A practical guide to building a four-bottle gin tasting flight at home, from choosing contrasting styles to pouring order, water, tonic ratios and garnishes. Everything you need to run a proper tasting without turning it into a lecture.
Colour is one of the least informative things on a rum label. What it really tells you, which drinks need which style, and why blending the two is often the right answer.
Ranking gins against each other is mostly pointless. Grouped by style instead: what defines each category, which names are worth trying, and why bottling strength matters more than price.
Rum is the most varied spirit on the shelf and the least understood. What makes a rum worth drinking neat, why age statements mislead, and how to start tasting properly.
Three names that describe three genuinely different things. What the rules actually say, how each one tastes, and which cocktails were written for which style.
The arithmetic nobody does until it is too late: separate chilling ice from serving ice, work out melt rate, and stop your home freezer being the bottleneck.
Why blended drinks taste flat, how to fix the ratio, and the technique that stops a frozen cocktail turning into slush water ten minutes after you pour it.
