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Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/458161
www.cheersonline.com 12 • January/February 2015 This, despite the modest growth of new American gins with fl avor profi les that are not as juniper-forward as the more traditions versions of the spirit. OVERCOMING CONSUMER RESISTANCE While gin acceptance among consumers clearly has a ways to go, the spirit has been bolstered by the emergence of the classic cocktail. So many recipes from cocktailing's golden era are gin-based that serious drink afi cionados have practically been forced to overcome any reluctance on their part to dive into gin. Winning over gin haters remains a challenge, however, as many guests will say they've had a bad experience with gin or gin drinks. "I love to tell customers that it's not their fault that they don't love gin—it's the fault of the person who mixed their cocktail," says Dave Shenaut at Portland's Raven and Rose. "Nine out of 10 times, if you can get someone to try a well-crafted gin cocktail, you can get them to change their mind." It also helps that cocktails bars dedicated to gin are opening up in different markets. For example, in Miami there's the Traymore Bar at the Metropolitan by Como hotel, which opened earlier this year. It offers 40 gins, plus house-made tonics and cocktails such as the Miami Heat, with a red chili-infused gin base. Flintridge Proper in La Canada Flintridge, CA, opened in spring 2013 and serves classic cocktails using fresh-squeezed juices, house-made syrups, premium spirits and classic glassware. The gastropub also lays claim to the world's largest selection of gin—more than 200 varieties, including a house-made version designed to capture the fl avors of the local hills. More than half the botanicals used in Flintridge Proper's gin come from within 15 miles of the restaurant. "There's a real renaissance for gin," says owner Brady Caverly. "When we fi rst opened we would get plenty of guests who said 'I don't like gin,' and then when you ask them when they last had it, it would be years ago— maybe college." Caverly prides himself on turning vodka fans into gin drinkers by introducing them to the New Western gins made with moderate juniper infl uence. "I tell them gin is really the original fl avored vodka, and there is a gin for every taste," he says. "It can be much easier to get people into than turning them into brown-spirits drinkers." Flintridge Proper understandably sells a lot of gin cocktails. "Outside of our Proper Old-Fashioned, the Eastside [a version of the gin, mint, lime, simple syrup Southside with cucumber added] is the biggest seller," Caverly says. MAKING GIN WORK Flintridge does most things right when it comes to focusing on a single spirit: Stock many brands and styles, feature them in cocktails, offer them in fl ights, introduce new customers with creative marketing and promotions. Those same steps have helped Washington, D.C.'s Gin Joint, located below New Heights restaurant, increase its gin portfolio from 20 something when it opened in 2008 to more than 85 today. Bar manager Kavita Singh Brar says that Gin Joint, like Flintridge, has become a destination point for gin lovers. It's also found a way to build on that base with new customers. "Gin as a spirit has become more popular with a younger age group, who thought gin was only for their Above, Flintridge Proper near Los Angeles boasts the world's largest gin collection. Left, the venerable Gin and Tonic.