All about Bombay Sapphire gin

Briefly about the drink

Bombay Sapphire (aka, Bombay Sapphire or simply Bombay) is a British brand created in 1987, today it is rightfully considered one of the most outstanding, original and, to be honest, the most expensive representatives of the gin industry.

A bottle of bombay immediately catches the eye due to its characteristic light blue rectangular shape, whose color is designed to imitate a blue sapphire.

Funnily enough, in the circles of the uninitiated, the unusual color of these bottles has given rise to the legend that the gin contained in them is blue. Of course, this is not true. Bombay Sapphire - crystal clear. This effect is ensured by triple distillation of the product and the use of the purest water from the Welsh Lake Wirnui in its production.

How many degrees in Bombay Sapphire gin

According to its strength, the drink is divided into the following categories:

1. The version produced for the UK, Australia and Canada has a strength of 40 degrees.

2. 43 percent of the volume of alcohol in Europe.

3. The strength of drinks that go to other countries is 47 degrees.

4. In addition, there is a 42-degree variation of the drink, called Bombay Sapphire Sunrise; as well as a special intra-British brand Bombay Star, whose strength is 47.5 degrees.

The composition of Bombay Sapphire gin

First of all, it should be noted that the drink we are interested in, despite its youth, has a rather solid pedigree. It was created on the basis of a very good, albeit unpretentious, Northern English brand Bombay Original Dry, which was produced (and is still successfully produced) according to a recipe from 1761. However, unlike its predecessor, the new gin brand consists of not eight, but ten components that grow in three different parts of the world. Among them: unaltered juniper berries, angelica root, violet root powder, bitter almonds and lemon peel collected in different European countries, licorice root, kubeba berries and cassia bark, which are of Asian origin, as well as coriander and melegette pepper (aka grains of paradise) brought from Africa...

In 2011, the above-mentioned "oriental" modification of the drink was released, focused on the United States. To balance the increased sweetness inherent in the American tonic, two more ingredients were added to the traditional composition of the drink: lemongrass and black peppercorns.

How to drink Bombay Sapphire gin

Of course, there are millions of fans of the blue-bottled drink who advocate its use exclusively in cocktails. And maybe they are right somewhere. Indeed, today there are dozens of enchanting or simply pleasant cocktails created specifically for Bombay Sapphire. In order not to be unfounded, here are the names of some of them: "Bombay Finbar", "Sapphire Scratch", "Black Antoinette", "Bombay Lemon Bomb", "Scheherazade", "Monarch" and even "Sapphire Shogun".

But do not rush to conclusions. If you do not have prejudices against strong alcohol or physiological incompatibility with it, we strongly recommend that you try the drink in its original purity before embarking on the open cocktail sea. We do not exclude that its natural softness, combined with the versatility of a well-balanced vegetable component, will seem extremely appropriate for drinking before meals.

At the same time, it is important to note that neither in the first nor in the second case, the question: "what to drink with gin Bombay sapphire?" is not on the agenda. Cocktails made on the basis of the mentioned drink are absolutely self-sufficient. To muffle the unique taste of pure blue-bottled gin, used as an aperitif, seems to us a real barbarism.

How to distinguish a fake gin Bombay sapphire

Unfortunately, the fake Bombay Sapphire gin, given its fabulous popularity and rather high cost, is a fairly common phenomenon. At the same time, on the one hand, it will be much more difficult to recognize a counterfeit product than, say, in the case of Beefeater or Gordons. It all depends on how you look at the famous light blue bottle.

Of course, the opaque glass used to make the container will not allow you to assess the purity and, accordingly, the quality of the liquid it contains. But do not lose heart. The bottle itself is quite difficult to fake. Therefore, you should remember its distinctive features.

Basic rules:

1. Inspect the sides of the bottle

   First of all, on the edges of the rectangular bottle, using a special technology, images of all the plants that make up the drink are etched.

2. Label

   It is a blue background, which depicts a clear, well-recognizable portrait of Queen Victoria, placed in a tight gold medallion. And, of course, on the reverse side of such a label will contain a barcode of Great Britain, which can be expressed in the form of three-digit numbers from 500 to 509.

3. Excise stamp

   It must be present on the bottle of the real product, it must be neatly glued and free of any defects.

We wish you good luck and hope that you will enjoy this wonderful drink in a sapphire-colored bottle.

Update: 25.02.2016

Category: Gin