
I recently had the opportunity to compete in a gin cocktail competition. The parameters were pretty straight forward – make the best original drink that you can using Bombay Sapphire gin as the base liquor. Last year I was lucky enough to win a trip to Las Vegas to represent Charleston in the national mix-off competition. After spending three days at the Palms hotel and literally soaking in the stuff, I thought that I would never be able to smell gin again. However, with professional determination and my English heritage intact, sure enough I was back at the wheel experimenting with all sorts of herbs, spices and botanicals.

Bombay Sapphire Competition
Gin – or as modern day mixologists may prefer to call it – “botanically infused Vodka” – has a checkered past. Quality issues and bad fermentation techniques literally ruined the health of the poor London population in the 19th Century in much the same way that too much moonshine here turned you blind or insane (or both). The name gin comes from the Dutch “Jenover” who invented it, but as with so many other things, the British “borrowed” it and made it their own in the form of London Dry.
Neutral grain spirit produced in Scotland or France, normally wheat-based, is infused with various botanicals, primarily juniper berry, to produce the aromatic liquor. Bombay Sapphire utilizes spices from around the world – Cubeb from Java, Grains of Paradise from West Africa, Coriander from Morocco, Angelica, Cassia Bark, Almond, Lemon Peel, Licorice, and Oris (Iris root), to make a splendidly smooth, balanced, perfumed (and strong) gin.
Classic gin cocktails such as the Negroni, Collins, and French 75 have recently come back into fashion after years of being overlooked by the vodka craze. How many more flavor infusions can they keep coming up with? Recently I’ve been presented with an Acai flavored Vodka… what’s next?
At the competition there was no end of invention from the Charleston bartenders who used ingredients like red pepper coulis injected with a massive syringe, beets, cilantro, papaya, green tea, eucalyptus and many more ingredients to add to their vision of the perfect gin cocktail.
My drink used the dessert wine Royal Tokaji from Hungary (5 Puttonyos) with lavender syrup, lemon juice and a champagne float. The martini glass had an aromatic rim of crushed coriander and star anise (Maybe I was over thinking this one just a little bit – I did not win!) The recipe was as follows if you’d like to give it a whirl:
Sapphire Essenzia
Add:
1 1/4 oz Bombay Sapphire
1/2 oz Royal Tokaji (Hungary)
1/8 oz of lavender infused simple syrup
Squeeze of 1/4 fresh lemon
Lightly rim martini glass with ground star anise and coriander dust
Shake and serve up in a martini glass
Top with ½ oz of Champagne
Add fresh lavender sprig for garnish
On reflection, sometimes the simplest things are the best. Some of my favorite memories involve a beach chair, a sunset on Cape Town’s 4th beach, and an ice cold gin and tonic with a slice of lemon, naturally.
Cheers!
