{"id":163,"date":"2020-06-14T13:32:34","date_gmt":"2020-06-14T12:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/middleclassreviews.co.uk\/?p=163"},"modified":"2020-06-14T13:34:53","modified_gmt":"2020-06-14T12:34:53","slug":"mermaid-gin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/middleclassreviews.co.uk\/?p=163","title":{"rendered":"Mermaid Gin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Nothing middle about the class of this bottle. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Over the past couple of years, this Middle Class Reviewer has spent a not inconsiderable amount of time in Portsmouth and Southsea. The highlight of his time there was undoubtedly Huis, the little Belgian bar\/restaurant on Elm Grove in Southsea. Those delightful chaps consistently have bellypork on the menu, and manage to cook it in a way that sparks joy. Each fennel seed-studded mouthful is an orgy on the tongue where everyone comes together in a climax of porky bliss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Portsea Island is a gateway to the Isle of Wight, sitting closer to the mainland on the north side of the Solent. Despite being considerably larger than Portsea, the Isle of Wight it has a only 3\/4 of Portsea’s population. Numbers may not be the be-all and end-all, though, because the Isle of Wight is home to Mermaid Gin. Named for “Mermaid’s Kiss”, a common name for rock samphire which grows in abundance around the shoreline on the isle, this gin comes in a bottle that can only be described as exquisite. The packaging won the Design Award in the International Wines and Spirits Category in 2019, and that award was absolutely justified. The bottle is stunning. The glass conjures images of fish-scale, managing to be perfectly proportioned as a bottle on the shelf while remaining distinctive in pattern and colour. The packaging is entirely plastic-free, with the tamper seal being a biodegradable plant-based “thingummy” which will, undoubtedly, offset the frankly obscene carbon cost accrued over the past couple of years by flying to Southampton Airport to get to the south coast . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The packaging usually is a frippery. Admittedly, it was instrumental to the purchase of a bottle at the airport Duty Free, but having tasted the stuff, it is still to going be the main spur to buy more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gin itself is pretty good, being a dry, clean tasting gin. There is a subtlety of flavour there, with the botanicals amusing the palate with gentle hints of citrus and a suggestion that maybe there’s a bit of peppery spice lurking in there, waiting to be teased out. Mermaid Gin is a premium-brand gin for the unadventurous. There is no bold challenge to wrestle with. It does not fight for your attention. It contentedly and gracefully provides a rather good gin & tonic. Having Mermaid in one’s collection is almost a must, given the sheer beauty of the bottle. As a gin, it is a better-than-average standard spirit that doesn’t go far wrong. Were it in another bottle, it wouldn’t blow anyone’s socks off. Packaged as it is, though, it deserves a place in your collection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middle-Classossity: Design Award. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middle-Class accompaniment: Someone to gaze appreciatively at the bottle with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mermaid Gin has an exceptionally beautiful bottle. The gin itself is good, but the bottle makes it a must-have. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8,7,9,6],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/middleclassreviews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/middleclassreviews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/middleclassreviews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/middleclassreviews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/middleclassreviews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=163"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/middleclassreviews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167,"href":"https:\/\/middleclassreviews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions\/167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/middleclassreviews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/middleclassreviews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/middleclassreviews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}