Reporter Emma Downey decided to put three wacky gin flavours to the test including American Mustard and Asian Parsnip from the James Gin range - but which did she prefer?
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00:00Hi everyone, so have you ever heard of a parsnip gin?
00:07The answer is no, you're about to.
00:09So I have been sent, as a gin lover, I have been sent a brand called James's Gin to review
00:18and one of the flavours, you guessed it, is Asian parsnip.
00:22So I've been sent three miniatures to try.
00:24I've also been sent a large one in the Asian parsnip, but it is 57% volume.
00:33I've never came across that in a gin before, I think they have, which is about 40%.
00:39So I'm not going to be reviewing or trying to review, as the case may be, that one, as
00:43I don't think I'd be able to speak to it.
00:46But yeah, let's have a look at the three miniature ones and we'll see if any of them are worth
00:52their weight in gold.
00:55So these are the three gins.
00:56So this one, the first one, is called London Drizzle.
01:01So it sounds like a bit of me.
01:04And this one's 40% volume, yeah, which is normal for a gin, I suppose.
01:10So I've been informed that the garnish for this one is, you can put an orange with it.
01:16So I love orange and cucumbery, lemon in gins is nice, I'm not on the sort of more
01:23limey, citrusy side.
01:26And then this one is the Asian parsnip one, which is the one I've been gifted a bigger
01:31bottle of.
01:32So I'm guessing I think this one is the nicest.
01:34Again, this is 40% volume, and it has to be garnished, well it doesn't have to be, you
01:40can garnish it with whatever you want, a lemon.
01:43And then finally we have, oh, American Mustard.
01:47So this is another interesting one.
01:50Yep, and it's meant to be garnished with a sprig of rosemary, however I literally just
01:56cannot bring myself to fire a sprig of rosemary into a drink.
02:00So I've opted for a grapefruit, a white grapefruit instead, I think rosemary sprigs belong on
02:05roast potatoes and food.
02:07So and then I've just went, obviously it's up to your own preference, I've just bought
02:11London Essence tonic waters.
02:13You can have Slimline, you can have cucumber infused ones, you know, anything you like.
02:19Even lemonade, some people have gin with lemonade.
02:21Not my bag, but here we are.
02:23So let's do a little taste test.
02:25Right guys, I'm armed with my drinks, I'm ready to go, let's see which one I think I'm
02:33going to like the best.
02:34I think before I sample them, I would gravitate more towards the London Drizzle, but listen,
02:40you never know.
02:41So let's see.
02:42Right, Lemon Drizzle, bottoms up.
02:46Okay, that's not too bad, that reminds me of a Lemon Drizzle kick.
02:55But as someone that isn't really, I'm not really a lover of sweet gins, as I say, I'm
03:02pretty sure I've probably told you this before, I love Hendrix, so mine's just straight to
03:06the point gin.
03:07Anything with sort of grapefruit in it, or grapefruit gin, or the Hendrix with the cucumber
03:11that is for me, was usually a Slimline tonic, no messing about with flavour tonics.
03:16But that one I could deal with, you know, I could drink that.
03:21So next one we'll try is the American Mustard one.
03:25So remember I have put grapefruit, but you can put obviously whatever you want in.
03:29I just couldn't, rosemary sprig doesn't belong in a drink, in my opinion.
03:34So, second one, oh, that's very strong, oh yeah, it's got like a bit of a kick to it
03:46and an aftertaste.
03:47Yeah, you can taste the mustard, so that one's a no, that one's a definite no, I wouldn't,
03:54mm-mm.
03:55And finally, the Asian Parsnip one, which obviously I've been sent the big bottle of,
04:00so it's, well, I'm hoping it's the nicest, one, two, three, yeah, oh wow, I would, right,
04:17out of all three, I would definitely go back to the parsnip one, and that's, you know what
04:21I mean, so it's, don't judge a book by its cover or description, so to speak, because
04:25if somebody had said to me, would you like a parsnip gin, God no, that is actually lovely
04:31and very refreshing, so the clear winner is Asian Parsnip Gin, guys, so I think you can
04:39buy these online, and they do come in like mini gift sets, so even if you know somebody
04:45that loves gin as a Christmas present, but if you do see these out and about, James's
04:51Gin, I would personally say to order at the bar the Asian Parsnip one, and probably just
04:58with the normal tonic, because it's got like a nice refreshing flavour, so yeah.