Steam “Henrick’s” Hellsinki
So the previous week we went to check out this new bar in Helsinki that promotes itself by telling that they aim to have the largest selection of gins in Finland. We talked to the bartender who told us the plan is to have about 70 gins but it’s still a work in progress. At the moment their selection included all the basics, as well as several that you cannot find from Alko (the Finnish alcohol shop run by the state) but which we have tasted, such as Sipsmith, Caorunn, several varieties of William Chase, No.3, and Bloom.
We had quite high expectations since we had read an article/puff piece where the owner of the place had given an impression that the staff knows what they are doing and know a lot also about gins. Well, the bartender who served us was very friendly, and helpful in the sense that she let us taste the gins before we made our decisions but she did not know much about the gins themselves or, for example, when I asked what the Fever-Tree Mediterranean tonic contained (that she had recommended to me) she could not give an answer.
What annoyed us the most was that none of the three different gin & tonics we ordered had gin specific garnishes but had all just a slice of lemon. We thought this was a bit lazy or if the place is serious about gin and charges 17 euros for a drink, they should at least make the drinks a bit more custom made to suit each gin.
As we had a third person with us, we tried altogether three different gins: Sylvius, Botanicals, and Ransom. Sylvius is a Dutch distillery who can truly boast with a long history that goes back to 1658 and the distilling of the first jenevers. The webpage states that the ”combination of Caraway, Star Anise and Liquorice makes the distinguished character of our gin” and this is definitely true as we could mainly taste anis and liquorice and sometimes a bit of coriander, which also one of the botanicals.
Botanicals (which we don’t seem to be able to locate online...) is a gin from Spain and was a quite nice experience: it was sweet without being too sweet and still dry enough.
Ransom Old Tom was surprisingly nice, although it would’ve been smarter to go for a negroni or such with this one. Nevertheless, it made for a nice, if a bit unorthodox G&T as well.
To conclude, a few words about the decoration of the place. The name, Steam Hellsinki, refers to steampunk which has also been the guiding principle in decorating the bar. This means different kinds of machines, a motorbike hanging from the ceiling, leather seating, and a bar that looks like a zeppelin and lets out “steam”. And can you guess which gin fits perfectly with this kind of setting? It’s Henrick’s which clearly has some kind of partnership with the bar as there are large Henrick’s ads on walls, rose decorations etc. In the picture above you can see a Henrick’s umberella that was hanging over us in the ceiling.
So... if your are rich, and like steampunk, go there. For now, it feels like the gin selection is a bit too expensive for what you get; although if you know what you’re looking for you’ll probably find it. The steampunk thing is more of a gimmick than a style choice, so it’s unlikely to find us there all that often.
