Gin has been a long-standing member of the optics line up in a pub, but is there room for it in our foods?
With tubs of yogurt flavoured with Gin spiriting their way onto the shelves of Sainsbury’s at the beginning of the summer, more foods could be just around the corner.
The yogurt contains 0.25% alcohol, is this the next yogurt you will be adding to your fruit?
Some of the foods already available include – 
- Gin-infused salmon
- Gin-flavored popcorn
- Sweets
- Gin and tonic icecream
- Gin sauces
Last year sales of the spirit surpassed £1bn, and micro-distilleries have been popping up all over the UK. This surge in sales has been named a “Ginaissance”
The trendy reputation that Gin has gained in the very recent years is a far cry from the age-old nickname of “Mother’s ruin.”
Gin, once the favourite vice drink of the poor and was thought if it was drunk in a hot bath would bring on a miscarriage. Supermarkets are confident the gin flavoured foods will continue to grow as more people tuck in.
Cocktail expert and writer Ben Reed says “Sure, there’s an element of gimmickry, but why not? It is an obvious step for chefs to use gin, adding it can enhance flavours in foods. By choosing gins with the appropriate botanical additions you can add complex combinations.”
“The supermarket’s premium gin sales are rising 25% year-on-year and insists the trend isn’t limited to your glass of G&T. There’s plenty more to come, with plans to introduce a smoked salmon pate with a gin and tonic glaze.” says Nicola Bramley, a food development chef at Sainsbury’s.
Like other spirits such as vodka, gin has a neutral flavour. It gets its character from the botanicals used in the distilling process to flavour it. The typical taste we all know as “gin” is the juniper, which tastes like pine.
The chief executive of the Wine and Spirits Trade Association (WSTA) Miles Beale says “Our love of gin means flavoured food is selling like hot cakes. The quintessentially British drink is supporting a wider industry, with gin-themed gifts and gin flavoured foods. It’s fantastic to see”.
Is it on your shopping list?
Flavored gins are growing, with flavours of seaweed to tea. Is using the spirit in our food items a step too far?
Nick King, a spirits teacher at the Wine and Spirits Education Trust says “Alcohol – favoured food is nothing new. You’ve had rum and raisin ice cream for donkey’s years, liquor chocolates and of course my mother’s legendary brandy butter. We’re looking at a generation that’s much more interested in flavour and interesting and exciting things. Gin will be around when our grandchildren are talking about it, but whether gin ice cream will be is another thing altogether”.