Cafe by day, Gin Bar by night: Howling Owl

Like its namesake, the Howling Owl is a cozy, sleepy cafe by day but at night it really comes alive as one of Adelaide's finest gin bars. Day or night though it serves over twenty different gins from around the world and perfectly pairs each one with complimenting garnishes and mixers. 

We headed over to the Howling Owl during their Happy Hour (Thursday-Saturday, 7PM-8PM) to try out a bunch of gin. Firstly we tried the Tanqueray and Hendricks gin & tonic. My absolute favourite has to be the Hendricks! It's spiced, yet, not too heavy and the cucumber garnish just seems to soften it all up. According to Hendricks, the gin itself is supposed to have notes of cucumber and rose petals. The Tanqueray is described to have notes of 'fresh grapefruit, orange, lime, coriander seed and chamomile'. Very enjoyable, definitely heavier in spice than the Hendricks and the grapefruit was for sure a good choice. Citrus just seems to work with gin and compliment the juniper and botanicals.

Tanqueray no 10. garnished with grapefruit & Hendricks with cucumber

Next up we have Brokers London dry gin served with tonic and garnishes. At the time I didn't realise Brokers was a dry gin so while I love gin - this wasn't the one for me. Definitely for the London dry lovers out there. The description reads: 'nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon peel, coriander and cassia bark'. I couldn't really taste those notes so make what you will of it!

Black Berry Gin Fizz & Brokers Gin with orange, cinnamon

The Black Berry Gin Fizz is a great play on the original Fizz cocktail with great local produce. The cocktail comprises 'Adelaide hills gin with silvan jam, kangaroo island basil and soda'. It tastes as good as it sounds! In the past, the basil has been a bit heavy and overpowered the rest of the cocktail. But this time it added a nice touch to the berriness of it all.

The Gin Gimlet is generally one of my favourites at the Howling Owl - especially with the pepper. It uses Hedricks Gin, lime juice, pepper, garnished with a slice of cucumber. This time though it wasn't as good as I remember so I'll reserve judgement until next time. A great reason to come back another time... 

Hendricks Gin Gimlet

Last but not least we ordered a Hayman's Old Tom, on the rocks, with a splash of tonic and garnished with capsicum. I've only ever had it in a Tom Collins before. This gin has notes of 'lemon and hints of other citrus, juniper and coriander'. The capsicum garnish added a real sweetness to drink and combined with the gin was unexpectedly refreshing. 

Hayman's Old Tom, London with capsicum

Now that The Howling Owl has opened my eyes to the variety of gins, garnishes and combinations I appreciate gin as a spirit a lot more. I totally regret not participating in their World Gin Tour but I'll definitely be keeping an eye out this time.