It’s not often that a completely new and unique product is unleashed on the unassuming bar fraternity and its vast fans of their libations, however last night was the much anticipated arrival of a such a product, that of Kammerling’s Ginseng Spirit.

A lot of people will know, or at least heard of Alex Kammerling, and instantly recognise his reputation has, and this was one of the reasons that last night’s tasting was so important to attend. Alex spent many years behind the bar mastering his trade, before moving out from behind the stock to work for some huge brands in ambassador role. Alex spent years working for Martin Millers gin, where he help developed the Westbourne strength, before moving on to Grey Goose.

However Alex recognises his time with Millers and the development of Westbourne strength as his epiphany moment: that moment when he realised that this was something he could do, something that he wanted to do. So, about five years ago he decided to make a spirit, one that drew on influences of his favourite spirits, gin and Campari. When I started doing some research I found the following picture, (sneaky sneaky I know) and it got me excited.

So anyway, what is Kammerlings then? Well he started be looking at what botanicals were used in his favourite spirits, and what they brought to the finished article. A list of 100 was compiles, which were then infused in spirit and ranked in terms of flavour etc, before a list of 45 was decided on. These included 4 different types of ginseng, juniper, wormwood, honey and a number of other botanicals that only the Kammerling’s will know. It has taken Alex 5 years to refine his concoction, and now it is ready to introduce to the world.

Last night we found ourselves in the JubJub at Callooh Callay (yes, again!) excitedly waiting to try this new spirit aperitif (Alex’s description as it is only 33%ABV). There was obviously a nice little cocktail list for people to choose from, but I decided to go for it neat to start with, give it a chance to see how it works. You get the warm bitter glow that you would expect from a drink similar to Campari, followed by a lovely smooth soft warmth of the sweeter elements. For me the real clincher is the balance of the drink, it is harmonious, nothing is too much or too little.

So after the initial drink it was time to move onto some of the Kammerling’s cocktails made by none other than the man himself. I started with The Grosvenor, a blend of Kammerling’s (obviously), lemon juice, maraschino and egg white. It was treat, the lemon really works well with it, and the egg white adding a beautiful soft texture to an already smooth spirit. Mrs drinkslink started with a precursor, a mix of Kammerling’s, grapefruit and elderflower. Again it worked really well, however, it was a tad on the sweet side for me, but still lovely to drink. Next up was the TBC for me, a mix of Kammerlings, Punt e Mes, Ardbeg Islay whisky creating a lovely deep drink, with bitter tones. Mrs drinkslink completed the set with an Adam and Eve, a mix of grapefruit and lychee, again a great drink, long refreshing and well balanced. I have to admit though, Kate (http://londoncocktailguide.wordpress.com/)  and I decided that it was also good with a shot of gin, giving it more of a gin juniper punch, but still getting the bitter sweetness from the Kammerling’s, so simple, but oh so very effective.

What these five drinks demonstrated is that Kammerling’s is a wonderfully diverse spirit, it can be used in a number of ways, creating a number of different styles of drinks. Alex is even proud that it works well with coke and tonic water. This isn’t just a spirit created for top mixologists, this is created for people to enjoy at home, in simple cocktails, with a mixer or simply on ice. The beauty of it is that by it having a lower alcohol content and a high proportion of ginseng in it, this spirit could be considered as being better for you than other spirits. So what more encouragement do you need, go out a find a bottle and give it a go yourselves!

http://kammerlings.com/