Best pink gin: Our favourite classic and fruit flavoured pink gins

The best pink gin needs to be flavourful, exciting and perhaps most importantly, perfectly pink. It’s the perfect drink to enjoy in the garden during the summer months and even better if you get the BBQ involved too. Whether you’re longing for a traditional pink gin or something out of the ordinary, we’ve found some of the best pink gins in what is undoubtedly a rather saturated market.

Pink gin has been around for quite some time but over the years it’s evolved to be something quite different to what it originally was. With so many varieties to choose from, you can enjoy it on its own, with a classic tonic or even as part of a cocktail.

If you’re not sure what kind you should buy, our guide below tells you a little bit about the difference between classic and modern pink gins and what to expect from each one. If you’re already clued up on pink gin, scroll down for our exclusive round-up of the best pink gins we’ve tried.

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Best pink gin: At a glance

How to choose the best pink gin for you

What types of pink gin can I buy?

Classic pink gin – Pink gin has traditionally always been made using a mix of regular gin and angostura bitters. These bitters have a deep red colour, which provides the pinkish hue you’d expect to see in a gin that’s, well, pink. Unsurprisingly, this style of pink gin has a bitter edge but typically still has a classic juniper-heavy taste.

Fruity pink gin – If you’re not drinking pink gin made from Angostura bitters, then you’re probably drinking a fruit gin, coloured pink by berries or other pink fruits such as grapefruit. Typically you’ll see pink gin made with strawberry or raspberry, but any fruit will do, provided it’s steeped in gin before being filtered and bottled.

Other pink gin – Sometimes pink gin gets its colourful hue from other sources, such as wine (yes, really) or even just from natural food colouring. While it might sound a bit weird, gin with added colouring isn’t necessarily a bad thing; usually it’s just added to give the gin more vibrancy and shouldn’t affect the flavour at all.

How much should I spend?

There are plenty of cheap and cheerful pink gins around but we think spending between £25-35 is the sweet spot if you want a flavourful gin that won’t leave you with an unpleasant taste in your mouth. As you’ll see from our line up of best pink gin below, that rule isn’t set in stone, so don’t think you should avoid all gin under or over these price points.

How we test pink gin

In order to make sure all our recommended pink gins are tested thoroughly, we put it through a number of taste-tests. First, we drink it on its own to make sure the base drink is first-rate before going any further. We’re looking to see if it matches the bottle description and if we can pick out any distinctive flavours. Following the standalone test, we pair our pink gins with tonic and lemonade – to see if it will tantalise the taste buds as a long drink. Once our traditional mixer test is done, we put it through its paces in a few cocktails to see if it can hold its own, or if the flavour is lost to the other ingredients.

Pink gin comes in a variety of styles, so it’s up to us to ensure our roundup has something for everyone. To do this, we look for unique or interesting flavours that could make or break a drink. Once we’ve run our initial tests, we concentrate on comparing the taste and quality against similar products to determine if the product is good value for money and worthy of a place on our list.

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The best pink gin you can buy in 2023

1. Bloom Jasmine and Rose Pink Gin: Best value pink gin

Price when reviewed: £25 | Check price at Amazon

Infused with real rose petals and jasmine, this delightfully floral gin is not only delicious but great value too. It’s fab with a classic tonic but also pairs well with cloudy lemonade for a boozy sweet treat. Despite its mild sweetness, there is no sugar added to this pink gin, so everything you’re tasting is 100% natural.

Its flowery but mild flavour means it should go down a treat with most people and most importantly, it still tastes like a proper gin, rather than a liqueur.

Key details – Size: 70cl; ABV: 40%

2. Isle of Wight Distillery Mermaid Pink Gin: Best strawberry gin for gifting

Price when reviewed: £40 | Check price at Amazon

This absolute stunner of a gin is made and bottled in the Isle of Wight and uses locally sourced strawberries, rock samphire and grains of paradise (also known as melegueta pepper) for a sweet and spicy flavour. It can be enjoyed on its own but we think it works best with a sharp tonic and fruity garnish. The hard-to-ignore mermaid bottle makes this pink gin a stand-out buy that looks great on any counter.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s rather strawberry-heavy. So whether you’re buying it for yourself or a friend, that’s something to bear in mind. The flavours won’t be for everyone but if you’ve got a sweet tooth, we would highly recommend it.

Key details – Size: 70cl; ABV: 38%

3. That Boutique-y Gin Company Proper Pink Gin: Best classic pink gin

Price when reviewed: £30 | Check price at Master of Malt

If you’re a pink gin purist, then this is the tipple for you. Mixed with angostura bitters, this Proper Pink offering is pink gin made the traditional way. With tonic, it’s wonderfully bitter without being overpowering and has all those strong botanical flavours you want and expect from such a classic gin.

While we would love for you to give these other twists on pink gin a try, we totally understand if you prefer this classic. The bottle isn’t interested in wowing you with any fancy extras – this is just a great tasting traditional pink gin.

Key details – Size: 50cl; ABV: 46%

4. Manchester Pink Gin: Best raspberry gin

Price when reviewed: £39 | Check price at Amazon

This fruity tipple won the people at Manchester Gin a gold medal at the World Gin Awards in 2020, and for good reason. Unlike a lot of fruit gins, this has many of the flavours you might expect from a more classic style gin, such as floral aromas and subtle botanics. It still packs a fruity punch, though, incorporating distinct notes of sweet raspberry while remaining delicate and not too sickly.

This gin is perfect for those who prefer their pink gin not too sweet, and it’s especially good in a cocktail.

Key details – Size: 50cl; ABV: 40%

5. Dockyard Kent Strawberry Gin: Best Kentish strawberry gin

Price when reviewed: £30 | Check price at Amazon

This beautifully sweet gin, rather surprisingly, has no added sugar and makes the perfect strawberry G&T. It’s produced by the Copper Rivet distillery at Chatham Dockyard (which also has a rather fine classic gin, too) and is made using fresh Kentish strawberries. Kent is well known for its strawberries, so we can see why this micro-distillery wanted to show them off.

This tipple might have a fruity twist but you can still taste the classic citrus-led, spiced botanicals that make the base gin a classic. If you love strawberry, this is definitely one to try – we only wish the bottle was bigger.

Key details – Size: 50cl; ABV: 40%

6. Lyme Bay Pink Grapefruit Gin: Best grapefruit gin

Price when reviewed: £36 | Check price at Amazon

Those looking for summer in a bottle should stop right here. Lyme Bay’s pink grapefruit offering makes a fruity G&T like no other. Made with mouthwatering grapefruit, orange peel and lime, this is the ideal drink to be enjoyed in the sunshine. We think it’s delicious both on its own with ice or as a longer drink, although it also works fabulously in some gin-based cocktails.

While this gin is undoubtedly very grapefruity, the classic juniper flavour isn’t completely lost. This makes it ideal for those after pink gin with a twist, rather than a gin-based liqueur. It’s one of our favourite pink fruit gins but alas, it’s not for everyone – citrus-haters should look elsewhere.

Key details – Size: 70cl; ABV: 40%

7. Mirabeau Rosé Gin: Best fragrant pink gin

Price when reviewed: £36 | Check price at Amazon

Flavourful, fragrant and unlike any other pink gin we’ve tasted. That’s the only way to describe Mirabeau’s rosé gin. This unusual gin combines 100% grape-based natural spirit with a touch of the brand’s well-respected classic rosé. It’s also distilled with plenty of aromatics such as lemon, coriander, lavender, orris root and angelica root, for a complex, floral flavour that’s quite distinctive.

We’ll say it again: this gin is very fragrant. As such, it’s unlikely to be everyone’s cup of tea. If that doesn’t scare you off though, it’s well worth giving this a go because it doesn’t disappoint. We’re also big fans of the bottle and think it’ll look right at home on any retro drinks trolley.

Key details – Size: 70cl; ABV: 43%