Fentimans - World Gin Day

Celebrate World Gin Day in style with these awesome pre-mixed alcoholic gin drinks by Fentimans Ltd.

Perfectly balanced and ready to serve, these gin and tonics, and alcoholic gin beverages are great for any celebration and are easy to serve. Just grab a glass of your choice, add a few cubes of ice, preferably the right garnish and voila - gin served within seconds.

Living a busy life it's sometimes just that little bit easier to grab a pre-mixed bottle and bang it in a glass - as much as I do love to play around with the hundreds of gins on the market to find out what their perfect serves are. The convenience of these drinks is really beneficial, especially if you're looking to grab something from your house quickly before venturing over to a friends - and these drinks are great if you're not the most organised of people, especially when in a rush.

Having been established for over 110 years, family-run business Fentimans have grown their product offering from ginger beer and soft drinks to tonic waters and pre-mixed alcoholic drinks.

The rose lemonade and bloom gin is exceptionally sweet, as I had anticipated having tried the rose lemonade on its own. I could easily have one or two of these on a summers night, but I think after a while a drink so sweet would need to be swapped out for a good ol' regular gin and tonic. Oozing with floral tones - something I quite enjoy about this drink - the bloom gin and rose lemonade make this marriage a very sweet one.

The gin and tonic was completely different and much more crisp on the tongue. Bloom London Dry gin and Fentimans have partnered to bring their edition of the perfect gin and tonic to their customers in the easiest of fashions. Again, with slightly floral notes this gin is very much to my taste, but it's  the Fentimans tonic water which softens the sharp blow of gin creating within this beverage, making a  very delicious drink.

Both drinks are 275ml, a great size for transporting about, and for drinking of course. The ABV on both is 6.5%.

The only company in the UK to utilise botanical brewing is what makes Fentimans stand out with unique 3D flavours, the drinks have a depth of texture and a distinctive feel in your mouth and every drink takes seven days to brew using a combination of infusion, blending and fermentation of the natural ingredients. The best thing, none of their drinks have artificial sweetener, flavours, colours or preservatives All of the flavours are produced by hand from Chinese ginger root to rose oil from the Rose Valley in Bulgaria.

Also, the tonic waters were really tasty, and I really enjoyed the pink grapefruit tonic water. Having been served Rock Rose gin with a wedge of grapefruit, I partnered the Scottish gin with the pink grapefruit tonic water which went extremely well together. The slight bitterness of the tonic water complimented the sweet notes of the Rock Rose, creating a delicious partnership. I also tried the tonic out with Lone Wolf gin too and it worked really well.

The rose lemonade can be rather overpowering at times due to its pure sweetness, but partnered with a more earthy gin like Gordon Castle which also boasts notes of lavender I think this gin would go quite well with it. Any other earthier and more dry gins would also go really well too.

I decided to pair the original tonic water with Porter's gin and Esker gin as I felt these gins would be best suited to a plain tonic, and I was so right. Finish off with your perfect serve for each and you're definitely off to a winning combination there.

Whatever gin or alcoholic beverage your drinking to celebrate World Gin Day this year,  remember to raise a glass to the most fashionable spirit of the moment. And please, drink responsibly.

  For Now...

Just Julia

Dry January Mocktails with Fentimans Ltd

It's not very often I receive a telegram. To be frank, I think this was the first postal telegram I'd ever received, but unlike most telegrams you may have received back in the day, this one came wrapped up in a picnic basket full of Fentimans Ltd goodies.

Established in 1905, Fentimans has been around for over a century, and has continually been committed to the time honoured process of botanical brewing, ensuring they create the most incredible flavours for their soft drinks. Its ginger beer is the root of the business, the first product Fentimans created, and since then the company has embarked on a drinks journey, discovering different ways to brew its well-known flavours.

The business is a family business, which over the generations, has created 10 different flavoured soft drinks, seven of which I received to try out. With no artificial flavours, sweeteners, colours or preservatives, these soft drinks wee the perfect care package to entice my tastebuds whilst on a new fitness and healthy eating programme.

As well as the numerous soft drinks Fentimans has to offer, it also boasts numerous mixers, pre-mixed gin-based alcoholic drinks, and its own gluten free craft beer. With Dry January in full swing for some individuals, and my lack of gin consumed throughout the month, I decided to put the soft drinks to the test and create some fun mocktails. You can check out some mocktail inspiration from Fentimans below, as well as some drinks I created myself!

Mocktail recipes:

Raspberry Rose Lemonade
125ml Rose Lemondade
100ml Raspberry juice
Sprig of rosemary
Handful of berries for garnish - I chose cherries but raspberries, strawberries or blueberries would also be delicious!

Mulled Ginger Beer and Strawberry
275ml Fentimans Ginger Beer
Handful of freshly muddled strawberries
Sprig of fresh mint
Cinnamon sugar to line the glass (optional)

Lemonade Pineapple Cooler
Pineapple juice
Lemonade
Spring of rosemary and a juicy slice of refreshing watermelon

Cherry Coketail
275ml of  Cherry Coke
5ml Vanilla essence
Squeeze of fresh lime juice
Garnish with cherries and lime wedge

I was pleasantly surprised at how refreshing the drinks were, especially the victorian lemonade, wild English elderflower and the rose lemonade. My boyfriend managed to nab himself the cherry cola mocktail which he inhaled, and he also scoffed the ginger beer mocktail down in a oner too. I really enjoyed the curiosity cola too - it was very sweet and tasted completely different to the intensely sugary coca cola society is used to. The taste lingered on my tongue for ages after which I loved, and due to the smaller size of the bottles, it meant I was getting a taster of fizzy drinks during my healthy eating programme without over indulging.

The bottles themselves are very sturdy, and are perfect if you're looking for a quirky twist to make your own mocktails in for friends coming over. Whether you're mixing mocktails or creating cocktails, Fentimans is an excellent addition to any tipple. Enjoy, and remember to drink responsibly.

 I'd also love to hear what you guys mix your Fentimans with...I know a lot of people had mentioned they love adding gin to theirs, but is there anything else you like mixing it with? And if gin is your tipple, what's your favourite gin to mix them with!? 

  For Now...

Just Julia