Everybody is raving about the new colour changing gin that they’ve launched at Aldi. I get it, it’s exciting. I’ve seen lot’s of articles about it popping up over the last few days and it’s clearly a highly desirable gin, with its forest fruits flavour and a colour changing nature, as Dale McQueen mentions in this article in the independent, “Not only does our new artisan gin taste great, but it also brings a little bit of theatre to gin o’clock”.
It’s a clever as well as beautiful. Blue petals from the Asian Butterfly flower change colour when the PH is changed i.e. by adding tonic, or citrus. It’s a magical thing to witness, hence I’m not surprised why everyone is going nuts for it. At £19.99 a 50cl bottle, it’s very reasonably priced. At all the Scottish Aldi’s right now, they’re hoping to roll out out into England. It is my Birthday next month so fingers crossed it’s soon.
I’d like to take this opportunity to talk a little more about McQueen Gin some more. Everyone is loving Aldi at the moment for their cheap gin selection, but it’s McQueen that created and distils this showstopper and McQueen deserve mentioning in a little more detail because they’re a wonderfully creative distillery.
I first came across McQueen through the That Boutique-y Gin Company Advent Calendar. Their Chocolate Cherry Gin is wonderful and is fantastic for cooking or simply for sticking in hot chocolate. The gin is rich in flavour, without losing that juniper nod You can find out a little more about it in my article on some of Boutique-y’s new releases. There is certainly talk on the scene of the merits of gin and chocolate, and on researching McQueen, I found them to be inventive in their ideas and a stickler for doing it right. As they say on their site, their flavours are infused during distillation, not added after. This is a principle that they’re very proud of.
Dale ‘the science behind the gin’ McQueen comes from a background working as a chartered mechanical engineer and a career sales professional. Dale spent his first 6 months developing all the initial flavours and has a talent for concocting unique and exciting profiles. Vicky is an experienced Chef and Master Baker, and her flare of culinary creativity is key to creating innovative flavours that set McQueen apart. Their independent gin distillery is the realisation of ‘one couple’s dream’ to create unique and interesting distilled flavour gin. What a beautiful project to share.
They have a varied and unusual selection of flavours. There are the staple Super Premium Dry and Sweet Citrus, but coveting awards across the board. Then we have the more unusual Chilli, or Mocha gins, to name but a few. You can check out the full range in the online gin shop.
Based in Callander, close to Trossachs, which is one of Scotland’s oldest National Parks, they have a beautiful setting in which to make their gins. Distillery visits are on offer. Sounds like a grand holiday to me.
You can find out more information on Mcqueen here. Really excited to see what magic they make next.
