A former housemate of mine had to ask. We’d had a slight run-in with a bottle of it during revision for finals. This resulted in neither of us drinking it for a fair while. We both do now, so she brought a bottle from her local micro-distillery when she and her partner came over for pizza.
The Graveney gin distillery is VERY micro. They have a 30 litre still. That’s 30 bottles a go once you’ve gotten rid of the heads and tails. It’s all hand picked organic botanicals and they give 10% of all their profits to charity. This all means you can only buy it at their stall in Tooting Market/direct from them.
The first time through we had it with Fever-Tree. This didn’t go so well. It’s such a subtle gin that all we could taste was the tonic. Fever-tree is great. It does need a BIG gin to stand up to it though. we also had some Schwepps in too. I’ve actually started drinking Schwepps again. The snob in me does still look down on it more than I should. I’m not sure if it’t what I grew up on, but far more than any brand of gin, it seems like it makes classic gin and tonic. I am converting back toward being a Schwepps person by choice. Sometimes, anyway.
Second time through (with Schwepps and a slice of orange) it was still a very light gin. It was nice and citrusy and mouth-wateringly dry. It was also a little bit floral, the main thing was definitely the zing of citrus though.
It’s a tough gin to get hold of. If you happen to be in deepest south London, it is worth a pitstop in Tooting to give it a go. I am told they serve G&Ts on their stall and that the market is a nice one. (I’ve never actually made it that far south myself to verify this!).
Graveney Gin is available from them and at their stall at Tooting Market.
Nerdy Booze 