Gin is like olives – you either hate it at 22 or you’re obsessed with it by 30

And I say this as someone who was firmly in the “this tastes like cleaning product” camp for an embarrassingly long time.

I remember being at a house party at 21, someone handed me a gin and tonic and I genuinely thought they were pranking me. Like who WILLINGLY drinks this? I stuck to beer and whiskey shots for the next few years and wrote gin off completely. Couldn’t get past the smell, couldn’t get past the taste, didn’t understand the appeal even slightly.

Then somewhere around 28 something just… clicked. I can’t even explain what changed. I think it was the first time I actually had a decent bottle instead of whatever well gin was sitting at the bar. Tried something with a tropical profile like passion fruit, mango, proper botanicals and suddenly I wasn’t drinking a Christmas tree anymore. I was actually tasting something that had a personality.

Now I’m that insufferable person researching botanical profiles at midnight and explaining to my friends why the best gin experience they’ve had probably wasn’t representative of what gin can actually be.

The olive comparison is real though. Both are an acquired taste. Both reward patience. And once they click, there’s no going back to not noticing them.

Anyone else have a specific moment where gin finally made sense? Curious if it’s always a gradual thing or if there’s usually one bottle that does it