September's Gin of the Month: Burleigh's Gin Flip, a hi-tech cocktail to warm your insides

Below is a cocktail from our Gin of the Month, Burleigh's Gin which featured three of their gins for our members: The Signature Edition, the Export Strength and the Distiller's Cut. Burleigh's is made at the 45 West Distillery in Leicestershire where they also hold a gin school where participants can learn everything about distilling, make their own gin, and walk away with a bottle of the gin the make. All this info and more is printed in GINNED! Magazine which goes in our monthly surprise gin parcel. Our club members are loving their Burleigh's and all the great ginformation in GINNED!

There’s nothing quite like sitting next to the wood fire of a country pub when crisp autumn air bites at your nose. Although pubs remain one of England’s most enduring traditions, it doesn’t mean that they are not affected by technological evolutions. In fact, people have attempted to “flip” the way that pubs work for decades.

Back in the 1960s, as I Dream of Jeannie filled the airwaves, a different kind of genie attempted to revolutionize the British pub industry. The Genie was a device created by a Lancashire firm that allowed pub patrons to order drinks from their table without the need for a waiter or for screaming across the bar. It employed a telephone-dialing system that connected tables with the bar. Patrons dialed two-digit codes representing menu items. These were transferred to a central control unit behind the bar that would print out the orders as well as calculate the tab. Then, waiters would simply bring over the ordered drinks.

The Genie never took off and was only used by one bar. Today, there are a myriad of technology startups attempting a similar model with now-ubiquitous smartphones and tablet computers. Same concept, new technology. Will these startups with all of their venture capital money create tools user-friendly enough from both the patron and publican perspective or has Genie’s failure to flip the way pubs work already doomed them to failure?

BURLEIGH'S GIN FLIP RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 50ml Burleigh's Export Strength
• 1x whole egg
• 10ml Pedro Ximenez Sherry
• 20ml double cream

Shake and serve in a brandy balloon without ice, garnish with a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Enjoy with some caramelised walnuts and dark chocolate.

Thanks to Nate Brown of London Bar Consultants and Merchant House for contributing this cocktail.