Boutique distilleries of gin are popping up all over. On Kangaroo Island. Even in McLaren Vale at Maximus Wines.
This abundance of local gin has even inspired me to create a cocktail recipe or two!
Boy did we learn a lot about Gin on this Yelp Adelaide Elite Gin Day Event to beat all Yelp Elite Events.
11 – count them – 11 gin cocktails were sampled on the night and 9 – yes 9 – delectable edible treats were offered on this epic walking journey from Adelaide’s East End to the North West corner, with four bars in between.
First stop: Street-ADL.
Love this place. Photo: Willunga Wino
Gin Learning 1: She’s an adaptable drop. Different gins, different tonics, different accompaniments create all sorts of tasty concoctions to suit anyone’s taste.
Local identity Max “Leisure” Mason introduced us to Mark “Reggie” Reginato spirits importer and Italian hospitality extraordinaire. Laid out before Reggie were intriguing accompaniments, including plenty of native ingredients.
With this, Reggie crafted two cocktails for us to sample from two very different gins.
Two very different gins. Photo: Willunga Wino
Old English Gin (The London Gin Club)
Old school, old fashioned gin, made the same way since 1783 in Old Blighty. 10 botanicals create the flavour, including their not-so-secret ingredient of cardamon, hidden on their label! Paired here with a neutral tonic, the Capi. Garnished with lemon and cassia bark lemon aspen, the taste is smooth, with gently sweet cinnamon and a soft mouthfeel.
Old English Gin with Lemon & Cassia Bark. Photo: Willunga Wino
Dry Gin (Melbourne Gin Co.)
MGC is made by the winemaker at Gembrook Hill, and now they grow every part of the botanicals. Distill every component separately. 11 botanicals, 12 inc love. And rainwater. Matched to a perfectly lovely tonic: New East Imperial Supreme (purple) tonic inspired by Asia and India green tea flavour (the red one is black tea flavour).
Tangy New Imperial Supreme Tonic. Photo: Willunga Wino
Accompaniments are Native plums and thyme.
This cocktail tastes at first fruity, then dark. Sharper tang from the quinine in the tonic.
Cocktail Tip: Don’t squirt lemon in your spirits unless you want to cover up the use of cheap spirits. Drop in some peel only!
What’s a tipple without a nibble?
Amazing native accompaniments for our G&T. Photo: Willunga Wino
STREET laid on a spread for us. Anchovy salsa verde topped flatbreads, crunchy hot chips, and some spicy, spider like, shredded vegetable bhaji’s.
As we travelled on our tour, we were also treated to some premium trivia from fellow Yelp Elite Bruce.
Fun fact 1 : Juniper “berries” are in fact female seed cones – there is no such thing as a juniper berry.
Next Stop: Thrift Shop Bar @
Inside the Charming Thrift Shop Bar. Photo: Willunga Wino
Gin Learning 2: People Who Like Gin Are Great (Gin Bars Are Great). Each stop on the tour was met with generous hospitality, flair, and passion for celebrating World Gin Day. From native accompaniments, to secret cocktails, and tastiest nibbles, we were spoilt to a sodden stupor (well, some of us!) and swept along with the gin stories that were told.
Jamie and Michael had organised an option of two different tasting boards at a great price $10 with accompaniments.
I swapped halfway with a friend so we each got to try all 6 gins!
A Motto To Live By. Photo: Willunga Wino
Presented beautifully on wooden boards using op-shop glasses in all sorts of shapes and sizes.
West Winds Gin Flight at Thrift Shop Bar. Photo: Willunga Wino
West Winds Gin Flight
West Winds’ Cutlass with custard apple & rosemary. Tastes like lemonade with sweetness and a bright juniper herbal note.
West Winds Sabre with coriander and cinnamon had a fresh minty warmth.
West Winds Broadside is a 58 proof gin, watered back with brackish (salty) estuary water. Very interesting accompanied with celeriac. It was super spicy and sweet-salty.
KIS Gin Flight. Photo: Willunga Wino
Kangaroo Island Spirits Gin Flight
KIS Classic is a London dry style gin, accompanied with lemon and juniper berries. This is a really crisp and refreshing drink.
KIS Wild Gin is made with native juniper. Accompaniments were cassia bark & a slice of orange. This G&T has a little bit of smokiness and a savoury note too.
Thrift Shop Quandong gin was made by the Thrift Shop guys in conjunction with the KIS Gin owner Jon Lark. One of the botanicals is bush tomato! The overall flavour is sweet and fruity, with a maraschino cherry type smell.
Fun Fact 2: Gin was actually invented by the Dutch!
KIS Gin Flight. Photo: Willunga Wino
Thrift Shop also laid on the snacks for us, with crab croquettes, arancini and vegetarian falafel sliders with pearl couscous tabouli – absolutely delicious!
Tasty Little Burger. Photo: Willunga Wino
Third Stop: Haines & Co.
This was a new bar for me, and it has rocketed straight to my top five Radelaide bar list!
Gin Learning 3: Great Gin Is All Around. Radelaide is flush with gin joints. Who knew? I thought this was a wine & beer town! No, there are tipples of all sorts just waiting to be discovered. And discover we did, thanks to the hard work of our new CM Extraordinaire Anita!
Arrr me hearties! Photo: Willunga Wino
“The Admiral” Marcus at Hains & Co introduced us to the Gimlet.
A Gimlet is a cocktail made of gin, lime & sweetener.
Tis like the inside of a ship, inside Hains & Co. Photo: Willunga Wino
Here, the Gimlet is on tap ($14), and the secret ingredient of the on-tap Gimlet, apart from West Winds Sabre gin, is a Rose’s Lime Marmalade syrup! It is sweet and tangy and very easy to drink.
Juicy Gimlet. Photo: Willunga Wino
Gin-botanicals spiced the very special edition sausage rolls which were finished off with a delightful tonic spiced plum and apple chutney. Clever and on theme!
Fun Fact 3: The highest global sales of gin are from the Phillipines!
Time for our fourth and final stop: The Bibliotheca Bar and Book Exchange.
I’m no stranger to Bibliotheca. I was lucky enough to attend the launch and returned to enjoy a cocktail and some tasty nibbles shortly after.
Roman making Pink Gin Magic. Photo: Willunga Wino
Roman & Marina had prepared a Pink Gin sampler using a special blend made for us that was inspired by Eastern Europe.
Perfect for a snack were the bruschetta topped with avocado cream, chorizo, red onion and herbs.
Avocado cream and Chorizo bruschetta. Photo: Willunga Wino
On went the dinosaur drawing contest in just 30 seconds, and a few card games.
At the same time, we enjoyed cocktails and delectable goat curd, button mushroom and truffle oil open sandwiches. Full sized versions are on the menu and they are really something special!
Mushroom Open Sandwiches. Photo: Willunga Wino
Final Fun Fact: Quinine helps ward off malaria.
Thus ended our World Gin Day bar hop tour of Adelaide, thanks to Yelp. It’s safe to say that we had a ball.
I leave you with my final gin learning from the tour.
Gin Learning Four: Try Them All. How else do you know which style and accompaniments suit you? Head along to STREET Adl, Thrift Shop Bar, Hains & Co, and Bibliotheca for a gin crawl to remember.
Pinnable Image:
What would you have liked to try the most from on the tour? Comment below!