.
I anxiously await late November every year.
Not for Thanksgiving.
Not for the start of the Christmas season.
But for this:
.
.
My very favorite small batch artisan gin. Made by a distillery in New Hampshire, we make the pilgrimage once a year so I can stock up on the plummy goodness. ( And at $60 a bottle, stocking up is serious business.)
Made with damson plums, bitter orange and fresh juniper, this gin is an absolute delight and makes your tonic shiver with orgasmic pleasure. It’s a seasonal treat and if the roll out is missed? River is not a happy camper.
For this reason I tend to bogart the elixir, and only roll it out on special occasions or for special people. So you can imagine my level of annoyance when the neighbors dropped by the barn a few weeks ago (with friends and family in tow) to share in the glory that is the man cave. We welcomed them in, gave them the $2 tour and offered them an adult beverage.
Mind you… at any given time I have 48+ bottles of liquor on the shelves, a mini fridge of mixers, soda and juice, a dual tap kegerator, and a full size refrigerator filled with craft beer, wine, hard seltzer, hard cider and canned cocktails. My point?
There be options!
.
.
It was then that my idiot oh so generous husband suggested the group try gin and tonics made with.. you guessed it.. my very last, hard to replace, time sensitive half bottle of Tamworth Damson.
.
.
If I could have reached him from under the bar I would have kicked him. Instead, I smiled through clenched teeth and poured the final drops of my precious spirit and handed glasses to everyone.
They oohed and ahhed appreciatively, asked where they could buy it, then promptly changed their minds when they heard the price. The only thing that spared my idiot oh so generous husband’s life was the fact that I was unable to offer refills.
And now I wait.
Checking the website weekly to see when my happy juice is next available for purchase.
There’s rumor it may not be until mid December this year… which gives me ample time to beat the mantra Do not offer the special gin without permission! into my husband’s head.
.
River's world..... 
Sometimes husbands are lucky they survive certain moments.
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It’s a testament to my strength of will.
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Now I’ll have to test our friendship and see in you offer me some when I visit!!!
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For you?
Of course…
😉
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The special gin needs to be kept under lock and key, methinks. I feel the same way about my seaweed gin from Newfoundland, so I feel your pain.
Deb
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Seaweed gin?
Color me intrigued…
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It’s delicious!
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SHIVERING TONIC, BATMAN! Why do I want a cigarette? I gotta say, you guys are ready for some moderate alcohol consumption. When I was a kid, I ate the last scratch-made cream puff. The look on that nice lady’s face taught me a lesson I have never forgotten. Your liquor is safe with me.
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Home made cream puffs are indeed a treat, but they can be made any time. My gin has a very small window of opportunity.
😉
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True that.
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Back when I could drink, gin was my liquor of choice and that plum gin sounds FANTASTIC…
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It’s heavenly. And highly sought after around here. I check the website daily…
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That is unconscionable. Don’t rush into a punishment for him, though it may be tempting. Wait and ponder and come up with a real doozy so he’ll never do that again. Even I’m mad at him!
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And the worst part? He still doesn’t realize what he’s done…
😡
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River,
Gin? I don’t think I’ve ever tried it. Tequila, yes. Vodka, yes. Bourbon, yes. Rum, yes. Not gin, though. When I do, it will have to be Tamworth Garden Damson Gin…you influencer, you! 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving and then some! Mona
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You won’t regret it!
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The colour is intriguing .. at first I thought it was cranberry…
Tell us how/when you got through to your beloved. I could use a lesson in how to communicate such things…
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Giving him the stink eye when he offered it was useless. As was giving him hell afterward…. so I’m afraid I have no clue.
🥴
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Yeah, I could see where that would piss you off…..next time tell him you gifted some bottles and don’t have any left. Then hide the somewhere other than the man cave bar.
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At least you received oohs and aahs and accolades for your special blend:
They oohed and ahhed appreciatively, asked where they could buy it, then promptly changed their minds when they heard the price.
Imagine if they had left their drinks half drunk and asked for a BUD LIGHT instead?
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That would guarantee they’d never be invited back!
🤣
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If you add a little Black Cherry drink enhancer to a glass of House Gin, you can pretend you are drinking top shelf.
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I can’t accept imitations, not after I’ve had the real thing.
😉
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You need to investigate emergency replacement rations. Kinda like MREs except they are DIBEs (drinks imbibed by everyone). Your gin does sound like a bounce recipe. Think of it as homework and a science project. And pleasant homework at that. You can either attempt to replicate the recipe or go off to explore new gin territories. Collect the ingredients and a bottle of gin and see what there is to taste. For ‘bounce’ the recipe is a fifth of whiskey, a quart of fruit, and a cup of sugar. place in a large mouth container. mix. loosen the lid in case of further fermentation. Feel free to adjust the recipe to your own ginclinations. oh I left out the time part of the recipe. generally one is supposed to let the mix sit for six months. however I do believe that one month is adequate. And heck this is for science so as long as you record the results a one month sampling rate up to the full 6 months is just part of the experiment. It will give you something practical to do while you wait.
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A quart of fruit in a fifth of whiskey for 6 months? That’s going to be some well sauced fruit!
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Oh it is. With the whiskey if you add the sugar ( actually it was supposed to be 2 1/4 cups of sugar to make 1 pound) it comes out like brandy. And it cures just about anything. Especially winter colds. And the fruit is improved too!
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I’d have kicked him on the shin. Or grabbed the bottle and ran for the door.
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I thought about that second option…
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