When it comes to a gin tasting event, inviting the ESP team could be a dangerous move. The editor has always been a big fan – well before it became remotely trendy – and likes to lead from the front!
Slowly but surely more and more of the team have been converted and so when manager Andy Hewson at the Ramblewood Inn announced they now had an expanded range of gins he thought we should know about – 27 no less – the computer keyboards suddenly went quiet and there was a queue at the bar!
Andy is rightly proud of their amazing array of gins and our host for the night was his resident expert Brittney who proved she knows her stuff when it comes to the tipple and was the perfect host.
We worked our way through as many as we could on what proved to be a tough task (yes really, really arduous!) in a bid to try and choose a favourite.
The Adnams Copper House was a hit as was the Zymurgorium Sweet Violet gin which tastes like tuck shop favourite parma violets (remember those!) but it’s oh so nice!
The Mombasa Club Strawberry Edition had the thumbs up as did the Monkey 47… or was it the Peaky Blinders Spice Gin…things were getting blurry!
To keep our stamina up (and to keep us sober) we were served some delicious food including a Ramblewood Sharing Tower (£13.95) of snacks like ribs, wings and fries, a tasty burger and vegetarian Jackfruit Tacos (£13.25).
We’re pleased to hear there’ll be more gins on their way to the Ramblewood Inn with a summer gin festival in the pipeline and a fresh gin menu – they’ll update the selection keeping the favourites but replacing any less popular ones with new and exciting flavours.
In the meantime there’s the small matter of Christmas of course and the pub’s festive carvery is available from December 1 – 24 and December 27 – 30 with two courses priced £15.95 and three courses at £19.95.
They’re also serving lunches on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day so if you don’t fancy slaving over the oven, let their chefs do it for you and book in quick on 01733 391111.
Photos: Emma Bothamley for ESP Magazine