Hardware Gin - Easy on the Palate

One distillery and Two intriguing gins; 

The Hardware Distillery out of Hoodsport, OR - I have to thank them for coming all the way up for the Meet Your Maker event in Seattle.  (That was a worm-drowner of a day).

For I was lucky enough to sample their two completely unique gins.

The first I tasted, the Crabby Gin, was easy on the palate - and I would certainly enjoy as a Martini - with those bright green buttery olives (Castelvetrano in case you were wondering).
It is billed as pairing with Dungeness Crab.  And as a woman who thinks Champagne and Crab is the end-all-be-all of food and wine pairing, I will take them up on this.

Distilled from the usual grain - but also cranberry and pear - the fruit comes across in a gentle, light gin.  It is unique in the group where gins tend toward either citrus forward, flowery or straight up declarations of juniper.  I love all kinds - well the best of their kinds - and Crabby Ginny is certainly an enjoyable new kind.

Second, the R Gin - co called because it harkens back to "the months oysters are good" - is made from barley cold smoked in an Oyster Smoking house.  R Gin was developed (partly) to pair with oysters.  Hmmmm.  I'll have to wonder about that... not having had any oysters on hand at the time.

But in the meantime - it screamed at me to be made into a Gibson.  But not with any ol' cocktail onion.  It needed a scorched onion.  Thus it is a Scorched Gibson if you will.  (2+ oz. gin shaken with ice and served in a Martini glass rinsed with Vermouth - or your favored ratio).

So I burned the heck out of some lightly oiled green onions, rolled them up and sent them for swim in a pickling liquid made of dry vermouth, rice vinegar and salt.

It was a wonder.

OK... I'm the first to admit,
the scorched scallions need some pretty-ing up
for presentation.  But they taste lovely.

To quick pickle some Scorched Scallions:

1. Get a jar usefully sterile.
Choose a small jar with a lid - small canning jars are perfect.
Place the clean jar and lid in a small sauce pan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil for two minutes and then leave it at a simmer (or lower) until it is time to use it.

2. Prepare the Pickling liquid
In a sauce pan add
1/2 C dry vermouth
1/2 C rice vinegar
1 Tbs salt

Bring to a boil for a minute and
Return to a simmer until you are ready to use it.

3. Toss some scallions in a little oil
4. Scorch over a grill/grill pan or under the broiler.  Keep an eye on them - it happens pretty quickly.

5.  Roll up the scallions and tie them together with the long green ends or stab through with a toothpick.

6. Use tongs to remove the jar from the hot water.  Place the rolled scorched onions in the jar.
Fill with the hot pickling liquid.  Close the jar, let it cool, place in the fridge for a few days or a week.