Review

Tipsy Fruit
Blackcurrant Gin

Tipsy Fruit Gins Ltd., Tipsage Farm, Newnham Bridge, Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, England, UK.

Tipsy Fruit. 

Started a few years earlier, Tipsy Fruit Gins Ltd. was established in 2004 as a retirement project by husband and wife team Colin & Phyllis Hingston. It started out as a kitchen table enterprise using produce from their Worcestershire farm to make fruit based Gins and Vodkas. In 2004 they brought their daughter, Michele Kruger, into the business as full time Managing Director responsible for running the operation.

Today the office and administration is run from the farm but the production and bottling is carried out at nearby Kyrewood, Tenbury Wells - with four generations of the family helping out. In 2013 they produced 18,000-liters (4,750 gallons) or 36,000 bottles of Gin and Vodka infused drink.

Tipsy Fruit Gins base their products on an old family recipe dating back to 1848, with produce from the farm (and the surrounding area where possible), using whole fruits rather than purees or concentrates. The fruit is left to infuse in an undisclosed Gin, with some sugar, for a minimum period of three months, before bottling.

This dark red colored Gin is presented in a tall clear rectangular bottle, with sloping shoulders and long neck. It has a large dark dark red colored rectangular label with white text.

Flavored Gin - Blackcurrant.

20% (40 Proof).

$$$$$ - $$$$$$. Not available in the USA but is available online (subject to seasonal variations) from Hop Pocket Wine Company in the UK, for delivery within the UK only.  

Unknown but includes blackcurrants.

The use of the word “Tipsy” certainly describes how the fruit must feel having been immersed in the spirit, but it is also a play on the shortened name of the farm “Tipsage”.

On the nose is a clear blackcurrant/red berry aroma. On the palate this sweet full-bodied spirit has a strong blackcurrant flavor. The close continues with the blackcurrant plus a faint peppery spice in the finish.

This is good to drink neat as a winter warmer although there is some cloying sweetness, which a few people may not find to their personal taste. However, this spirit really comes into its own when used in mixed drinks, where it performs just like a crème de cassis. Use this with a sparking wine for a Kir cocktail base, especially with champagne for a Kir Royale, or alternatively with hard sparkling cider. This pairs well with elderflower and using a sparkling elderflower wine is sublime. Perhaps the simplest everyday drink is to mix with soda water and garnish with a slice of lemon.

It has many culinary uses too and does particularly well with venison, duck and other game fowl. It works well with fruit desserts and our very simple personal favorite is to drizzle some over vanilla ice cream! This is a rare flavoured Gin.

We believe this Gin is exactly the same as Demijohn Blackcurrant Gin – especially since it is made by the same people!

Unknown but if the same as the one made for Demijohn then it won the Gold Medal, at The Great Taste Awards, in 2005.