Distiller wants to jog memory of gin drinkers

27 August, 2008
Page 11 
Sean Harrison, master distiller for Plymouth Gin, has moved to the US on a mission: "People have forgotten how to drink gin. I want to bring it back."

Harrison held a series of tastings for bartenders and media representatives in New York, Miami and San Francisco to drive his point home.

Harrison, of course, would prefer that drinkers make Plymouth their gin of choice, but he poured other gins at the tastings to highlight various flavour profiles.

He pointed out that there are only seven botanicals in Plymouth, out of a possible 120 or so flavourings sometimes used in gin production.

The seven used in Plymouth gin, which is owned by V&S, are juniper berries, angelica root, orange peel, lemon peel, cardamom pods, orris root and coriander seeds.

He also had some practical advice for US bartenders on that classic gin cocktail, the martini. "Martinis should always be stirred, not shaken, regardless of James Bond," he said.