This week my friend Cindy and I took a Gin and Tonic class through Living Social. If you're in DC and you like gin, I highly recommend taking the class. It was led by Nicole, who mixes up amazing tonics at her bar the Gin Joint in DC. We learned a lot about gin (did you know that for a long time it was associated with loose women and general degeneracy? apparently, some things don't change). We also got to make our own tonic, which was surprisingly simple (especially given that they measured everything out for us) and really, really fun. Cindy and I decided to infuse our tonic with fresh thyme, cardamom, black pepper corns, and star anise. We took one sip of it and knew we had to come back to my place and mix it with Ransom's Old Tom Gin. Not to pat ourselves on the back but it was out of this world (ok, yes we are patting ourselves on the back).
Anyway, in case you don't feel like making your own tonic (or I've drank all of mine before you can come over and sample it), this gin is also really nice with regular tonic (my preference is the naturally light tonic from Fever Tree because it's not too sweet). Mix two parts gin with one part tonic and garnish with an orange peel.
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If you're not too busy searching twitter for "Carlos Danger", you might want to check out this article from last week's Economist article called "The Emporium Strikes Back" about the challenges traditional off-line retailers are facing from on-line competitors. I'm a big fan of on-line shopping especially with things like Amazon prime and as more and more stores offer free shipping and free returns. It's a lot more convenient (especially where I work in DC, which until recently has been a shopping desert) and I love that you can read other customers' reviews before you purchase. Plus, with on-line clothes orders, I can try things on in the comfort of my own home, where no shopkeeper will see and judge if I need a larger size. And, let's not lie, getting a package delivered makes kinda makes it feel like it's your birthday.
But the article notes that the most successful retailers are those that are becoming "omnichannel"--operating in both the virtual and the physical retail worlds. I thought it was fascinating that they use Warby Parker as an example, since they started as an on-line only company but have since decided to open physical store locations. I mean, this is a company that ships you glasses to try on for free and they still had trouble convincing people to buy from an on-line only store. I will say, that as much as I love Amazon, I do really like that if I order something from Nordstrom and decide to return or exchange it, I can just go to one of their physical stores and take care of it right away.
The article also notes that one disadvantage to on-line clothes shopping is the high number of returns, which I'm definitely guilty of (as evidenced by the two bags I just returned). I'm really curious if stores get better at providing information that will allow me to tell if an item will fit me before I order it . . . It's going to be exciting to see if we all end up shopping with avatars in the near future.
So, what do you think? Do you prefer shopping on-line or in person? And are you more likely to shop from retailers that provide both options?
**In case you're not familiar with Ransom's Old Tom Gin, it uses a different distilling process and is amber colored. It's a much sweeter gin and, to me, has a lot of citrus and spice in it, which is why it went really nicely with our tonic. It was described to me as a "whiskey drinker's gin". If whiskey tasted like this, I'd be much more inclined to drink it . . .
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