gin soaked

i found a new premium gin today - it's called whitley neill. i hadn't heard of it before, but i was won over in a second when it said "inspired by africa. made in england." because we all know how much i love cape town. on top of that, they give 5p from each bottle to tree aid, so you might even say it's green gin. it has a spiciness that's different from the coolness of usual gin. a cinnamony ginger undertone. it's absolutely perfect with my homemade tonic.

because yes, i made tonic! i followed this recipe. i had to order cinchona bark powder. i was very pleased with the quality (as little as i know about it as of yet, but there's no bitterness that some of the comments complained of, so i interpret it as good quality) and how quickly healthy village sent it. one pound of it will last me a long time, so i'm pleased with it. homemade tonic ends up rather reddish in color because of the cinchona bark, but once i strained it (several times through coffee filters), it got quite clear, even tho' it was still red. it's just something we have to get used to.

and it's so delicious that it's easy to get used to. we served it to guests the day we made it and they wanted a second cocktail, so it must have been good. and the slightly stronger taste is really gorgeous with the whitley neill gin.

the gin blog recommends trying it with honey, so that's next on the list, since, as you know, we have our own honey (45 kilos we recently harvested!). 

cheers!