weekend: jazz & gin
As weekends go, this one could not have been more ideally suited to me.
Friday a friend and I went to Ronnie Scotts to see Michel Camilo. Drummer was Cliff Almond (I'm told) and he was amazing. Played all around the clave but didn't actually beat it out on a block, unlike what I've heard from Camilo's groups in the past. And Michel himself was positively ON FIRE. The jazz/latin equivelent to Metallica. I was jumping up in my seat and squirming everywhere, both in awe of his technique and with a racing heart from sheer enjoyment. My neophyte friend said it was one of the greatest things she has ever seen live. Beyond that, if you managed to get control of the adrenaline, you realise how subtle the group was able to mix the Latin and the jazz elements. Cannot say enough good things. When we both said to our friends later in the weekend they would surely have enjoyed it, we were met with rolling eyes. Totally their loss.
We went to the early show so I could get home early for activities the next day. That plan failed. Not only did we leave work early to meet before the show for a light bite and some vermouth around the corner, but after the show we ended up painting the town red. That one more drink before home seemed always around the next corner. Gin club, W hotel, then even ending up talking our way into the guest-list-only nightclub of the W. It was an expensive evening of cocktails followed by an expensive minicab home. Not what we'd planned, but really was two great nights rolled into one.
Which brings us to Saturday, the long-awaited excursion to the Ginstitute, bought for me by my wife for Christmas. I went with another friend while our partners drank and chatted downstairs, expecting it to be 90 minutes or so. What we ended up getting was closer to four hours, packed. The experience started with at least an hour long talk on the history of gin whilst we sipped a Tom Collins or two. It was in a lovely room surrounded by antique bottles, gin palace recreations, and all sorts of ephemera. The talk itself was fascinating -- he had a really good narrative arc -- starting from the origins of flavoured spirits and use of juniper, to the Dutch, to the gin craze then the creation of London Dry style to where we are today. After the talk he ordered another round of G&Ts for us and we headed up to the still room, where we learned about production and all the sorts of botanicals used. He passed around samples to see and smell, then also some of the pure distillates to taste. Behind him was at least two dozen single-flavour spirits he'd distilled on his own little lambic pot still. It is these that we would use to flavour our own gin, and he took us through the composition of a gin then each of the distillates in turn while we took notes. At the end of all this, he went around our table of 9 and asked each of us which we wanted, offering advice on balance (also asking if we wanted it for martinis, G&Ts, or cocktails mainly) and filling in the exact quantities. I was first, so luckily I’d been paying attention. For me, the normal amount of juniper, a bit light on the coriander, orris and angelica as required (the ‘big four’) then fresh mandarin peel, orange blossom, cinnamon, cubeb, wormwood, and Yorkshire tea. Something a bit sweet and floral, balanced for a martini. I tell you what, it’s pretty good! But actually, we tasted each as we blended, and there wasn’t a bad gin in the bunch. It took maybe another 45 minutes for us to fill the beaker and bottle, and at the end we got to take home our gin, a bottle of their gin, and a couple bottles of a new super premium tonic water. They also keep our recipe on file and we can order more at any time.
One we descended, we found the girls in a right state after sharing three bottles of prosecco. We had dinner reservations, but tbh they were more than a bit drunk and my pigeon was more than a bit rare.
So a great Friday AND a great Saturday. Still leaving Sunday to catch up on nesting and chores. Perfect.
Friday a friend and I went to Ronnie Scotts to see Michel Camilo. Drummer was Cliff Almond (I'm told) and he was amazing. Played all around the clave but didn't actually beat it out on a block, unlike what I've heard from Camilo's groups in the past. And Michel himself was positively ON FIRE. The jazz/latin equivelent to Metallica. I was jumping up in my seat and squirming everywhere, both in awe of his technique and with a racing heart from sheer enjoyment. My neophyte friend said it was one of the greatest things she has ever seen live. Beyond that, if you managed to get control of the adrenaline, you realise how subtle the group was able to mix the Latin and the jazz elements. Cannot say enough good things. When we both said to our friends later in the weekend they would surely have enjoyed it, we were met with rolling eyes. Totally their loss.
We went to the early show so I could get home early for activities the next day. That plan failed. Not only did we leave work early to meet before the show for a light bite and some vermouth around the corner, but after the show we ended up painting the town red. That one more drink before home seemed always around the next corner. Gin club, W hotel, then even ending up talking our way into the guest-list-only nightclub of the W. It was an expensive evening of cocktails followed by an expensive minicab home. Not what we'd planned, but really was two great nights rolled into one.
Which brings us to Saturday, the long-awaited excursion to the Ginstitute, bought for me by my wife for Christmas. I went with another friend while our partners drank and chatted downstairs, expecting it to be 90 minutes or so. What we ended up getting was closer to four hours, packed. The experience started with at least an hour long talk on the history of gin whilst we sipped a Tom Collins or two. It was in a lovely room surrounded by antique bottles, gin palace recreations, and all sorts of ephemera. The talk itself was fascinating -- he had a really good narrative arc -- starting from the origins of flavoured spirits and use of juniper, to the Dutch, to the gin craze then the creation of London Dry style to where we are today. After the talk he ordered another round of G&Ts for us and we headed up to the still room, where we learned about production and all the sorts of botanicals used. He passed around samples to see and smell, then also some of the pure distillates to taste. Behind him was at least two dozen single-flavour spirits he'd distilled on his own little lambic pot still. It is these that we would use to flavour our own gin, and he took us through the composition of a gin then each of the distillates in turn while we took notes. At the end of all this, he went around our table of 9 and asked each of us which we wanted, offering advice on balance (also asking if we wanted it for martinis, G&Ts, or cocktails mainly) and filling in the exact quantities. I was first, so luckily I’d been paying attention. For me, the normal amount of juniper, a bit light on the coriander, orris and angelica as required (the ‘big four’) then fresh mandarin peel, orange blossom, cinnamon, cubeb, wormwood, and Yorkshire tea. Something a bit sweet and floral, balanced for a martini. I tell you what, it’s pretty good! But actually, we tasted each as we blended, and there wasn’t a bad gin in the bunch. It took maybe another 45 minutes for us to fill the beaker and bottle, and at the end we got to take home our gin, a bottle of their gin, and a couple bottles of a new super premium tonic water. They also keep our recipe on file and we can order more at any time.
One we descended, we found the girls in a right state after sharing three bottles of prosecco. We had dinner reservations, but tbh they were more than a bit drunk and my pigeon was more than a bit rare.
So a great Friday AND a great Saturday. Still leaving Sunday to catch up on nesting and chores. Perfect.