which makes it a good partner, they say, for a Thai chicken curry.

There’s also a convincing lager, a coffee-laden milk stout and - for Christmas - a spiced ale flavoured with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves that I think might benefit from being served warm or at least at centrally heated room temperature rather than chilled.

You can buy them from the low alcohol website drydrinker.com in cases of 6 to 24 bottles (6 bottles cost £16.99) or in a mixed case of 12 bottles for £30.99 if you want to try them all. They're also available at The Draft House pubs.

The Ivy Gin and Fevertree clementine tonic

It’s two for one in the bottle slot today - a terrific new gin and the perfect matching tonic.

The gin is the Ivy restaurant’s new centenary gin, made for them by Chase. It’s a smooth, elegant, aromatic, slightly herbal gin with ivy, spruce needles, and sage as three of the botanicals.

They sent it with a couple of bottles of Fevertree’s new limited edition clementine and cinnamon tonic* which, garnished with a slice of fresh clementine, was the perfect match with just a delicate note of clementine in the background. (Don’t try the same trick with Fentiman’s Mediterranean orange tonic water which tastes like orangina.)

I’m hoping it will work equally well with other gins as the Ivy's is expensive (£50 at John Lewis). I tried it with a bottle of export strength Tanqueray I happened to have to hand and it wasn’t as good. I’m wondering if a simple gin like Gordon’s - or even Aldi’s low cost equivalent would work.

You could also drink it on its own with ice and slices of clementine and maybe a few pomegranate seeds to pretty it up.

Anyway I’m laying in stocks - it would make the perfect Christmas G & T. And the Ivy gin would make a great gift for any gin aficionado.

(Incidentally it went perfectly with some smoked salmon with an orangey gravadlax my friends had brought along)

* The tonic is £1.69 at Waitrose and Ocado.

Good bottles to celebrate Hallowe'en

If you’re looking for a bottle to celebrate Hallowe’en on Tuesday here’s couple that hit the spot perfectly.

Philip Shaw Edinburgh Sparkling

This one wins the prize for the best label - it comes as a bit of a surprise to find it’s a sparkling wine. with the bright green skull it’s hard to see when else you would drink it. Certainly not to accompany a proposal!

It’s made by Philip Shaw in Orange in New South Wales Australia and is a classic Champagne blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Perhaps not quite the depth and complexity you’d expect for £22.99 (at Waitrose) so it’s a shame they haven’t got one of their 25% off discounts but it’s original and perfect for the occasion. Maybe pair with a packet of Monster Munch?

Chronic Cellars Suite Petite

There’s also a range of skeleton themed wines from Chronic Cellars in Pasa Robles, California, Try the 2014 Suite Petite, an exuberant blueberry scented Petite Sirah for £17.99 or £15.99 on their ‘mix six’ deal. Most British retailers have at least one from the range - Tesco has a 25% off six bottles deal at the moment which brings their suitably blood red Chronic Cellars La Muneca down from £13 to £9.75 so if you’re buying them online you’ll have to get them delivered by tomorrow (October 30th). They'd all be good with a chilli con carne