Asparagus Gin Review

Travel Distilled reviews the Asparagus Gin from Hussingtree Gin based in Worcestershire, and finds it totally transformed by adding tonic and a sprig of mint.

You probably have an immediate reaction when you hear of an asparagus gin, and mine was ‘Yes, please!’

I love asparagus. I make a pretty impressive asparagus risotto, and am in heaven when the British asparagus season comes round and we can buy juicy fresh asparagus.

Hussingtree Gin is based in Worcestershire, England, and makes gins inspired by the fine produce that this agricultural county produces. They’ve made a spiced plum gin, a juneberry gin, and a bumbleberry gin. I have no idea what a bumbleberry is so I looked it up and it’s a mix of blackberry, bilberry, and sloeberry.

It was the asparagus that grabbed my attention, though, and I could imagine what it would be like – very fresh and light, like sniffing a fresh asparagus, but obviously with juniper in there.

Asparagus Gin Review

However, on the nose it was a total surprise. It was very earthy and vegetal, with a hint of nuttiness too. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting. It was a much stronger and beefier aroma, although there was definitely the smell of asparagus and juniper in there. Perhaps what I’d had in my mind was an asparagus-flavoured vodka, with a mix of freshness and sweetness. And if no-one has made one yet, then why not?

After the surprise of the nose came the even bigger surprise of using it to make an asparagus gin and tonic cocktail. The distillery suggests simply mixing it with a good tonic, two parts tonic to one part gin, over ice and with a sprig of fresh mint on the top. That sounds simple enough, and I thought using a coupe glass would work well.

I took a bit of a risk, as the tonic we had in the fridge was the Vive brand from Aldi, one of the UK’s budget supermarket chains. I’d never tried it before but Aldi has won a number of awards for its gin, so let’s give it a go. And let’s give a shout out to Aldi’s tonic, a budget tonic that’s light and refreshing… and no, I’m not being paid to say this, we were in Aldi the other day, needed tonic, and thought we’d buy their own brand. No nasty things in the ingredients, which we always read, plus it was on sale, so why not?

When mixed with the asparagus gin, that’s where the really big surprise came. It totally changed the taste of the gin. The tonic on its own was fresh and clean, so we knew it was good. It’s always a good idea to taste a tonic you’ve not previously tried, before risking mixing an expensive spirit with it.

But wow! The asparagus gin now tasted more of the fresh asparagus I expected. Those earthy, vegetal aromas had gone, and instead it was more of a cucumber-like freshness, complimented by that fresh mint (yes, the coupe glass was a good idea, sticking your nose right into the mint). It was exactly what I’d anticipated from the gin, and shows how the flavour of a spirit can be totally transformed even by the simple act of mixing it with tonic. Apparently this is something Hussingtree likes to explain, during the gin-tasting sessions they do both at the distillery and in the local area.

And why Hussingtree? Because the distillery is based in the beautifully-named village of Martin Hussingtree, a few miles north of Worcester itself.