Gin is one of the most popular spirits in the world. There are so many distillers bringing life to gin every day, all with different and unique tastes. Similarly, there are so many variants of gin, so many flavours, and so many botanicals are used every single day to produce the gin that we all love.

We can’t really taste every gin there is in the entire world. Unless you are uber-rich and have all the time in the world. Bummer, we know 🙂 But that’s okay! But what we can do, is to learn to enjoy the gins that we taste. Lets learn the nuances of a proper Gin Tasting session.

How Gin Tasting Improves Your Gin Drinking Experience

Learning how to taste gin the proper way can do four things:

One, help you pick out which gins are the best gins for you before you splurge money on tons of gin that you’re not going to end up liking. 

Two, it will help in allowing you to figure out and bring out the true flavours of the gin that you are drinking. This helps you achieve a better overall gin drinking experience by letting you know how a gin truly tastes like and which mixers you should add into it when you are fancying a cocktail considering that gin is rarely drank neat.

Three, it will allow you to figure out the taste, feel, and texture of the styles of gin that you really enjoy.

Lastly, it will make you feel fancy, of course! Just knowing how to taste good liquor well and proper is super classy, isn’t it?! 

That being said, let’s get started on learning how you can taste gin like a real connoisseur!

How to Prepare Gin for Tasting

The way you would taste gin is exactly like how you would taste wine. Generally, there are three things that you should look out for the most: the aroma, how it feels in your mouth and finally, the taste of the gin. But before we get to that, let us first discuss how you should prepare your gin before tasting. 

Also, Check out the Bright Night Gin Tasting pack to do gin tasting at home

Keep Your Gin at Room Temperature

Before you start tasting gin, make sure that you will be consuming it at room temperature.

But why does that matter, you may ask? The taste of the gin will be greatly affected if it is too hot or too cold. The best way to drink it is at room temperature, where you will be able to taste the real flavours of the gin that you are drinking. 

Picking a Gin Tasting Glass

A glass like this is ideas for Gin Tasting

When doing gin tasting, you have to pick a glass where you can smell it properly. 

It is recommended to use small wine glasses, snifter type glasses, or generally stemmed glasses with wide mouths. 

Why? The wide opening helps you properly smell the aroma of the gin and the stemmed glass keeps your hand from warming up the glass, which could warm up the gin as well.

Pouring the Gin

When finally pouring the gin to the glass, strictly do not fill it up. 

Connoisseurs suggest that you must only fill up the glass until the wide area of the glass. This aids in helping the aroma of the gin to circulate, which is exactly what you want to happen if you want to get the full gin experience. 

Swirl the Gin in the Glass

Have you ever seen people in movies or on tv shows or on YouTube swirl their glasses of liquor before drinking?

Have you ever wondered if that is a real thing that real people do in real life?

Yes, it is! Swirling your gin in the glass where you have poured it before drinking allows the aroma to rise to the top of the glass where your senses can smell it easier. Therefore, before tasting your gin you should swirl it in the glass like a true movie superstar!

How to Taste the Gin

Finally, the part that we have all been waiting for!

After preparing your gin for tasting in the proper way, there is only one thing left to do: smell, taste, and enjoy your gin.

Identify the Smell of the Gin

Upon smelling the aroma of the gin, how does it smell like? 

Identifying the real aroma of the gin can give you an idea of what to expect when you taste it. Does it smell sweet or sour? Is the smell gentle or is it very strong to the nose?

Smelling your gin before tasting it is like having a glimpse of its flavor and this is important to the gin tasting experience.

Identify How it Tastes Like

Finally! To the actual gin tasting!

Swirl the gin around in its glass and have a sip of the gin. 

Let it sit in your mouth for a bit and identify its flavours. 

Gin has many botanicals infused in it to achieve its flavour, so normally, you would be tasting a bunch of things in your drink. But you can only truly enjoy them or discover flavours and after-tastes whether good or bad if you let them sit in your tongue!

If you were unable to taste the flavours on the first sip, have another sip. 

Identify Its Texture

Different styles of gin have different textures and feel as well. 

Once you have tasted the true flavours of your gin, it is now time to identify how it feels in your mouth, tongue, and how smooth or rough it is on the throat when you swallow it. 

Try Your Gin with Mixers

Like mentioned earlier, people barely drink gin without mixers due to their properties and nature. 

After tasting your gin, try it out with mixers to see if they can bring out more flavours to your beloved bottle of gin! Over time, you will be able to identify which mixers are perfect for certain styles and flavours of gin, helping you attain the ultimate gin experience and making you a real gin connoisseur.

Enjoy Drinking!

We hope you have learned a lot from this guide and we look forward to hearing you have a successful gin tasting experience. Let us know how it goes! Enjoy your gin!

Bright Night Gin Tasting Notes

Here are some tasting notes from our own Bright Night Gin. Enjoy your Gin-Tasting sessions.

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2 comments

    Great tips, if I may add, it is about breathing when tasting gin. When I was at a latest tasting, they recommended breathing in through your nose when tasting and breathing out through your mouth.

    This is a wonderful introduction to gin tasting! As someone who enjoys exploring different gins, I’d like to add a few extra tips.

    I recommend trying your gin in different cocktails. A crisp gin and tonic really allows the spirit to shine, while an herbaceous gin can be lovely in a martini. Observing how the gin interacts with different mixers and complements various flavors can uncover new dimensions.

    Finally, don’t be afraid to add a dash of water to your gin. Adding a few drops can help “open up” the aromas. Pay attention to how the smell and taste may transform. Adding water is a common technique in whisky tasting, but it can work nicely with gin too.

    Cheers

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