February was my first Craft Gin Club subscription box, and after I saw what was on offer for this month, I decided to renew and also received a special additional free full bottle of gin as a promotion. March's monthly box comes with a full-sized bottle of gin, a selection of tonics and mixers, a few snacks, and the monthly magazine Ginned!. The Ginned! magazine contains information about the products in the box and highlights the special gin of the month (the large full-sized bottle) and includes various cocktail and food recipes that you can use with your gin. This month's box features The River Test Distillery Chalkstream Gold gin, a gin born in Hampshire on the River Test. This was an exciting box because I lived for many years in Hampshire before leaving it not long ago for the outskirts of London because I was tired of long daily commutes, and the river runs through from Southampton up to near Basingstoke.
The River Test Distillery Chalkstream Gold has a juniper berry and herb flavour and is made with Maris Otter barley to give a sweet taste. It is an easy-to-drink gin. The box came with another product from Hampshire, Hartridges Grapefruit Tonic. The company have been producing drinks since the late 1800s, and the tonics are gluten-free and vegan. The grapefruit tonic paired nicely with the River Test Distillery Chalkstream Gold gin.
We also received a Prodigy chocolate bar in one of two flavours: Peanut Caramel Cahoots or Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt. Prodigy are a vegan brand of chocolate that use the best ingredients free from palm oil and artificial sweeteners. It also uses less sugar and pairs well with the gin.
A can of Flawsome! Sweet & Sour Apple was included in the box along with two cocktail recipes featuring it. The drinks company use mis-shaped fruit that will not sell in stores for the juice to create these delicious mixers, and I did really find it to be a delicious mixer. The product also does not contain added sugar/sweeteners. The two apple-based gin recipes with the Chalkstream Gold gin were delicious.
We also received two types of crisps snacks in the March box. The first one is REAL Crisps' jalepeno crisp. I am already a massive fan of these, and these are my favourite crisp on the market, so this was a win for me. The crisps won the 2020 Great Taste award, though they have been around for a few years now. They do pair well with gin.
The second crisp is Chika's wholegrain rice crisp. The crisps are inspired by West African street food, and some of the profits of sales go to help young women in Africa. I received the Salt & Vinegar flavour, but others would have received Smokey Barbeque. Unfortunately, I didn't care for salt and vinegar flavour and love barbeque flavour so it is a shame that I did not receive that flavour; it's also a difficult flavour to locate in the UK.
Another mixer received in March's box was from The Soho Juice Co. The Cucumber, Mint, Lemon & Lime flavour is what I received, but others may have received the Apple, Honey and Lemon flavour. I enjoyed the flavour, and it worked well in the Chalkstream Gold gin from The River Test Distillery.
This month, I also tried my luck at making the cheese scone recipe provided in the magazine, and it worked out well. I enjoyed the cheese scones with garlic butter and a glass of gin and tonic.
The final item received for cocktails was a syrup mixer to make the cocktail of the month. The cocktail syrup this month was Riverside Sunrise cocktail syrup, and it was a fruity but slightly tart syrup; it was paired with the Flawsome! apple mixer that I mentioned above. Lastly, we received a packet of dried cucumber and lemon slices to garnish the cocktails.
I enjoyed most of the cocktails that appealed to me in the Ginned! magazine this month and noted which ones I preferred over others. My preference has always been for fruity and sweet cocktails that do not have a strong alcoholic taste. Anything with juice added to it or mixers along with a bit of alcohol works best for me. I tried a wide range this month.
Before I end this post, I wanted to showcase the beautiful bottle of La Distillerie de Monaco's Gin Aux Argumes that I received this month as a special promotion. It is a sweet but citrus gin with notes of orange and other citrus, and I enjoy it. I also love that bottle design.
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