What intrigues me about the provenance of Rendle’s Gin is that my father, Captain Frank Rendle who created the recipe back in 1942, did not set out to make money but simply to produce a gin of exceptional taste and consistent flavour and quality; one that he could confidently share with his friends and fellow army officers. He took great pains to source the finest ingredients and, by adding Hibiscus to achieve its subtle shade of pink, ensured the gin he served was his authentic creation.
It’s peculiar how circumstances can produce interesting moments. For example, on a family holiday at a beach resort in Puri, south of our home in Calcutta, we arrived to find the fridge and freezer broken leaving us only coconut water to drink. Finding it impossible to buy tonic or beer at the time and with only a few cubes of ice borrowed from kind neighbours, the Captain experimented with said coconut water and his own gin to invent a delicious new cocktail: one part Rendle’s Gin to two parts coconut water, stirred and not shaken, with ice and a slice of fresh lime. Deciding on a name, Captain Frank chose Monsoon because, at the precise moment he took the first sip of his delicious creation, the tropical rain was pouring down outside. The monsoon had arrived and so too had Captain Frank’s thirst-quenching discovery.
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