If you live in Bath you are probably aware of the Canary Gin Bar on Queen Street, a popular bar with trendy socialites in the city. Mark, one of our Directors, recently took a trip to Bath and had a couple of drinks in the bar and was very impressed; he reported that the atmosphere was very good and the staff were extremely knowledgeable about the drinks they were serving. This is high praise indeed from our resident gin connoisseur! It stood to reason that the first thing to be sampled would be the bars very own Bath Gin. Peter Meacock owns the establishment and is so passionate about gin that he decided to make his own along with the help of expert mixologist Tim Welehan. After locating a gin that was made purely from Juniper, Peter gathered up a whole host of other botanicals and started to experiment with different combinations. In the end the duo decided on a blend of ten botanicals; Juniper, Cassia, Lemon Peel, Burnt Orange Peel, Liquorice, Cardamom, Angelica and Cubeb Berries along with the unusual addition of Wormwood and Kaffir lime leaf. You'll normally find Wormwood making up the base for absinthe and the Kaffir leaf is more commonly procured for use in distilling rums from Martinique and Madagascar. These botanicals result in a premium gin that is vibrant, fruity and with plenty of citrus. The recommended serve for Bath Gin is with a quality tonic (Mark was served his G&T with 1724 tonic) and a Kaffir leaf soaked in lemon juice. At present there are only 1000 bottles of the gin in existence, all with picture of a winking Jane Austin on the label. The image has been heavily Photoshopped and she is portrayed giving a cheeky wink and there has been some enhancements made to her bust! Normally portrayed as a very prim and proper lady, the truth of the matter is that Ms. Austin was quite the party animal and enjoyed more than the occasional drop of gin and the company of young men. How very naughty of her! Currently the gin is being produced somewhere in London but that's set to change this year as Peter has purchased a still which will be used to make more Bath Gin in varying varieties including an offering at the entry level. A little bird also told us that there are plans underway for the creation of a new tonic and apparently Peter has visited an African country in order to obtain the Yellow Fever Tree to extract the quinine from! We look forward with anticipation to see what these talented gin aficionados release next as we are sure the quality will be superb. In the meantime you can pick yourself up a bottle of the Bath Gin by following this link to gin nirvana.