I am super excited to tell you about this delicious goodness which I have discovered! I have been lucky enough to be sent through a delightful little cocktail kit by The Soho Juice Co. and what do you know, it arrived just in time for half term…how very convenient.
Knowing very little about The Soho Juice Co. I contacted them to try to get a bit of background and heard back from Danny who filled in the blanks, here’s some of what they had to say.
“The initial concept for The Soho Juice Co was to provide an innovative and interesting flavour profile that would accompany the vast range of premium and unique gins on the market.
But doing so with a still product and not just as another carbonated quinine based tonic.
The Soho wanted to be a drink that not only served to accompany your favourite gins but which could also be enjoyed as a healthy, refreshing soft all on its own.”
They definitely have a point, we are so often creatures of habit, why not break the cycle and try something a little bit different, we don’t always have to fall back on a standard G&T. With this thought firmly in mind, I decided to embrace the Soho Juice ethos “proudly still” and chose to share my cocktail kit with Teacher Buddy #1 as part of our half term holiday gin day, (bending the rules slightly to make way for the inclusion of a vodka cocktail.)
My cocktail kit consisted of a bottle of The Soho Juice Co. blood orange, raspberry and ginger, a bottle of The Soho Juice Co. cucumber, mint, lemon and lime. Absolut Vanilla Vodka and Hendrick’s Gin in miniature form, and a recipe booklet. I was quite impressed by the recipe booklet which not only features instructions for two cocktails, but also two mocktail recipes, for those who are of a less boozy disposition.
We decided to kick things off with The Soho Perfect Serve which uses the cucumber, mint, lemon and lime Soho Juice, gin and a few other bits. The Soho Juice alone was incredibly refreshing and not being the biggest cucumber fan, I was a little worried, however, the lime and mint were the far more prominent flavours. As part of the Soho Perfect Serve, made with Hendrick’s Gin, I personally found the cucumber flavour a little too dominating, which surprised me, because it’s a flavour which wasn’t overly powerful straight from the bottle. Not to be beaten, Teacher Buddy #1 and I worked through my gin collection to look for an alternative gin. Hendrick’s is renowned for being distilled with cucumber, so our mission was to find a less cumber-y gin. Both being real fans of that initial mint and lime flavour the gin alternative was a no brainer…next time we make it, we’ll switch out the Hendrick’s for Daffy’s, which uses Lebanese mint as one of it’s botanicals.
Feeling suitably refreshed it was time for cocktail number two, The Soho Wallbanger. In order to make this cocktail we had to break a fundamental rule of gin day…we were to use vodka! The cocktail comprises of the blood orange, raspberry and ginger Soho Juice, vanilla vodka and a couple of other bits. This juice was definitely my favourite of the two samples, I absolutely loved the strong raspberry flavour with the bite of orange and the small kick of ginger which followed at the end, but how would it stand up in a cocktail? If you have a sweet tooth, this cocktail is definitely for you, and my oh my do I have a sweet tooth. I absolutely loved this cocktail, it reminded me of drinking a more fruity and flavoursome cream soda, but without the fizz. Not only that, but the colour was utterly gorgeous. Going down a gin route, if I were to trade out the vanilla vodka, I’d probably switch in something like Gunpowder Irish Gin, Brighton Gin or Svinkløv. The mix of the vanilla flavour with the juice had something reminiscent of these gins paired with Fever-Tree Mediterranean tonic, although I’m still trying to work out exactly what it is…a flavour that reminds me of the kids sweets refreshers.
Overall I was thrilled with these products, the only problem I can see is that they seemed to disappear all too quickly and I can see myself spending hours trying to find my own perfect gin matches! Not only are the bottles gorgeous, but they taste absolutely delicious. Before opening my samples I did have reservations, would the juice be thick and heavy? Would the flavours be too bold and overpowering? However, the liquid is so delicate and light, with both bottles forming a perfect balance of flavours, which I imagine is quite hard to do when using such powerful players. If you have the opportunity you simply must try these mixers, they are brilliant if you fancy something a little bit different and I have to say, I found the fact that they were still, rather than sparkling, very appealing and quite refreshing. Next time you’re in a bar, ask if they stock Soho Juice, if they don’t, be sure to tut and look disappointed…hopefully they’ll take the hint and get some in for you to try next time!
Thank you so much to The Soho Juice Co. for giving me the opportunity to try out your samples!!
Gin Obsessions 