"beefeater gin" news and stories

Yesterday I mentioned that I was sick and for some bizarre reason had drank so much tea that I just couldn't drink anymore without gagging. Well, I'm happy to say that things are better this afternoon, so I thought I'd post this Royal Tea Cocktail recipe for Happy Hour. It's Earl Grey tea, but with a kick. About.com says that it was created for the movie The Queen a few years back.

Beefeater London Dry Gin is 47% abv / 94 proof and distilled and bottled in Kensington, England. It is the last premium London Dry Gin to actually still be made in London. Considered one of the top brands around the world, Beefeater has nine botanicals: juniper, angelica root, angelica seeds, coriander seeds, liquorice, bitter almonds, orris, Seville oranges, and lemon peel. The botanicals are added to the spirits and left to steep for 24 hours before distilling.

The aroma starts out soft and then rapidly becomes quite hot with a strong juniper nose, followed by a flinty shale smell with the tiniest bit of spicy citrus. I sniffed deeply time and again and started flashing back on the deepest notes of the aroma. It took me back to when I was a kid living in Park Slope, Brooklyn.