Gin O’Clock – Part Eighty Eight
One of the fascinating things about London is that there is
almost as much going on under the city’s surface as above ground. What can look
an unprepossessing doorway in a dingy street can lead the intrepid to a
wonderful underground oasis. Take Bride Lane, which runs from the southern side
of Fleet Street to New Bridge Street and, frankly, resembles a bit of a
building site when I graced it with my presence. At the Fleet Street end, on
the left-hand side, is a doorway with a sign proclaiming COLD.
I went down the stairs to find a bright, attractive bar and
a distillery behind explosion-proof plate glass. I had arrived at the City
of London Distillery (COLD). At the height of the gin craze in the 18th
century there were said to be around 1,700 stills in production in the City’s
square mile, 7,000 gin shops and each Londoner was dinking on average 14
gallons of the spirit a year. The area around Fleet Street would have had more
than their fair share of shops and distillers. With water a positive
health-hazard and gin just as cheap as beer but a lot more powerful, it was no
wonder that many sought their fix and tried to blot out the misery of their
diurnal existence by toping gin. Mind you, quality was an issue and many an
unscrupulous vendor was less than careful with the ingredients that gave their
drink its kick.
The Gin Act of 1751, which prohibited distillers from
selling to unlicensed merchants and charged high fees to those who had
sufficient property to meet the newly established criteria for a gin retailer,
put an end to the working person’s ability to quench their thirst with gin,
leaving them to seek their kicks from beer or a nice cup of tea. The
ginaissance, without the ostensible social mayhem caused by rough gin, has seen
a new wave of small independent distillers. It is appropriate that COLD, said
to be the first establishment to distil gin, legally, at least, in over 180
years in the City of London, should seek to reclaim some of this lost heritage.
The distillery was founded in 2012 by Jonathan Clark with Jamie Baxter, who was the master distiller. It is fair to say, that the business has had its struggles to establish its niche in the rapidly expanding gin market, its original offering being well-made and balanced but a tad mundane, one that didn’t quite stand out from the market. This prompted a rethink and their original gin is now on its sixth recipe. They now have six gins in their product line, ranging from a London Dries to an Old Tom to a Sloe Gin, something for everyone. COLD is keen to promote its links with the City of London Corporation and proudly and with the blessing of the bigwigs at Guildhall incorporate the City’s emblem on their labels.
[image error]
I was there for an escorted tour of the distillery – there are three stills, modern versions of the Caterhead still, the original two named Clarissa and Jennifer, after the stars of the TV series, Two Fat Ladies, who were known to drink a glass of gin or two, and a third, a later, much larger addition, named Elizabeth. One run had finished and I was able to stick my head in and soak in the aroma of the botanicals which had gone into the mix, rather like a well-seasoned and spiced fruit cake mix.
[image error]
As well as the tour, we were given a G&T on arrival, a tad too much ice and tonic for my taste, then were shepherded into a small room where we sampled four of the gins from their range and were treated to an entertaining talk. Inevitably, I couldn’t resist staying on for another drink or buying a couple of bottles and I will describe the contents in more detail anon.
Until the next time, cheers!
