a.k.a. The Most Expensive Cocktail I've Ever Had
So, funny story. Possibly bordering on sad and/or really stupid.
It all started out one day when I saw a little bit of hoo-hah about Gorgon's new pink gin. I'd seen a couple of articles about it online, and even though I don't recall ever actually having gin (I think I had a Martini once), the pink spritz they were using to advertise their new product caught my attention. It was pink and pretty and looked oh-so-lovely. (Seriously. Unicorn cupcakes, now pink drinks? I don't know what's happened to me).
So I got it into my head that, unlike the Unicorn Cupcakes, I wanted to be ahead of the trend for a change. I've been so busy with work that I rarely have time to do my own recipes for WTF?! and I thought, how long could it possibly take to do a simple cocktail? Well. Let me tell you. It takes about two weeks.
I had the look all set. I've been playing around with slow motion video on white backgrounds; splashes of liquid and ice-cubes all dramatically falling into a glass, etc. so I thought that would look pretty awesome with the pink and the bubbles and the berries. All I needed was to get some of this new pink gin and I would be set.
I tried some of the big off-licences. I tried some of the smaller ones. Nope. Then I vaguely remembered something from one of the articles that originally piqued my interest in pink gin that Tesco would be the only place to buy it. Off to Tesco I went. Nope. Nothing. Not even a label on the shelf. Back to Google.
Wouldn't you know? It was available in Northern Ireland but would only be in our own Tescos a few weeks later. All the articles mentioned mid-August but no set dates.
This didn't bother me. I thought, for a change, that I would actually be way ahead of the trend. Bonus! All I had to do was get my hands on a bottle before it made its way to us in the Republic. Road trip!
Hubby and I hopped into the car on a Saturday morning and off we went. A fun little drive up to Newry. There's a massive Tesco there so I'd be sure to find it.
You're probably going to guess the next part, but I better say it. We arrived at the Tesco, made our way to the boozey section, had a look around. All we found was an empty space on the shelf where the pink gin was meant to be found. The fuck?! Didn't they know I was coming?! Clearly not!
Andrew found someone who looked like they might know some useful information and asked if they had any in stock somewhere in the back. The lady actually laughed, she said she couldn't keep the stuff on the shelves, they were just flying out of the place! Damn you girls with your #instapink and #gin fetishes! I must have looked really dismayed because the kind Tesco lady had a look on her phone to see if there was stock anywhere nearby. There wasn't. But! They were expecting a delivery that night. Only eighteen bottles, but there would be some in store in the morning.
We decided we'd better make sure that when I got there the next day, because I am that insane that I would drive up again to find this godamned pink gin, there would indeed be a bottle there for me. We went to customer services and explained the situation. They said they would put a bottle aside (actually, two bottles, just to be safe) so when I drove back up, there'd be no tears. Not my tears, Tesco staff-member tears because I would probably lose my shit.
So, we drove back home to Dublin.
Next day, a Sunday, I had my alarm set and I would get there as early as possible as I had everything set up for the shoot and I didn't want to waste the day travelling when I could be shooting.
Before I go on, some of you might be wondering why I didn't call them ahead of the first drive up to Newry. That would have been a great idea, but as it turns out, it would have been fruitless. While we were up there on the Saturday, we tried to phone around to a few other Tesco branches but were met with pre-recorded voices telling us that they can't check stock levels over the phone and it's best to visit the store. So. Yeah.
But on this Sunday morning, bright and way too early for me, Andrew suggested we called anyway. Okay, fine. So he called and managed to navigate his way through the phone menu until he got through to an actual person in customer services. "Hi, we were there yesterday. You were going to put aside two bottles of Gordon's pink gin for us. Is it there?" No. NO?! The delivery never arrived and they couldn't tell us when it would.
Holy Moses. So grateful that hubby decided to call first because if I'd driven up there, again, to be met by that news, he would have had to make his way up to Newry to bail me out of jail.
For those of you who know me, you'll know that when I get an idea stuck in my head, that's it. Blinkers on, that's what I'm doing. And the sooner it happens, the better. I have little to no patience when it comes to following through with an idea. I was so bummed!
I came very close to getting one of Andrew's mates in London to courier a few bottle to me. What I ended up doing instead was what I probably should have done from the start. I bought the friggin things on Amazon. Why I didn't do that in the first place, I don't know. I thought it would be quicker to do some driving and legwork for a change. If this has taught me anything, is that using Amazon as my personal shopping mall is, by far, the simplest way of buying stuff. Support local, my ass... (I don't really mean that, although it was my mood at the time.)
I chose express delivery to my Parcel Motel address (no deliveries to ROI), and Bob's Burgers your uncle, I had my two bottles of Gordon's pink gin just two days later shipped in from Portugal. *eye twitch*
It would have been easier for me to get my hands on a cotton candy farting unicorn than is was getting my hands on a bottle of this friggin pink gin! And considering the petrol and much higher price I had to pay on Amazon (they're supposed to be £13 a bottle, I think I paid about £25 each) and delivery, a unicorn would have been cheaper, too.
So that's why this is probably the most expensive cocktail I've had. And there I thought that this blog post would be short.
Oh, I suppose you want to know what it tastes like, after all that.
Berries! It has the most amazing berry flavour, and it's not subtle. It's flavoured with raspberries and redcurrant, which definitely comes through. You're hit with the smell of berries the minute you open the bottle. Actually, it reminds me of those red popsicles you'd have as a kid, in a good way!
The spritz itself is lovely. I mixed up a tester, of course, but was a little disappointed with how not pink it was. All the promotional images of the pink spritz were far more pink! Cheeky! Anyway, I ended up using a pink prosecco instead of a white one which helped the pink hue a little bit.
It's fresh and light, fruity and bubbly. Really lovely for an easy summer drink. Also, a lot cheaper if you find the pink gin before you actually commit to making the drink...
Enjoy! (And remember, drink responsibly, etc. etc.)
Pink Gin Spritz
| Makes 1 Cocktail | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ice & Berries | |||
| 50ml | 2 parts | Pink Gin | |
| 50ml | 2 parts | Sparkling Lemonade | |
| 25ml | 1 part | White or Pink Prosecco | |
Method
- Fill a white wine glass with ice cubes and a few red berries
- Pour over pink gin
- Pour over sparkling lemonade
- Top off with prosecco (approximately 25ml depending on the size of your white wine glass)
- Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Gordon's Gin Pink & Tonic recipe
