Until a couple of years or so ago I found drinking spirits pretty tough. All of them infact. Whisky, gin, rum, tequila, you name it. I’d drunk them in the student bars and pubs and whinced nearly every time. I just couldn’t work out why you’d do this to yourself?! Funny how things have changed…
I drank some awful shit when I was younger
Ok, so without a doubt the biggest issue was that when I was younger I drank the dreadful brand stuff that is designed to just do a job. The companies that make it might not appreciate me for saying it but supermarket own brand gin is f%*king horrible! But it’s what I could afford. Even bog standard Gordon’s green bottle was “ultra premium” for me at that point. Tough times!
Explosion in smaller producers
I hate the word ‘Artisan’. It sounds so nobby doesn’t it? But it’s the explosion in those artisan producers that have saved spirits for me. Whether it’s the farmers that decided to turn a bit of cash making their own gin and vodka, or the small Armagnac producers that stopped selling their grapes to the big boys and having a go themselves. Guys like Warner Edwards and their gin, Domaine De Charron and their armagnac, or Vintage Velvet and their vodka, they’ve all produced outstanding booze that’s given me my lightbulb moment. Now I get it.
Easier access where I live
Living in central London can be a double-edged sword. There’s a boat load of stuff to do all the time, as long as you’ve got the cash to do it! Well, the second bit isn’t easy after moving to the wine industry, but booze is my hobby, and I never go nuts, so the treat for me is to head to bars like Cotton’s Rum Shack in Camden and to try some of the 120 rums they’ve got on the shelves. I’m no longer stuck with Captain Morgan. Matugga me up!!
Have you guys and girls been converted yet? What was it that did it for you? Let me know!
Cheers
