Spice Kitchen Gin Botanicals Tin Review

Reviewed by Helen Wyatt

I was pleasantly surprised to receive my parcel from the Spice Kitchen, containing a gin botanicals gift set. The first thing I noticed is that the 19cm wide tin comes wrapped in a lovingly handmade silk sari gift wrap, tied with a ribbon, which was a really lovely and unusual touch. Untying the ribbon and removing the gift wrap revealed a shiny tin with a classy glass lid. Inside the tin are 7 metal containers, each containing a little bag of a botanical for use in flavouring your drinks, and the set also has a useful recipe book and a spoon to scoop out the botanicals.

When you open the tin, you quickly get hit with the beautiful mingling scents of the enclosed botanicals. The ones included in the set are intriguing and immediately make you want to start crafting drinks: citrus peel, juniper berries, star anise, pink peppercorns, rose petals, coriander seeds, and cardamom pods. Each bag has a label clearly showing what is inside, the weight, and batch number. Once you’re ready to start using your botanicals you can decant them into the 7 tins and store them inside the bigger tin, making them easy to access and use whenever you want them.

I had assumed before I received the set that you would flavour gin with the botanicals in this kit, however the recipe book demonstrates that you can actually make your own compound gin using the base of vodka. Gin can only be called “gin” if the neutral base spirit contains the flavour of juniper berries as a minimum, and it turns out that it’s actually super simple to make your own compound gin at home as a result, if you are willing to be patient for a few days. It takes roughly 3 days for the botanicals to infuse their flavour into the vodka and create compound gin, and the recipe book shows you how to make a fruity and a citrus compound gin as starters, using some of the botanicals in the set.

The recipe book also shows you how to make things like rose or ginger honey, to flavour your drinks, and a number of different cocktails using the compound gin you’ve made. There is also a section to teach you all about the different botanicals in the set, so you can learn how to get the best out of each of them.

This set would make an excellent gift for any foodie, cocktail enthusiast or amateur gin maker, who wants to take it up a notch and try something a bit different, while also keeping it authentic. This gift set would look beautiful displayed in any kitchen and has the bonus of smelling lovely too. The recipes are easy to follow and informative too, giving you all the info you need to create professional looking and tasty drinks to enjoy at home yourself or wow your friends at a party! I am very much looking forward to trying some more of the creations and experimenting with the different botanicals to make some different delicious drinks to try.

Rating: 5/5

RRP: from £30

For more information or to buy direct from the Spice Kitchen UK, visit www.spicekitchenuk.com