Writer Amanda David takes advantage of a late summer heatwave and samples 58 Gin, London Dry Gin.
With gin credentials, there’s London Dry Gin, and then there’s London Dry Gin. Or maybe London London Dry Gin. Either way 58 Gin’s London Dry Gin, carefully crafted under the railway arches of Haggerston, is very much the latter.
Distilled very slowly at a low temperature, the result is fabulously smooth with distinct citrus notes and a delicate spiciness - perfect in a classic G&T with lemon, or with red grapefruit and rosemary, or with juniper berries and a long twist of orange zest.
We liked it so much that we switched to martinis, to allow the gin to take centre stage. Spoiler: they were delicious.
58 Gin’s mission is to be an inclusive business that focuses on the local community and makes the art of distilling gin accessible and relevant. As such, sustainability is key; the company uses foraged and surplus fruit for their English Berry and Apple & Hibiscus gins and donate their own waste from botanicals to the local church garden. (And, on the community front, during lockdown they switched production to making hand sanitiser for the NHS and key workers.)
Shallow as a puddle (I prefer ‘appreciative of details’) I may be, but I also love the bottle: stylish, elegant and with a satisfyingly textural apothecary-style glass stopper, it would make a lovely gift. As a bit of a gin fan, I keep my prettiest empty bottles and group them as accent lighting with tangled strands of tiny fairy lights inside; this one will be a lovely addition.
Update: I took advantage of the recent unexpectedly sunny weekend to experiment with G&T ice lollies; some with microplaned lemon zest and some with cucumber. They were fun and refreshing (and packed a punch for sure!) but my advice would be to use a more everyday gin, as you lose the smoothness and complexity of 58 Gin in the freezing. Oh, and if you make G&Ts to my kind of ratio - freeze them hard and eat them fast!
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Chatting Food Contributor: Amanda David
Freelance food writer, copywriter and blogger, Amanda David is dedicated to sharing news about London’s restaurants, bars, exhibitions and general wonderfulness. It’s a tough job but somebody’s got to do it.
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