The Orangery Gin and The English Drinks Company
Small Batch, handcrafted and copper distilled gin sounds good to me. The English Drinks Company who make The Orangery Gin are best known for their cucumber gin and for a non-alcoholic drink called Qcumber which is a light and refreshing drink that works on its own or as a cocktail mixer. They went on to create an award-winning cucumber gin which came about when they realised people were mixing Qcumber with gin. Their first gin took a couple of years to perfect and they’ve now expanded the range to include two more artisan gins.
As the weather is beginning to get wintery, I wanted to try something a bit more seasonal. The Orangery Gin is made with Valencian oranges and just opening the bottle you’ll get a heavy citrus mixed with juniper scent. Sweet and warm, for me, it’s a perfect autumn drink. It turns out I am not alone in loving this particular gin – The English Drinks Company is currently celebrating two significant wins at the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) 2018 – considered to be the most prestigious competition of its kind in the world. They scooped a coveted Silver for The Orangery and also were awarded a Bronze for their Classic Pink Gin.
Back to The Orangery though, It’s quite good enough to drink on the rocks with no mixer at all. That, for me, is the sign of a really good gin.
It’s also lovely with tonic and a slice of orange, as they suggest.
But I wanted to try making a cocktail – I ended up with a long version but again, this works well as a short with no mixer.
Here’s the recipe for the cocktail I created. The pretty glasses come from Root 7 – where you’ll find all sorts of quirky cocktail accessories.
- 30 ml The Orangery Gin
- 30 ml St-Germain
- 60 ml Sicilian lemonade optional
- A handful of fresh thyme leaves and a few sprigs to garnish
- zest of orange
- 1 slice orange
- ice
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Muddle most of the thyme in the gin, reserving a few leaves for garnish
-
Fill a tumbler with ice
-
Add the gin and St- Germain and mix well
-
Top up with lemonade (if using)
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Add a little orange zest
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Garnish the drink with fresh thyme sprigs and a slice of orange
It really is a lovely drink and one which I’ll be making again. If you want to try some yourself, you can buy The English Drinks Company products from a range of off-licences or online from their own shop. But I haven’t managed to come up with a good name for it yet! So your challenge for this giveaway is to name my cocktail – or if you prefer to invent one of your own. Before you get started, pop over to the English Drinks Company site and check the cocktails they’ve already got…
Meanwhile, here’s the recipe for a classic St-Germain Spritz – another one that you really should try at home
I would call yours ZesGin or Herbie ZesGin
I would call it Orange Blossom.
Orangeflower Fizz
Sounds amazing
Zest Fest!
Ora-gin-al
Sicilian Sunrise
Sicilian Delight
It’s got to be Clementhyme for me – chin, chin !
Sunset Surprise
ORA-GIN!
Ginsational
Top Marks
marmalade
I would call it Orange You Glad I Made Us A Drink! I am available to all businesses for eccentric drink naming. 😀
Citrus Fizz
Ora-gin
orange sparkle
I’d make an orange blossom – with your gin, sweet vermouth and orange juice!
Orange sunset
Marmalady Joy
I’d make an Orangery Negroni
Orange Delight
I’d call your gorgeous recipe ‘Summer’s Surrender’ x
Citrus sizzler and I would make my favourite a Negroni
OrangGineous =D
orange surprise!
great recipe!
Love the sound of this…. would name it ‘Orange Equinox’ or somesuch, in honour of the changing seasons
Oragine suprise
ORANGE HEAVEN looks and sounds DELICIOUS
The Ora-gin-al!
…
Rubbish!
Citrus Delight
Oragine surprise
The Nell Gwyn
I’d call it the Orange Donald
Must try this. Looks very tasty!
I’d call i5 CLEMENTHYME
I don’t know what I’d call yours, but I’d try to make some sort of jaffa cake themed cocktail with it
Forgot to click the stars, my bad!
Orange St Germain Gin mix
I would call it an OranGINa
I would call it a Summer Orangery
The Europhile. ,….lemons from Italy , St germain form France , oranges from Spain, thyme from the Med, and Gin from England
OranGinTang for yours
I’d make Blackberry and Lychee Ice Crush with Gin
anything with gin is a 5 star for me!
Long Island Iced Tea
Lots of good names already suggested. I’d make myself a Fog Cutter cocktail
Super recipe !
Hint of orange
Orange Surprize
A Grosvenor (as in orange groves!).
Sunshine Burst
Orange pazaz
Orange Gin Fizz
Super recipe
I would call it Saúco Naranja
It does sound delicious!
I’d just have the gin!
I would call it Orange Dream.
Orange Daze
I’d call it Gino
Zippery Orange
Orange wake-up!
Orange is the new gin
Sun bomb
Narangin
Looks good
Orange Sunrise
OraGin Dream.
I’d call it Mediterranean Sling.
I’d drink it as a classic G&T rather than in a cocktail, but garnished with a slice of blood orange.
Posting again to give you some stars! Only 3, I’m afraid, for the very personal reason I don’t like cocktails.
Citrus Gin Zing
Sunset surprise
Orange Fizz xx
Orange fizz bomb
Orange you glad we met? 🙂
Citrus Drop
Nell Gwyn’s kiss
Sunset sip
Sicilian Sunset
OriGINal Citrus Delight xx
Bells of St Clements
I would call it ‘The Godfather of Gin’
I’d make a Sloe Gin fizz , but an orangey twist
I would call it a Gin Zing
I would call it a Mediterranean Moment.
Copper Zest
I would call it the two saints or double saints as oranges and lemons is a st clements and you also use St-Germain, therefore two saints 🙂
Posting again as I missed the stars!
My previous comment:
I would call it the two saints or double saints as oranges and lemons is a st clements and you also use St-Germain, therefore two saints 🙂
sunny dayz
Clements Slider……
l’d call it . . . . . amaZING
sunset delight
I would call it an orange twist
I’d call in orangegina
Mediterranean Delight
TanegerGIN
I would call it ImaGINe that!
I’d mix with gin and a splash of orange juice to make my own concoction, maybe add a little peach schnapps too! xx
id call it citrus blast
Thyme and Again
Citrus dance
Valencian Gin
Summer Zest, I have just started getting into gin and your cocktail sounds perfect! x
Sunset Surprise
Orangey delight
Sunset Bliss
i would call it, the oranginal
Orange Delight x
The bells of st clements
Sunset Orange
The Orange Garden – to reflect all the different taste notes in there! Yum!
Hawkes Bay Heaven. They grow magnificent oranges, lemons and herbs in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.
The Bells of St. Clements
I would call it Orange Sicilian