Hendricks Gin Horseless Carriage of Curiosities

Oh Lordy.

When I was invited to a brunch in the Hendricks Gin Carriage of Curiosities I actually thought “but surely they won’t serve us gin at 10:30am?”

Boy, was I wrong. I actually didn’t get served gin till 11:05am as the vagaries of the UK train service meant if I wanted to be in London half an hour earlier it would cost me twice the price, but on arrival I was served a Red Snapper. This is the gin equivalent of a Bloody Mary.

Served in branded Hendricks tea cup (note to self, if they invite you back, take a bigger handbag) I have to confess to not having a particular love of tomatoes or tomato juice, so it wasn’t really to my taste. The cupcakes most definitely were though.

Brunch of pastries and cupcakes was laid out inside the wonderful converted railway carriage that was stuffed with exciting things to peer and poke about at.

So far so good. A wonderful group of ladies was assembled all of whom were perfectly willing to drink gin before lunch, making them my kind of ladies! I actually have to confess that before I discovered Hendricks I never drank gin at all. I didn’t like the bitter taste you get with gin, but Hendricks doesn’t have this aftertaste. Infused with rose petals and cucumber the flavour is far milder and smoother than many gins.

I still don’t, however, like tonic much. So being introduced to the Hendricks Buck was a revelation. The Hendricks Buck is a Hendricks cocktail featuring ginger ale and lemon, and it’s truly delicious.

If you would like the recipe I helpfully publish it here for your delectation.

A disturbing amount of these was consumed as the Hendricks compound started to fill up with curious passers by all eager to sample cocktails, play on Penny Farthings and examine the specially customised Hendricks car with a fully stocked Hendricks cocktail cabinet in it’s boot.

A wonderful morning rapidly turned into a wonderful afternoon before we all tottered off in our separate directions. This group shot of just a few of the lovely ladies present (namely me, Vintage Secret, Notorious Kitsch and Penny Dreadful Vintage) is courtesy of Natasha Bailie.

There isn’t really much else to tell.

Lovely vintage ladies drank lots of particularly lovely gin in a very lovely place.  I took a fair few photos of the site, if you want to see them all then they’re all on my Facebook page .

If you want to check it out for yourself (which I recommend, if you possibly can!) then the Hendricks Horseless Carriage will be at 100 Clerkenwell Road till Saturday 16th October 2010 and on Saturday afternoon they’re hosting the Hendricks Bartenders Croquet Champions Cup.

If you can’t make it down I recommend buying a bottle of Hendricks Gin and making yourself a Hendricks Buck as I am refreshingly hangover free today and have decided they must be the future, plus it’s 20% off in Sainsburys at the moment….