Pink Gin

[Penwu]

I forgot to get some fruit for tonight's cocktail, so I decided to try out one of the recipes in "Vintage Spirits" that I could make with my still fairly small home bar: pink gin. I like bitters, and I've had a pretty favorable time with my one gin brand (Plymouth) - so I was dubious but hopeful about combining the two. I made a definite point to make sure my shaking got it suitably diluted, but ended up not enjoying the result. Just too harsh for me. I drank a bit of it, and then added a little bit of sweetness (about 1/4oz velvet falernum, into 1oz of gin and probably another 1oz of water) to make the remainder more palatable. It still didn't really taste good, but it was drinkable (I'd hate to toss liquor out).

Given the simplicity, I don't think I'm doing anything wrong in the mixing...perhaps this is just more of an acquired taste? If I had someone who claimed to not like gin, I'd give them an Aviation long before a Pink Gin.

[thirtyoneknots]

VSFC notwithstanding, I wouldn't go so far as to call Pink Gin a drink for the gin-averse, but I may be able to offer a few hints to try it again:

1) Stirring with very cold cracked ice with actually get a colder drink than shaking, and should still produce sufficient dilution provided you stir long enough.

2) Pink Gin is a simple drink, but those are often the trickiest of drinks. Try reducing the amount of bitter by one or two dashes.

3) Pink Gin will still work reasonably well on the rocks, which will of course keep it colder.

If all else fails, maybe try a dash of simple syrup for every dash of bitters. Of course it won't really be a Pink Gin anymore so much as a Gin Cock-tail, but it may help you get accustomed to the flavor profile.

On the other hand, while I think the Pink Gin is a bonafide classic and a fine and interesting enough drink, I rarely if ever crave one, and I can count on one hand the number of them I've ever made, much less drank.

[slkinsey]

I think of Pink Gin somewhat the same way I think of Death in the Gulf Stream (although DITGS is a longer and more intensely flavored drink): as a digestive or perhaps as a short, bracing stimulant for the appetite.

[kvltrede]

...I like bitters, and I've had a pretty favorable time with my one gin brand (Plymouth) . . . but ended up not enjoying the result.  Just too harsh for me....

...Given the simplicity, I don't think I'm doing anything wrong in the mixing...perhaps this is just more of an acquired taste? If I had someone who claimed to not like gin, I'd give them an Aviation long before a Pink Gin.

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I think it's fairly safe to say that one should only make something as simple as a Pink Gin with a gin one would willingly drink straight. If straight or straight-ish Plymouth gin isn't your cup o'tea then your disappointing Pink Gin isn't due to any errors in its construction. You can certainly try it stirred or at room temp or on the rocks, different gins, different bitters, etc. but, frankly, if well-shaken Plymouth and a half-dozen dashes of Angostura strike you as harsh I don't see the point in your spending a lot of time on this one. I'd suggest that you simply move on to the next recipe that catches your eye. If, at some point, you come across a gin you absolutely love you can always give the Pink Gin another shot.

FWIW, I've had a Pink Gin made to Vintage Spirits specs with Plymouth and I liked it fine. In fact, I liked it more as I sipped my way through it. Regardless, I haven't made Pink Gins a habit because it strikes me as a drink in need of a little something else. You know, something like, say, vermouth. And because getting the bottle of vermouth from the fridge isn't much of an imposition I do just that and mix up a perfect and perfectly complete Martini instead of a nice enough drink that, for me, comes up a somewhere short of perfect.

And, yes, you are absolutely 100% correct that the Pink Gin is not a drink likely to change the mind of someone who is not already a fan of gin.

Kurt