James May defends his newest gin on Twitter/X!
Posted by FlipStig1@reddit | thegrandtour | View on Reddit | 144 comments
Seems like James May gets a lot of unhinged comments on Twitter/X whenever he attempts to make a post about anything (and more so with his newest gin!). š š
throw-me-away_bb@reddit
I'm far, far more interested in what gins aren't plant-based... I'm not convinced that this is anything other than a marketing stunt.
Simoxs7@reddit
Kinda reminds me of the Tom Scott video of the secret rules of conversation and why its not necessarily a good idea to write ānow asbestos freeā on a box of cereal
geek_of_nature@reddit
When Jason Mantzoukas was in the Off Menu podcast, he was talking about his lifelong egg allergy and how he suddenly had to become even more vigilant when cocktails started having it as an ingredient. He was on a date once, and ended up having to hospital after kissing his date who'd had a cocktail with egg foam.
So I imagine its things like that. No necessarily meat, but other animal by products.
throw-me-away_bb@reddit
I tried searching around, and the closest thing I could find was gins flavored with honey, which strikes me as obscenely easy to spot and avoid.
hendrik421@reddit
Many alcoholic beverages are cleared and filtered with animal parts, like gelatine, chicken protein and fish protein.
As for cocktails, if you have a small amount of white foam on top, itās usually egg whites
SophisticatedVagrant@reddit
He's been dating since the late 1800's? Also, I don't know that I have ever seen a cocktail menu that didn't list exactly what is going into it.
ratonbox@reddit
Yeah, but one kills you, the other one makes you sad.
angryjukebox@reddit
Eating animal products after years of not eating them can cause lots of problems, a friend has been vegan for health reasons for a few years, and had a dish with egg in it that caused them to throw up and have stomach issues for about a week
ifishformemes@reddit
This is a very nice Gin produced in Tasmania using sheep whey to avoid wastage from cheese production https://hartshorndistillery.com.au/the-distillery/
Captain_Albern@reddit
Some use honey for sweetening or animal-based products for filtration.
skafaceXIII@reddit
There's a website for that: Barnivore
Livefox96@reddit
Looking at this website I have managed to find an Ant based gin... yeah that's not a typo:
https://cambridgedistillery.co.uk/products/anty-gin
skafaceXIII@reddit
There are at least two ant-based gins in the world then: https://www.seven-seasons.com.au/product/green-ant-gin-700-ml/
Furthur@reddit
wanna distill a prime NY Strip? i'm game.
Redhawk911@reddit
Man people would be mad if they new how much stuff they regularly eat/drink are vegan without it being label. The fact that he has to clarify this is insane. People are fucking stupid
Simoxs7@reddit
Tbh I do find it kinda dumb to put a vegan label on something thats obviously vegan, like you donāt need a vegan label on a tomato, right?
Lorcian@reddit
It's disgusting too because there are genuinely people who are vegan for health/allergies, who genuinely don't have a choice.
Not often you see someone going after nut free foods.
kent_eh@reddit
About what I'd expect for people still on Twatter these days.
MrPejorative@reddit
A lot of stuff is being relabelled as "plant based" now to get away from the Vegan image. Hellmans Vegan Mayo now "Plant Based Mayo". I saw a Heinz "Plant Based" Tomato soup the other day.
BlackestNight21@reddit
Or maybe it's easier to make a thing plant based than wholly vegan? There can be many reasons for the differentiation in labeling.
Furthur@reddit
they will often use non-vegan thickeners. Many wines are not vegan
FullBottleLobotomy@reddit
Isn't it something about being filtered through fish scales or something odd?
TOHSNBN@reddit
Isinglass, gelatin made out of fish bladders.
Simoxs7@reddit
I think James didnāt see the Tom Scotts video The Hidden Rules of Conversation where he also mentioned that you wouldnāt write ānow Asbestos freeā on a cornflakes carton.
Writing vegan on gin makes people wonder why other gin isnāt vegan (because it should be).
victorpaparomeo2020@reddit
They can always drink Beefeater if they have an issue with his vegan gin.
BlackestNight21@reddit
Gross
coyote_of_the_month@reddit
Beefeater is a massively underrated value gin.
OP-PO7@reddit
Absolutely solid well gin, agreed. It's no Devils Bathtub or Barr Hill Tomcat, but it'll get the job done.
sambuxo@reddit
The blood orange one with lemonade is amazing
victorpaparomeo2020@reddit
Yeah but then itās definitely not vegan, right?
BlackestNight21@reddit
more for you. i find it... fine, with a wealth of better choices out there.
presshamgang@reddit
So not gross as you earlier stated, but fine.
BlackestNight21@reddit
eh, still gross. like an oversaturation.
presshamgang@reddit
Fair. I was just using your own words.
BlackestNight21@reddit
with context, two things can be equally true even if they seem like they run counter to each other.
presshamgang@reddit
Again fair. I just personally do not equate the "okay" things in my life with the "gross" ones. Maybe that's just me. No biggie
BlackestNight21@reddit
Even chocolate cake can seem gross if you've had more than your fill of it, even that it's otherwise fine. Don't like chocolate cake? Substitute your own analog
Pineapple_Spenstar@reddit
Like coyote said: it's a good value gin. Yes, there are better options, but it's decent quality for a good price
BlackestNight21@reddit
and like I said, it's .. fine. there are much better at a similar price point.
but some people like the Costco of things.
fepord@reddit
Do you have a recommended gin at a similar price point
BlackestNight21@reddit
Broker's
Ford's
Bombay Dry are all decent and right around the beefeater price point within couple dollars.
fepord@reddit
Thank you
Pineapple_Spenstar@reddit
Costco actually has a pretty good gin
acerni@reddit
It really does. Iād take it over Beefeater in a heartbeat. Personal preferences.
Tullimory@reddit
It was before they lowered it to 40%, cheap bastards.
RaptorCelll@reddit
What alcohol isn't vegan friendly besides anything flavored with honey?
YousureWannaknow@reddit
Honey isn't vegan friendly?
Whiskey2shots@reddit
No, vegans don't consume anything produced by sn animal
RaptorCelll@reddit
Well, I'm not a vegan so I'm just assuming they don't like honey because it comes from bees.
amhopeless@reddit
a lot of wines are cleared with eggs basically, or enzymes from eggs at least, thus they're not strictly vegan.
Endtimes2022@reddit
The word might carries a burden unlike any....well played Captain well played.
ImpossibleBaseball48@reddit
Oh captain (slow) my captain!
Outside_Abroad_3516@reddit
Bruh just call it Twitter.
Duck_Person1@reddit
It's more fun to type š© though
mirathi@reddit
I will never call it x. Fuck you Leon.
BassGaming@reddit
His name is Melon. Don't be disrespectful now!
geek_of_nature@reddit
I'll call it X the day he stops deadnaming his daughter.
all_m0ds_R_virgins@reddit
What if he does it in full Nazi regalia
dinofragrance@reddit
Classic reddit brainrot
all_m0ds_R_virgins@reddit
Chill bro
ITSigno@reddit
Did he stutter?!
leorolim@reddit
Xitter
Lady-Seashell-Bikini@reddit
I will only stop calling it Twitter when Noel stop deadnaming his daughter.
sausyJeys@reddit
*Twatter
Or just call it for what it is, a hellscape.
H377Spawn@reddit
Shithole
usersnamesallused@reddit
Twaxxer
Geekenstein@reddit
Twix
Duck_Person1@reddit
It's more fun to type š© though
Cegesvar@reddit
How is gin non vegan?
nikhkin@reddit
Some gins are flavoured with honey.
Some use colourings or flavourings that are not vegan.
Joejoe10x@reddit
Here is a potato, it is a vegan potato. Just in case you have to be sure.
ssm316@reddit
I got a bottle it's tasty. It's got a nice fall flavor. Gonna try it with some cranberry juice
StuffedTigerHobbes@reddit
Still awaiting on mine. Ordered it right before it was revealed but I do have some Asian Parsnip to pass the time.
scottiedog321@reddit
I got my bottle today, and I like it, as well. Nice and earthy. I think he mentioned he/they were putting oregano in it, so that definitely helps with the earthiness.
hawktuah69_@reddit
I donāt understand why some people get so triggered by the word āveganā. Personally Iām not a vegetarian or vegan but I respect their choice as itās their decision not anybody elseās.Ā
jue_boy@reddit
Certain people get way too butthurt about the vegan thing
Ancalimei@reddit
Sheesh what snowflakes are whining about this?!
elwebst@reddit
People are probably not whining (though if you could post an example of the whining that may be helpful), but my first thought upon hearing about it was that it seemed like "our table sugar is gluten free!" Yeah, duh, of course it is.
SireBillyMays@reddit
Funny that you mentioned table sugar in this context. If you had instead written "table sugar is vegan!", you'd might actually be wrong, as a reasonably large percentage of cane sugar is made with bone char, and thus is not vegan. (Beet sugar is always vegan, afaik. Not a vegan so don't quote me on that.)
Lots of products are "sneakily" not vegan. Beers clarified with isinglass, wine clarified with gelatin or chitin, liquors coloured with cochineal. I'm sure practicing vegans appreciate the label, especially as lots of alcohol products are free to not list detailed ingredients - none of my wines for instance list any ingredients other than maybe the grape variety used. For us meat-eaters this label shouldn't really matter.
As for the whining: look at replies on Twitter, and you'll find some.
Lady-Seashell-Bikini@reddit
A lot of alcohol is filtered with animal membranes.Ā
And yes, quite a lot of food that you may think should be gluten free still needs to be certified as gluten free because that food item may be processed in a building that also processes wheat.
coolest35@reddit
Pure ignorance on people's part because they don't know how things are hypermanufactured anymore.
Most wine isn't vegan either, bet people don't realize that because they think.. oh grapes+yeast=wine.
JL_MacConnor@reddit
It's not even hyper-manufacturing. Isinglass has been used to fine beer since the 1600s.
skafaceXIII@reddit
You'd be surprised by how much alcohol is not vegan-friendly
Acc87@reddit
I mean by all means it will just be a miniscule number of people compared to his customer base. It's just that social media makes them visible.
Maldovar@reddit
Probably Clarkson in a false mustache
Cloudsareinmyhead@reddit
Why would you think David Souffle would do such a thing? He's just a charming Belgian traffic warden who likes a good pastry, nothing political about that.
lt12765@reddit
The people whining about it are probably the type whoād never buy it
Mahajangasuchus@reddit
I donāt know why the word āveganā seriously shuts off the brain of like 50% of the population.
ClementAttlee2024@reddit
People who claim to not be offended by anything piss themselves when they see words like vegan is why
Palmer_Ochs@reddit
The amount of times the āstop getting offendedā people get offended is mind boggling
Panda_Panda69@reddit
Not always, I claim to not be offended by anything, and I see nothing wrong with drinking vegan gin.
Tmanbro@reddit
Classic subaru driver
NebraskaGeek@reddit
Yobbos as some might say
Lady-Seashell-Bikini@reddit
When I was vegetarian, I would never bring it up because people would immediately become obnoxious about it.
"But bacon is SOOOO good!" "I could never eat that rabbit food" "You know yogurt screams?"
People would say the dumbest shit around me, so I started to avoid eating around them.
BassGaming@reddit
I always wonder what circles people chill in. In my close friend group of about three dozen people, 1/3rd is vegetarian or vegan. No one, but absolutely no one gives a fuck. We just make sure that vegan food is avaliable when doing group gatherings. Most of the time meat is also avaliable, sometimes but rarely only vegan food.
Also, some of the vegans do eat meat rarely in situations where it would get thrown away otherwise.
I think what it comes down to is: None of us are extreme in their lifestyle and beliefs. We respect each other and obviously try to accommodate the vegans since... why the fuck not?
How is that not the norm?
Lady-Seashell-Bikini@reddit
I grew up in the US in a red state with a high beef production. You can put two and two together, lol!
I also primarily got those comments when I was in high school, and teenagers are DUMB! Now, I wouldn't consider myself a vegetarian, and while I would like to cut back on the amount of meat I eat now, I do eat still less meat than the national average.
Particular-Gas-809@reddit
Counterpoint: As a weekly protein consuming pescatarian of over a decade which started with nearly a year of a true Buddhist lent diet (very much so more restrictive than vegan ideals and thoughts), I just have to say the pushback against veganism is because of the inconsistencies in the very idea. Most point this out in a crass or crude way, which is to be expected from the average. Iām here to tell you that any definition of exploitation you come up with can be extrapolated further. Bee pollen is not vegan. What about every fruit pollinated by bees? I logically and irrefutably claim all fruits are non vegan. Further, every vegetable is the product of a microbiome in the soil working in tandem. Thus, not vegan. It gets even better. Nearly any definition of vegan also puts you in a situation where even picking the phone up to order a pizza or going to the grocery store is exploitation of yourself. You didnāt choose this society or time or life!
Thatās really the problem with it. Anyway, people should eat healthy and farm responsibly for whatever consumables theyāre farming. Any made up ideals for virtue signaling should at least be coherent and veganism is not.
littleessi@reddit
i think you might need to work on your logic. there is no exploitation of bees inherent in eating fruits they've pollinated, because that doesn't do any harm to bees. in fact, they don't even pollinate deliberately, it just happens accidentally while they forage.
the definition of veganism uses the word 'animal' to mean 'non-human animal'
YousureWannaknow@reddit
You sure? I mean, exploitation by it's nature refers to unfair use of workers or resources, so... If you go by that definition.. Even salt brought on back of mule or other animal from mine can't be vegan friendly, because it exploited that animal work.. Same as Silk or any natural materials used in cloth making.. At the end of the day do they get any form of payment for it that would be equal to their job? Same could be with constructions made with animal work... And probably many more things can be brought to it..
Technically that's how bee keeping works (not only bee keeping, but all animals that, especially flying bugs that pollinate. You bring them on specific area and let them do the job. In fact, all animals has range they move around so it's pretty simple to predict and steer where they are.
Everything can be brought down to matter of definition and how far you want to go with it.. At the end, even crude oil and coal can be marked as "not vegan friendly", since, you know.. Fossils š
littleessi@reddit
yes, you're listing things that are wrong and shouldn't be allowed. those practices existing doesn't make, for example, all fruits not vegan. you're generalising too far. yes our world is awful but some vegan things do exist, the concept of veganism is internally coherent, and you shouldn't let the existence of bad things justify partaking in other bad things.
YousureWannaknow@reddit
I'm sorry.. What shouldn't be allowed? Cooperation of human and animal? Using products done by animals of which you take care? And no, I do not make any generalisation, I'm just pointing out that everything is matter of definition and interpretation. If you want to go by "main idea" or first, I just want to remind you that even communism wasn't bad, it was marvellous and idyllic idea, but execution.. You want to be vegan? Fine, but don't force others to go same way as you. That's with everything, but for some fucked reason many people these days think they know everything the best and can judge, and tell others what's good and what isn't.
littleessi@reddit
exploitation of others is bad. i hope this helps.
sorry you have a typo there, i think you meant to say capitalism
UristMcDumb@reddit
What does a true buddhist lent diet consist of?
Milkythefawn@reddit
It's impossible in this day to do no harm at all, but it's about harm reduction. It's not perfect, but its not possible to be perfect.Ā
I'm also not vegan but i understand their thoughts.
EINFACH_NUR_DAEMLICH@reddit
Interestingly that number includes actual vegans.
bucky-plank-chest@reddit
bECauSe veGaNs TrY bRaINwaShIng YoU!
300mhz@reddit
Some people just live sad and angry lives and are easily triggered, but they'll call you a snowflake for calling them out on their nonsense
JCD_007@reddit
Interesting. I never would have thought of any kind of gin as not being plant based.
Qurutin@reddit
A lot of alcoholic drinks use animal products in the process. Egg whites, milk casein and gelatin are used in clarifying (fining) of wine and spirits, there are some colouring agents that are derived from animals etc. There's also confusion because people use plant-based and vegan as interchangrable terms which they strictly speaking aren't - plant-based is a diet which excludes animal products and veganism is a lifestyle which excludes all animal use. Some might view products that don't contain animal products in the final product (as in gin that has been clarified with gelatin) as plant-based because you are not consuming animal products, but vegan products don't use any animal products or animal suffering in any part of the production. Someone following a plant-based diet might use leather shoes or wool socks, whereas vegan wouldn't. Something like Kopi Luwak coffee on which is made from coffee beans that civet cats have eaten and shat out would be plant-based because the coffee beans are still a plant product, but it isn't vegan because the production uses animals.
Grrerrb@reddit
I do wonder how much those civet cats suffer, though
Qurutin@reddit
Well
BassGaming@reddit
The Wikipedia article is ruthless when it comes to the taste:
Grrerrb@reddit
Holy shit I thought that coffee was still sort of a niche product, I had no idea it had been cranked up so much. Thatās awful, but I appreciate you enlightening me.
hendrik421@reddit
James Hoffman, the god of coffee YouTubers, made a shot video about that coffee and how bad it actually is. Also, most of the kopi Luwak is just faked.
Grrerrb@reddit
I hope the way they fake it is by having people eat it and shit it out instead of civet cats.
mspk7305@reddit
is booze ever not vegan?
amhopeless@reddit
A lot of wine use enzymes from eggs, to clear the wine, make it less cloudy, thus qualifying them as not vegan.
hendrik421@reddit
Also gelatine, as well as chicken and fish protein
taversham@reddit
A lot of beers and ciders aren't even vegetarian because they use things like isinglass as the fining. Mead obviously isn't vegan, but some other (particularly higher end) flavoured spirits will use honey as a sweetener so they're out, and even products sweetened with sugar might use bone char in the sugar bleaching (that's why Kaluha isn't considered vegan, for example). Cochineal is also frequently used as a red dye. Then there's alcoholic drinks like Bailey's or Advocaat where milk or eggs are a primary ingredient, so they're obviously out.
There's a handy website called Barnivore where you can check if drinks are vegan or not if you're interested (make sure to specify your country because some products have vegan formulations in one market but non-vegan ones in another)
mspk7305@reddit
damn. i had no idea. i figured fermented grain was the start & end
hendrik421@reddit
Iāve seen people getting angry and shouty in a supermarket because they found a vegan label on Pringles. There have been interviews at the Oktoberfest where people were asked if they would drink vegan beer, and they lost their shit. Iāve had a man in a supermarket shout at me because I had tofu in my shopping basket. Im not even vegan.
I wonder why these conservative snowflakes are always so triggered.
Grrerrb@reddit
I do wonder how much those civet cats suffer, though
Mekazabiht-Rusti@reddit
My local brewery does a vegan and gluten free larger. Itās the best one they do, and my go-to pint. Iām neither vegan nor gluten intolerant.
tuktuluktuk@reddit
Based may as usual
Ignition1@reddit
I tend to react negatively to Vegan labelled food not because I associate it with people trying to be high and mighty about it (couldn't care less about that tbh), but because I had a few experiences when it was first becoming a trend where it consistently tasted worse compared to a non-Vegan option. Like - 'give up and throw it away' worse.
So when I see a 'Vegan' label slapped on something, my gut reaction (ha) is to look for the non-Vegan version of it. Seeing "Plant-based" sometimes makes me react like that only because I know it's a replacement for the Vegan label. But I don't mind it so much when the food I'm buying really should be plant-based.
sellyme@reddit
I tend to try to pay attention to whether the product is "Vegan ProductName" or "ProductName (Vegan)".
At least in my market, the latter tends to mean that it's just something that happens to be vegan, whereas the former means that they've had to compromise on the ordinary composition of the product.
Rittersepp@reddit
Vegan Gin? Whats next? Vegan Tonic? s/
YousureWannaknow@reddit
On one hand it feels like joke, on other... Gosh.. It just proves how stupid are people.. Especially when it goes down to small companies that love to brag about their processes of making stuff.. Like.. What's point of even labeling stuff, when you get on company site and see whole production process description?
Anyway... Why should I even say a word.. I seen "vegan friendly" whole plastic hair brush and bottled water, as well as dog food.. World just drifts away in weird and funny place.. I mean seriously.. Anyone ever seen dog who out of free will ate bread and left ham?
metal_jester@reddit
Just going to throw it out there that most of your alcohol is vegan. It's fermented fruit and grains. It's normally wool filters on whiskey or similar that make things not vegan.
It's ok, your life is not over.
Do_You_Pineapple_Bro@reddit
James "Woke" May going vegan? And to think I trusted him with his manly Desperate Shag in a Skip juice, thats wen Britin woz a reel cuntry. Go woke, go broke, I say!
/s
Panda_Panda69@reddit
We have a saying in Poland āKiedyÅ to byÅoā or āback then it was (better)ā. Which seems to fit in with your comment
Githil@reddit
Probably some of Clarkson's fans equating veganism with communism.
gellenburg@reddit
How can alcohol be anything but vegan?
Meior@reddit
Check this comment and be enlightened.
Meior@reddit
"Pandering to the vegans I see. Pitiful"
"Meat-eaters can still enjoy it, as they might a packet of nuts or an apple" Yes, but we won't, just to avoid putting money in the pockets of people who use it to advocate for our meat being taken away"
Dear lord.
Good work James!
GoopyTShirt@reddit
Lets go Captain Slow
Protect that gin with your life
GoopyTShirt@reddit
We know u canĀ
Thepants1981@reddit
Legit just ordered some for my wife for xmas. Pumped.
QF_Dan@reddit
offtopic but will James ever move to BlueSky?
Stupid_hurts2@reddit
Wait?! Whatās in normal juniper berry Gin? Ppl? Plz tell me itās not pplā¦ Soylent Gin?!
kent_eh@reddit
It's hard to find much else on that dying platform.
toma91@reddit
Doesnāt surprise me at all that this tweet is necessary, people are dense as fuck
Idiotwithaphone79@reddit
It's unbelievable this had to be said.
FlipStig1@reddit (OP)
Hereās proof of authenticity for anyone asking.