Swill: Greenhook’s Ridiculously-Flavorful Vapor-Distilled Gin

By Drew Prindle July 22, 2014

Swill is our bi-monthly column dedicated to liquor, wine, beer, and every other delicious dram that falls under the broader umbrella of booze. But it’s more than just tasting notes scribbled on a cocktail napkin — Swill is about getting outside of your comfort zone, trying new things, and exploring the big, wide world of libations. One week you might catch us halfway through a bottle of single-malt scotch, and the week after that we might be buzzing on some Ugandan moonshine made from bananas. This column is just one big boozy adventure, so grab yourself a glass and join us for another round.

In my opinion, the advent of American- or New Western-style gin is one of the most exciting developments to hit the booze scene in recent memory. In case you haven’t noticed, gin has been experiencing a sort of renaissance over the past decade or so. Slowly but surely, distillers have broken free from the categorical boundaries of “dry gin,” and are now expanding what the spirit can be.

In other words, gin isn’t just about juniper anymore. Sure, juniper berry is and always will be one of the predominant ingredients in gin, but nowadays artisan distillers are inviting other botanicals into the mix.

One of the most exciting gins in this new category comes from a newborn distillery in Brooklyn: Greenhook Ginsmiths. Using a vapor distillation technique traditionally used by perfumeries, these guys have somehow managed to tease out some of the most pronounced floral and spice flavors i’ve ever encountered in a gin.

To be fair, lots of these Western-style gin distillers use adventurous botanical blends to achieve their own unique flavor profile, but most tend to feature exotic flavors in extremely minute –and often imperceptible– amounts. Greenhook, however, doesn’t let juniper steal the show.

The supporting cast is what really makes this gin shine. Juniper is there, but ceylon cinnamon, elderflower, and chamomile are arguably just as pronounced. Underneath, you’ll find subtle notes of orange, ginger, and orris root, which help to round the gin out and make it wonderfully complex. The Wall Street Journal called it “One of the boldest, most interesting gins out there,” and I couldn’t agree more.

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All this talk about the drink prompted us to go on a quest to find the most exceptional ones this rosé season. With plenty of great options in the market, we chose to narrow down our list to these best rosé wines for your next hot date, guys' night, or solo Netflix binge. Still reluctant to try this magical wine? We listed seven reasons why you should start drinking rosé.
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You’re overlooking the most important ingredient in your cocktail

Steel Hibiscus cocktail.

When you list off the most important parts of making a good cocktail your mind likely goes immediately to good ingredients: quality spirits, freshly squeezed citrus juices, and well-matched mixers. You might also consider the importance of using the right tools, like getting a proper mixing glass so your stirred drinks can be properly incorporated, or a good strainer so that there aren't little shards of ice in your cocktails. And then there are the fun additions like elaborate garnishes, bitters, or home-made syrups which can add a personal touch to your drinks.
All of those things are important, absolutely. However I think there's one ingredient that can make or break a good cocktail, and it's something many drinkers don't ever stop to consider. It's the humble but vital ingredient of ice.

Why ice is so important
In mixed drinks like a gin and tonic or a screwdriver, ice is added to the drink primarily to chill it down to a pleasing temperature. That's a topic we'll come back to. But in cocktails which are shaken or stirred, ice is far more important than that. Cocktails are typically composed of between around 20 to 30 percent water, and this water comes from the ice used in the preparation process.
When you stir ingredients in a mixing glass or shake them in a shaker with ice, you are chipping away small pieces of the ice so that it dissolves and blends with your other ingredients. You might imagine that water doesn't make much of a difference to taste, being tasteless itself. But it's vital in opening up the flavors of other ingredients. That's why many whiskey drinkers like to add a dash of water to their whiskey when they drink it neat.
If you're ever in doubt of how important water is to cocktails, it's worth trying to make a drink with no ice. Even if you mix up the ideal ratios for a drink that you love and put it into the freezer so that it gets to the chilled temperature that you usually enjoy it at, if you sip it you'll find that your drink tastes harsh, unbalanced, and incomplete. Even for special room temperature cocktails like those designed to be drunk from a flask, you'll generally find water being added at a rate of around 30%.
When you make your cocktails you should be sure to stir for a long time – around 30 seconds is a good start – or to shake for a good while too – I typically do around 12 to 15 seconds – in order to melt enough ice to get plenty of water into your cocktail. Despite what you might imagine, this won't make the cocktail taste watery but will rather make the flavors stand out more as well as often improving the mouthfeel of the drink. A good rule of thumb is to mix or shake until the vessel is cold to the touch. That means your ingredients are sufficiently incorporated with the ice.