Australia has popped up on the world gin scene in recent years, with brands like Four Pillars and Ink Gin becoming globally popular. That’s quite impressive for a country primarily known for its wine.
Garden Street Gin is a monthly service that promises to bring a refined, premium gin-drinking experience to Aussies. This isn’t a sampling service like Gin Loot, this is very much a full-blooded dive into drinking lots and lots of gin.
In this review of Garden Street Gin, I’ll discover who their service is aimed at, and whether it’s worth subscribing to. I’ll also drink some gin. It’s a hard life.
Subscription Box Review
Garden Street Gin - Review Summary
This is a very polished gin subscription, with an exciting range of different gins. You get a full bottle with each box in packaging that is perfect for gifting to loved ones. As a gift or a treat, you can’t go wrong with the Garden Street Gin club.
Overall
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Ordering - Website - 9/10
9/10
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Products - Quality & Experience - 10/10
10/10
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Ordering - Delivery - 9/10
9/10
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Value For Money - 7/10
7/10
Pros
- Full-sized (700ml) bottles
- Beautiful packaging & booklet
- Price inclusive of delivery
Cons
- Can’t explore many gins at once.
- You have to value exploring new gin flavours.
Explore Garden Street TodayExplore new gins every month, as a treat or a perfect gift!
Contents
Who are Garden Street Gin?
Garden Street is the name of the street where founders Josh and Lauren developed the idea for a gin subscription box before and after regular games of lacrosse.
Their mission is simple: to share gin culture with as many Australians as possible. There’s no doubt Garden Street is a business built upon a true passion for gin.
What do Garden Street Gin offer?
Garden Street Gin provide the same service to everyone, with a full 700ml gin bottle being sent to all subscribers each month. They promise to provide a wide range of interesting gins, so people can explore different gins over the course of a longer subscription.
The gins can be sourced from anywhere in the world, but a majority of the gins are sourced from right here in Australia.
With each box, you’ll also receive some accompaniments that have been selected to pair well with the gin provided. Most importantly, this includes 2 small bottles of tonic along with some botanicals and snacks.
When subscribing, you have the flexibility to choose to receive a box every 1, 2 or 3 months and it’s very easy to skip a delivery as well.
I love my gin, but it’s also balanced with my love of wine and beer so I rarely get through a full bottle of gin every month. So, I really appreciate the ability to subscribe for a box every 2-3 months.
Explore Garden Street TodayExplore new gins every month, as a treat or a perfect gift!
The Garden Street shop
On top of their regular subscription boxes, you can also buy full bottle of gin from their shop. Prices range from $79 – $90 for a 700ml bottle.
The Garden Street shop is particularly interesting because they sell a wide range of unique and interesting gins that are hard to get elsewhere like cumquat gin and sangiovese gin.
You’ll also find full-size packages of dried fruits, gin liqueurs, tonic bottles and gin glasses.
How much does a Garden Street Gin subscription cost?
Garden Street Gin charge a standard, flat rate for their subscription of $99 per box.
You can also purchase previous boxes for $115 as an individual gift.
Do Garden Street Gin charge for delivery?
All delivery costs are included in the price of the subscription box.
When buying an individual gift box or bottle of gin, shipping ranges from $10 – $15 depending on your postcode.
My Garden Street Gin subscription
Each Garden Street Gin box is beautifully presented and packaged. The outer design is simple and refined, but it’s inside where things get exciting.
Boxes are packed full of thin cardboard strips to give an almost nest-like appearance. Your products are then gently placed on top, peeking around the packaging. It’s one of the most premium discovery boxes I’ve experienced, which means it lends itself perfectly as a gift.
What’s in a Garden Street Gin box?
My first box came with a large bottle of Banks & Solander gin from Botany Bay in Sydney. To pair with it, I was provided elderflower tonic from Fevertee as well as some dried Orange slices.
I’m not sure I understand the pairing logic regarding the additional snacks though. In the case of the Banks & Solander gin, this seemed to be paired with chickpea-based snacks. Without an explanation in the booklet, I was left a little confused.
Whilst the associated booklet doesn’t let on the secrets of the snack pairing, it does a fantastic job educating about the gin itself and providing different serving options. It’s printed on high-quality paper and I found it well-written and interesting.
I couldn’t just stop at one box though. I had to test how the experience varied between different months, right?
The good news is that the high standards and quality extended into the next box. This time Four Pillars with their Rare Old Tom gin was featured along with Strangelove Distillers tonic which was totally new to me.
I loved the addition of a bar of Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin chocolate. That’s an absolute winner on any day.
Is a Garden Street Gin subscription good value?
In each box, they claim to provide a total value of at least $140 so I wanted to test that claim with two of the boxes I received. How much would it cost for me to buy each of the products individually?
| Ingredients | Individual Price |
|---|---|
| Banks and Solander Gin 700ml | $85.00 |
| Fevertree Elderflower Tonic x2 | $3.60 |
| Dried Orange Slices | $6.95 |
| Yippea Tom Yum Snack | $4.50 |
| Crunchy Chickpea Snacks x2 | $1.90 |
| Total | $101.95 |
Vs.
Garden Street Gin
$99.00
| Ingredients | Individual Price |
|---|---|
| Four Pillars Rare Old Tom 700ml | $78.00 |
| Strangelove Distillers Tonic x2 | $5.50 |
| Dried Orange Slices | $6.95 |
| Harvest Box Spiced Up Snack | $2.50 |
| Four Pillars Dark Chocolate | $7.50 |
| Total | $100.45 |
Vs.
Garden Street Gin
$99.00
That means you are getting what you pay for with the products alone. That’s not yet accounting for the additional value of:
- Delivery
- Packaging
- Procurement of rare and interesting gins
- Detailed booklet
I think that makes Garden Street a fantastic value subscription if you want to enhance your gin drinking experience.
Let’s be honest, you COULD save yourself around $20 (minus shipping) by just buying a variety of gins yourself. That’s not why a gin subscription is interesting though.
Should you subscribe to Garden Street Gin?
Many subscription boxes can fairly be considered as being ‘stingy’ with small portion sizes. Not the case here with Garden Street Gin and their full 700ml bottles.
If you’re a regular gin drinker or are looking to explore more varieties of gin than Hendricks or Gordons, then Garden Street Gin is an incredible subscription where you’ll get to enjoy more than just a taster of each individual gin.
You do take the risk of receiving a gin that isn’t to your tastes, however I’d see that more as a challenge to find a way of serving it in a way you love. There are so many options beyond a gin & tonic that completely shift the character of a gin.
For yourself, there’s no doubt this is a treat subscription. As a gift, it really is a gift that keeps on giving.
From the beautiful packaging, quality explanation booklet and the full bottles of gin, it’s the perfect present for anyone who lists gin as their favourite spirit. We all know one (if you don’t, that means it’s probably you).
The only downsides I would consider are the fact you only get to explore a single gin per month (12 per year) which isn’t many, along with the relatively tiny bottles of mixer you receive. You’ll quickly find yourself having to buy more.
Explore Garden Street TodayExplore new gins every month, as a treat or a perfect gift!