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TOP BEVERAGES – THE FULL SPECTRUM part 1
TOP BEVERAGES – THE FULL SPECTRUM
PART 1
I’ve now had a chance to taste and play around with the samples of Top Gin that Nick kindly sent me to try and over the next few days I am going to share some more background information about Top Beverages and what makes their gin really special.
As you all know, I won’t endorse something I don’t personally like and I happen to love these for many reasons. If you would like to try these too, they have an amazing discount offer on for a few days, so head over to their website and use TOP50FAN and treat yourself to an early Christmas present – I have!
I’m sure you have all heard about CBD and all the amazing health benefits it has and have noticed that there are many new products, not just gin, who are trading on the hype around Hemp or CBD, but who don’t disclose too much information about what actually goes into their products – how much, what type of CBD, has it been tested etc. CBD and hempseed oil are in the same cannabis family, and they are often marketed as the same thing and consumers are being misled, so it does pay to do your research and ensure that you are not overpaying for a product which does not contain what you think it does. Hempseed oil contains little to no CBD, whilst CBD comes from the entire plant, including leaves and stems, and it is this CBD that Top Beverages use.
Top Beverages have set out to create a gin (and indeed other spirits too) which not only contains the best ingredients they can find, but is also well researched, tested and contains no sugar or any artificial flavourings. Their ingredients have been sourced during their travels around the world and in addition to the normal botanicals you find in gin, they have also played about with some unusual flavours and added premium CBD infusions to them. They use full spectrum CBD oil, which means that this contains all the cannabinoids that are found in the cannabis plant in nature, so you are getting the maximum benefit from it.
But, this is a gin that is not defined by the addition of CBD – this is a gin that even without it would be a quality product and one which stands out from the crowd. Each 50cl bottle contains 50mg of full spectrum CBD and as the infusions work best with a higher alcohol content, all their gin is blended to Navy Strength.
The first gin from their 3 collections is one I was unsure I would like, but has actually turned out to be my favourite! BLOODY MARY GIN from their Spice Collection.
This has tomato, celery, red chilli, orange, cinnamon, coriander and black pepper in it and these marry beautifully with the gin botanicals. I have created a little cocktail, leaning towards health benefits and the botanicals in the gin.
SNAP TO IT COCKTAIL
25ml Bloody Mary Gin
15ml Vermouth
Shaken with loads of ice and topped up with Nik & Kix Blood Orange and Turmeric pick me up!
I believe cocktails should be easy for everyone to make and I don’t have a large collections of bottles to play about with – my gin collection takes up enough space! So hopefully this one will inspire you to think a bit outside the box and look for unusual ingredients you can use, while you’re out doing the grocery shopping!
Where did our Christmas traditions start? This blogpost explores some of our favourite Christmas traditions, discovering where they came from, when they started and why we enjoy them year after year.
For the past few years I've set myself a 12 Days of Christmas challenge with a gin-twist! The theme is loosely based on the song "Twelve Days of Christmas" and it's a gin-terpretation (yes, a made up word!) of the song! I have posted brands and cocktails which relate to each of the 12 gifts and last year chose to use gins that had numbers in their branding. Whilst this is a personal challenge, it's open to everyone, so if you want to join in for a few or all of the days, then please do feel free - just tag me and I'll reshare!
Full Disclosure: All expenses paid press trip to Seville with Puerto de Indias and Hatch PR - October 2022
It's a bit early for clover but I did manage to find a few leaves poking out the ground and they were perfect to use for a post for St Patrick's Day. Other foliage or flowers work and even citrus peel, so if you aren't trying to theme your cocktails, then you can just pretty them up with something else. Sometimes condensation is enough to hold light objects onto the glass, but it wasn't working this time, so I had a trick up my sleeve!
Compiling a list of my top 10 gins is almost impossible, as what I feel like drinking will change daily depending on my mood. I enjoy gins that are different, but they may not be for everyone, so if you are looking to get into drinking gin or want to try something new, then this is a list of classic gins, which are excellent value for money and won't disappoint. All of these brands have a good range, including some flavoured gins, so there should be something for everyone in this list! Are there other brands on my shelf which are worthy of inclusion in a top 10 list? Yes of course and I may be a little biased as I've visited most of these distilleries and they all have something different to offer and make excellent spirits. However, they are all good starting points for those new to drinking gin and wanting to learn a little bit more about the history and how gin is made. Click on the links or photos to be taken to the brand websites or my reviews on Instagram .
Given this week is National Storytelling Week, I thought I would expand on my Top 10 favourite Gin Stories and share them again with you all in more detail. They are not in any particular order and although they are all good gins, it's impossible to make a list of my 10 favourite gins, as I have too many! If you want to read more of my gin stories, they are part of my Virtual Gin Tours which are either on my Instagram account or filed here on my website too for easy reading. Hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed researching and writing them all. Allison As seen in The Daily Mail