Mikkeller gin & tonic with strawberries and blood orange

We just had quite heavy thunderstorms here, so I thought it would be nice to think about more sunshiny things. Actually not really, as I really like thunderstorms and this time I even managed to stay semi-dry, so can't complain. Anyway when it was warmer and sunnier a while ago I made these gin & tonic drinks with local fresh strawberries and blood orange that had kept in fine condition in the fridge. Now I've definitely run out of blood oranges. I used Mikkeller gin that is a special thing to have and I buy a bottle maybe couple of times a year. I really like it, it's really brilliant quality with nice artwork. It makes me miss Copenhagen again!

So here's the drink and the ingredients for one glass were about the following:

4 cl Mikkeller gin

200 ml tonic

2 strawberries sliced

½ blood orange sliced

Have further a good week, almost weekend now!

Your VegHog

Mikkeller and Lindemans collaboration beer Spontanbasil

I got to know several beers from Mikkeller's Spontan range when I visited Copenhagen last Easter, so I was obviously directly curious when I saw a bottle of Mikkeller and Lindemans collaboration beer Spontanbasil 6,0 % at my local beer shop. Obviously I had to buy it (and a second bottle in the meanwhile). It tasted so wonderful with such a strong basil flavour, it was just deligthful. It almost doesn't taste like beer at all, just like a refreshing basil drink.

I just booked my next visit to Copenhagen and I can't wait to have more of this and the other beers from Mikkeller's Spontan range. I'm so excited to go there again in March and hope to post many lovely Copenhagen posts for you.

Here are my tasting notes and impressions:

- the cork already heavily smells of basil

- the beer itself smells like an herb garden, herby with some lemon

- there's an initial punch of sour, which is directly followed by a strong basil taste underlined with fine hops

- there is a fresh lemon taste throughout

- the initial taste is very bold and powerful, lambic sourness leading to a fragrant and refreshing aftertaste

- there's more basil than hops in this beer

- the sourness comes from the lambic style of brewing, wild yeast is used to ferment the beer

I can't get enough of this beer and can't help planning which dishes it would compliment the most, would insalata caprese be too much of a clichee with this?

Redcurrant gin & tonic

I'm very sorry that this will only be a quick post that I wanted to share from yesterday. Today was a tiring day and that's why I'll have to keep it short.

So yesterday I enjoyed a lovely summer drink, a redcurrant gin & tonic made with the really tasty Mikkeller Botanical Gin. This is a very special small batch gin made with Simcoe hops. I tasted it in Denmark for the first time, and now I ordered some more. I am delighted to have this gin to boost my summer drinks.

Have a good week everyone!

Your VegHog

Mikkeller

It took me some time to write this Mikkeller post, so here we go briefly back to Copenhagen. By entering Copenhagen, we entered a Mikkeller heaven! I tasted so many beers, always only a small glass at a time and it was wonderful. For those of you, who are not familiar with Mikkeller, it's a Danish gypsybrewery. Meaning that it's a microbrewery that has no own brewery, but collaborates with other brewers instead. Mikkeller was founded in 2006 and has risen into world fame since then. They are a very well known name among beer enthusiasts. I also love their artwork on the bottles.

I am lucky enough that my local specialist beer shop has some Mikkeller products, but now of course I was the luckiest one to be able to visit couple of their pubs and a bottle shop. Here are short introductions of the Mikkeller establishments I visited in Copenhagen:

Mikkeller Bar, Viktoriagade, Copenhagen - Mikkeller Bar is a vibrant cellar bar with an excellent selection of beers. It was quite busy in the evenings, but definitely worth the hype. We tried several Mikkeller beers there and even got to taste a vintage 2012 Boskeun Belgian Easter beer (as it was Easter when we were visiting, by the way in general in Copenhagen we also got to sample several other great Danish Easter beers). 

Mikkeller & Friends, Stefansgade, Nørrebro, Copenhagen - Mikkeller & Friends is a bar with a quirky interior design including great Mikkeller artwork on the walls. Of course they also have an incredible beer selection, obviously there are also beers from Mikkeller's friends. The staff in both bars were really knowledgeable and friendly. 

 

Bottle Shop, Stefansgade, Nørrebro, Copenhagen - The name says it all. Here you can shop for the most exquisit Mikkeller products and it's conveniently located in the same premises with Mikkeller & Friends. In the bottle shop I purchased many lovely beer bottles, but also Mikkeller's book of beer, Mikkeller Gin and Herbal Hop Salve. I could've spent ages looking at the selection in the shop.

On this trip I totally fell in love with Mikkeller's Spontan range, although I was a little bit skeptical first about sour berry beers. Then I had the Spontanseabuckthorn 7,7% and it really opened my eyes regarding sours. What a great beer with such a strong sea buckthornberry taste! You know that I'm sea buckthorn appreciator anyway, so it was clear that I would try the beer. Then I had several other beers from the Spontan range and am now officially addicted. 

Have you visited any of the Mikkeller bars around the world or have you gone crazy about their beers?

Blood orange and gin cocktail

One of my best purchases in Copenhagen was this Mikkeller Botanical Gin. It's a very good quality gin made with Simcoe hops and the finest botanicals. I had a sip of it pure, and it tasted just divine. 

As I needed some cooling yesterday afternoon (well weather wasn't so hot, but I had been doing stuff all morning), so I thought I'd make a refreshing cocktail with this gin. Here are no amounts given, as I just threw everything into the cocktail mixer and enjoyed. I made mine quite mild on the gin side, though. You can keep tasting it while you go along to get the right proportions to your own taste.

This is what I used:

Mikkeller Gin

Sicilian blood orange juice

Lime

Ice cubes

Mix the gin and blood orange juice and press the lime juice into it. Add the ice and shake. Serve cold and enjoy!

Even though it's Sunday today, I just might make a couple of sneaky glasses of this drink. I have decided mainly to relax all day.

Your VegHog