Gin can be your favorite summer drink, cocktail base, or your socializer drink. It’s juniper-based and has a piney and biting tang. The taste is like tonic, which is why these two beverages go together well.
Read the label on the aromatics included when buying. The many ways aromatics are combined result to a diverse selection of gin products to choose from.
A bottle can have coriander seeds, citrus peels, angelica root, orris root and a lot more depending on the brand and the blend. Some finer gins have licorice and olive blended in.
This post takes you around the several options/types of gin available and the different flavors and notes that each type has.
Here’s What Each Type of Gin Tastes Like
How would your cocktail taste like if you blend using sloe? Or London Dry? Or the Genever? Will it impart a dark berry flavor? Or something both bitter and sweet like the one imparted by licorice? Let’s dive in.
Sloe Gin Taste Like
Starting off, we have sloe gin, which is a great base in a fizz cocktail to balance sweet from the tart taste. High quality sloe gins tend to taste plummy, raisiny, or earthy, which overall is often very sweet. Notes of almonds are evident in good brands. These notes are emitted from the pit of the fruit blending into the mixture.
Plymouth Gin Taste Like
Plymouth Gin can be said to be one of the most balanced gin recipes with a perfect concoction of scents. The early palate is gently earthy and softly piney brought about by the juniper, sweet orange, lemon zest, cardamom, and angelica combination. Then gentle warmth runs on the palate, and at the finish, earthiness is sensed anew.
Old Tom Gin Taste Like
The Old Tom is a good alternative to its London Dry counterpart with the difference being that Old Tom gins are less – juniper heavy. Thus, they are perceived to be lighter, softer, and maltier.
London Dry Gin Taste Like
London dry gin has a base of top-quality alcohol that is made only of natural flavors and is distilled with the use of water only. The flavors should be added before distillation and not after, which is a requirement for London Dry classification. If any flavor is added post-distillation, the gin fails the qualification.
Nonetheless, notes of the original flavor still remain even after distillation. Some London Dry gins steep with fresh or dried citrus peels, making them citrusy in flavor.
Contemporary Gin Taste Like
Contemporary gin seems to suggest of a modern version of the archaic juniper-based original. This is true in that sense, but the contemporary tag implies a change in focus. Here, the focus is more on added flavors, such as citrus or floral notes.
Navy Strength Gin Taste Like
The Navy Strength comes with elevated juniper and spice notes. The juniper note is more subtle in the Navy Strength, and the flavor is distinct courtesy of the more earthy botanicals used. These gins are bottled at a minimum of 57.1% ABV.
Barrel Aged Gin Taste Like
Barrel Aged gins are your perfect ingredient if you want to infuse impressions of oak bark and smoke to your gin cocktails. The taste culminates to something like a hybrid between gin and bourbon. It enters the palate like soft, thick bourbon with an impression of wood.
Genever Gin Taste Like
The Genever has little to no color to it like Vodka or London Dry. The taste is creamy and nutty with a hint of citrus and Juniper. Some describe the flavor as akin to pineapple.
Roku Gin Taste Like
The ethereal note of cherry blossom primarily describes the Roku Gin. On the quieter side, you can sense notes of pepper and green tea as the flavor ebbs. This spirit comes with a rich character as it coats the tongue.
Bathtub Gin Taste Like
Bathtub gin is heavily fruity in its flavor. The nose feels heavy with strong scents of cardamom, cinnamon and juniper. Then on the palate, the fruity mixture slowly builds up, then slowly fades, leaving behind notes of clove and forest in the finish.
Pink Gin Taste Like
Another sweet, fruity type, the pink gin version is an aromatic drink that is meant to be mixed with plenty of tonic. Don’t be neat with this version. Rather, enjoy it like you do drinking Aperol Spritz.
How to Make Gin Taste Good?
Here are some tricks:
- Combine gin with lime of any available variants. – Lime juice, bitter lime and lime cordial are great bedfellows of gin.
- Use cola. – Just make sure you use the right ratio so that the delicate taste of gin doesn’t get overpowered.
The Final Verdict
Gin comes in different variants, depending on the flavor and brand. Generally, there is always the juniper berry taste, but the taste is not like the ripe ones used for cooking. What we generally get from gin bottles is a piney flavor with a touch of pepperiness and fruitiness, and for the list that we presented above, the notes of citrus are generally the most predominant.
Go on and drink your gin neat if you favor the full strength, or use water to wash it off your tongue if you want it to just quickly dissipate after a gulp. But you can also have something light with a combination of tonic, lime or even cola, if you would rather enjoy it with a fruity or lemony touch.