Sunday 28 February 2010

A rather rum party


Hello Sailor! No not that one.... Sailor Jerry of course. Thanks to an invitation from Madame Frou-Frou, the blonde half of DJ duo Hell Kittie Kittie Gin Lane was once again caught up in the world of rum. We see no harm in occasionally mixing our drinks after all. The occasion was the relaunch of Sailor Jerry rum as a cocktail mixer; we danced to the Paris Riots in the City Arts & Music Project whilst working our way through endless rum cocktails served up in jam jars. We always wondered why Granny insisted on keeping so many. Now we know. She predicted there'd be growing market of East London bars bored of traditional glassware. Good on you Granny.

We digress. What did we drink you ask? The classic Jerry and Ginger was followed by Death or Glory (no glory holes tonight thank the lord) and Vanilla Mojitos. The only near gin experience came when a Very Drunk Young Man asked this lady to name her favourite drink. After shouting GIN at him several times it became clear he a) wanted to buy her a drink in a free bar situation b) Alcohol in excess had apparently rendered him deaf and c) he was probably a bit of an idiot. The trays of drinks kept coming and for a Tuesday it all got a bit much. I woke up to a tattoo of an anchor on my arm. A transfer. Rock and roll.

Wednesday 17 February 2010

On smell alone...

The most unfortunate of Ladies has spent the last 11 days (go on, count them) in a most disturbingly dry state.  Due to a run in with a dentist resulting in an unexpected extraction, this Lady has been on The Drugs (not the good kind) and therefore not on The Drink for really far too long.  Suffice to say that I was therefore inclined to feel not a little sorry for myself on the night in question when, as per our invitation, we visited one of our number At Home on the Isle of Dogs.

And imagine my further woe when a bottle of a certain recently discovered gin was brought out, tonic was procured and lemon arrived at the table, for the bottle was beauteous.  Greenall's Bloom.


As winner of the 2009 Drinks International Design and Packaging Gold Medal and not one but two Gold Stars for Luxury Product and Designer of the Year, one would expect nothing less.  And then – you can image the torture, lesser Ladies would have fallen – I leant in for a whiff.  O!  What delicate fragrance was this?  Not just the camomile, pomelo (that weird and wonderful fruit, provider of an aroma of citrusy loveliness) and honeysuckle of their advertising blah, but another taste… could it be… quinine?  Like a G&T but just G, which, I would imagine (having not had a drop, I swear it), would slip down the throat with great ease.  How fabulous.  Perhaps the anti-inflammatory qualities of aforementioned alkaloid might help with me tooth ache…

Wednesday 10 February 2010

Gordon's Makes Us Drunk


Gordon's makes us very drunk too. And with Valentine's Day around the corner, for one of the ladies at least the only thing for it is to get very drunk. But before she does, she just wanted to share this delightful homage to Gordon's Gin by artists Gilbert and George. A love story indeed.

Friday 5 February 2010

Going Gin in Hồ Chí Minh

As you will know, one of our number has been travelling the globe at some not inconsiderable distance – presumably you’ve read my co-Lady’s post about Cuba so you ought to have gathered that this is the one about Vietnam.

As I travelled the length and breadth of Vietnam with my current beau (soaking up the sun in Saigon, having a high time in Hanoi… ok ok, here endeth the awful alliteration) it became apparent to me that we had seen only Gordon’s throughout Vietnam. It might even have been the super strength version that they’re allowed outside this country in the big wide world… the one with red and yellow branding… yeah.


As fabulous as Gordon’s is, it was with some significant relief that we arrived in Hồ Chí Minh and went for a little cocktail at the Sheraton Hotel. Of the eight restaurants, drinking holes and lounges at the Sheraton we opted for the rooftop bar where we drank several delightful Bombay Sapphire’s with tonic, and lime, I was pleased to note. As we looked out over the twinkling lights of Hồ Chí Minh there really was nothing more a Lady could ask for... Apart from another round.


Onwards, from Hồ Chí Minh to the tropical island of Phu Quoc where dined on the beach every night and slept in a delightfully simple wooden hut (amidst the quite frankly terrifying noises of the jungle I hasten to add) – and this is where the splendid game of gin rummy was discovered. If you haven’t opened your mind to this brilliantly named game already you must down tools immediately and follow these instructions to learn it. I discovered that I have a natural penchant for the game, and when there’s gin involved… well, I don’t even need to elaborate. Several rounds in things were getting a bit messy, at which point my handsome companion (yes, still the same one) called me obstreperous (someone can’t handle their gin) and I proceeded to ‘go gin’ – the point at when a player achieves the best possible outcome of the game – a bonus of 25 points. But then, us ladies always win when we 'go gin'.

Tuesday 2 February 2010

The Ginternet Movie Database

The Ladies of The Lane have, as ever, fully immersed themselves in Awards season.  We were of course delighted to be invited to the Golden Globes (this is a fib) - it was a wonderful night - and we are very much looking forward to attending the Oscars (this is too).  Our vintage Valentino couture gowns have been steamed to within an inch of their lives, and we've had the help polish our Chopard diamonds special like.

All that's left is to sit back and await the big night.  This lead us to thinking about gin, of course, but gin in Hollywood, so we've compiled a list of our favourite Hollywood gin references for you.  We'd like to thank our families, Miller's, Hendrick's, Bombay Sapphire, and of course the Academy.

 
I'm No Angel (1933)
Mae West's character Tira is caught up in an elaborate thievery plot, "Like an olive in a dry martini".

 
The Thin Man (1934)
Nominated for 4 Oscars
According to Nick Charles (played by William Powell), "a dry martini you always shake to Waltz time."

 
After Office Hours (1935)
A gratuitous excuse to mention the glorious Clark Gable and Constance Bennett, who spend a fabulous proportion of the movie drinking dry martinis with one olive.

 
Every Day's A Holiday (1937)
Nominated for 1 Oscar
Another Mae West film, here Charles Butterworth tells Charles Winninger, "You ought to get out of those wet clothes and into a dry martini."  This famous phrase was repeated in 'The Major and The Minor' (1942) - when Robert Benchley asks Ginger Rogers, "why don't you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini".

 
Dark Victory (1939)
Nominated for 3 Oscars
Bette Davis favours the 'Pink Gin' cocktail in this film.  Here's how to drink like Bette:
1. Swish 3 dashes of Agnostura Bitters around a chilled martini glass. 
2. Pour in 2 measures of chilled gin.  
3. Drink.

Casablanca (1942)
Winner of 3 Oscars, Nominated for a further 5 Oscars
Rick (Humphrey Bogart): "Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine."

Dr. No (1962)
Winner of 1 Golden Globe
You knew it was coming - Bond, James Bond.  The classic "Shaken, not stirred" line was first mentioned in 1962's 'Dr. No', but not ordered by Bond himself until 'Goldfinger' in 1964.  Of course we all know that this 'ere is a vodka martini - two words which shouldn't really be placed together, in our opinion.

Withnail & I (1987)
Withnail (Richard E Grant): "Two large gins, two pints of cider. Ice in the cider."

 
Vanilla Sky (2001)
Nominated for 1 Oscar, 2 Golden Globes, and 1 Grammy
Sofia (Penelope Cruz): "I think she's the saddest girl to ever hold a martini."