Longflint are a brand new business venture based in London, slotting neatly into the "craft beverage" arena with a range of pre-mixed cocktails made from 100% natural ingredients. Here are my thoughts on their first three products.
Rose hip & gin fizz
Made using "premium dry gin" from an unnamed brand and rose hip simple
sugar syrup, this had a delicately floral aroma, light carbonation, and a
big hit of herbaceous gin bitterness. Dry and quite savoury in nature -
definitely a grown up cocktail. The recommended addition of a slice of
cucumber really brought out the grassy elements of the drink and gave it
quite an autumnal sort of flavour. Very well balanced, and it was so
refreshing (in both senses of the word) to have a pre-mixed cocktail
that didn't taste fake and full of sugar. This would work wonderfully served alongside tapas - I nibbled on some olives as I was drinking and the combination was delicious!
Rhubarb and vodka seltzer
Very pretty pink colour. Perfect level of rhubarbiness (definitely a
word) - tart and fresh with a hint of creaminess but without being
cloying or overpowering. Just a little hint of those rhubarb and custard sweets! Longflint pride themselves on using only
natural ingredients and it certainly shows here. This was less boozy
than the others, although the vodka did help to provide a lovely
lingering finish. This worked really well just as it is, no accompaniment required!
Ginger and Rum Fuego
The first thing I noticed with this one was that it needed a good shake before serving, due to a layer of fresh ginger having accumulated at the bottom of the bottle. This is by no means a negative - the ginger gave a huge hit of spicy, zingy warmth which was really delicious and complemented the booziness of the rum perfectly. A slice of lime was added as recommended which provided another layer of freshness, making this the perfect drink to sip in the summer sun. I also popped in a couple of ice cubes containing mint leaves from our garden.
Overall, I felt that all three of the Longflint cocktails
were sophisticated, well thought through, and tasted like the sort of
drinks I like to make myself at home. They'd look perfectly at home on
the shelves of any specialist drinks shop (or craft beer shop/bar as an
interesting alternative) and I reckon the contents certainly live up to
the beautiful packaging. I'd be interested to know which spirits are
used, and a more comprehensive ingredients list generally would be
useful, however I've been truly impressed by the products and look
forward to seeing what other creations may be released in future.
Cheers,
Laura
Disclaimer: these cocktails were kindly sent to me by Longflint free of charge to sample. This has not influenced my opinions, all of which are my own.
