Ahhh gin… once known as being more accessible than clean water and thus labelled ‘Mother’s Ruin’ in the mid-eightieth century, it’s now the darling of the London spirits scene, with around 40 distilleries in the capital alone. And it’s not just the UK who are having a continued love-affair with this juniper-based spirit – imbibers around the globe can’t get enough of it either. In fact, there’s an entire day dedicated to celebrating gin – and this year it falls on Saturday 9th June.
So in the ‘spirit’ of gin, we’ve rounded up the best events, menus and pop-ups to help you make merry in the lead-up to this very important day…
World Gin Day LONDON
Why only celebrate gin for one day, when you can in fact make the party last for four?! That’s the thinking behind World Gin Day LONDON – a four-day festival of all things gin, running from 7th to 10th June.
Celebrating the spirit across the capital, this new gin extravaganza will feature a handpicked selection of 75 of London’s finest bars – including Untitled, Callooh Callay, Reverend J W Simpson and Oriole – serving an array of bespoke £6 gin cocktails to those with a Digital Festival Pass. In addition, the capital is set to be awash with other gin-filled delights, with a full programme of events, parties and brand pop-ups appearing all over London.
For digital festival passes and details on further events visit drinkup.london or download the DrinkUp.London app.
G&T Pop-Up at The Hoxton Shoreditch
To celebrate the tenth World Gin Day, four premium gin brands – Silent Pool, Gin Mare, Colonel Fox, and KI NO BI – will be taking over the secluded courtyard of The Hoxton, Shoreditch for four days.
This free-to-enter event will feature a bespoke G&T from the four brands, who will each be commandeering a corner of the courtyard with a bar highlighted with vibrant bespoke artworks which have been created to reflect the distinct character and botanicals in each of the gins.
All brands have worked closely with The Edinburgh Ice Co. to produce beautiful giant ice cubes made with triple-filtered Scottish water and tailored garnishes to complement the unique flavour profile of each of the spirits. As the ice melts the garnishes will reveal themselves to further enhance the G&T drinking experience – each priced at £6 and served with 1724 tonic water.
Running from Wednesday 6th to Saturday 9th June | thehoxton.com
The Plymouth Gin Garden at The Wigmore
A lush and leafy botanical garden, complete with climbing plants, interactive masterclasses and, the trend of the moment, pick-it-yourself garnishes to add to your cocktails – sounds like our idea of World Gin Day heaven. Well, modern British tavern The Wigmore has partnered with Plymouth Gin to transform its courtyard into a gorgeous garden, complete with ‘the Plymouth Gin Garden bar’. This tucked-away bar will be serving refreshing summer cocktails, including the Plymouth Fruit Cup cocktail. We recommend ordering the Garden Glug Punch to share, which will include Plymouth Gin, apricot, jasmine green tea, cucumber and Perrier-Jouët Champagne – you get to pour it from a fishes mouth, for goodness sake!
The Plymouth Gin Garden at The Wigmore will also be hosting Botanical Lab masterclasses throughout the summer – check the website for more details.
Running until September 2018, Wednesday – Friday 5pm-10pm | www.the-wigmore.co.uk
The Botanist Greenhouse at Rosewood London
If you fancy yourself as a green-fingered sort, then you’re going to love the new collaboration between Rosewood London and The Botanist gin. The union has inspired the construction of a beautiful summer greenhouse in the middle of the hotel’s famous Edwardian courtyard. Complete with luscious foliage, hanging terrariums and refreshing cocktails, the Foraging Greenhouse at Rosewood London is the perfect sun trap, providing a much-needed al fresco hideaway from central London’s bustling crowds. What’s more, The Greenhouse will be garnished with botanicals and herbs, so that guests can forage for themselves and compose the perfect G&T. There’s also a brand new cocktail menu featuring the likes of the Loch Indaal (The Botanist gin, Octomore Whisky and salt solution), and The Quest (The Botanist gin, Green Chartreuse, yuzu juice and Angostura bitters). This certainly sounds like the kind of weekend ‘gardening’ we’d be happy to busy ourselves with…
Running until 29th September 2018 | rosewoodhotels.com/en/london/dining/The-Botanist-Greenhouse
Sip ‘The Red Snapper’ at The Ivy St. John’s Wood
Hey, double excitement – it’s also cricket season! Whether you read this as sarcasm or are genuinely excited by the prospect of runs, outs, and wickets, then get yourself along to The Ivy St. John’s Wood. Paying homage to the cricket season, they’ve partnered with Nicholson Gin, one of London’s original gin brands with notable ties to Lord’s Cricket Ground, to fashion a series of bespoke cocktails available throughout the summer.
These include What a Peach!, featuring Nicholson Gin, peach puree, orange bitters and a splash of lemon juice, and The Very Berry Bramble, inspired by the British countryside and incorporating Nicholson Gin, lemon juice, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and banana. Our favourite of these is The Red Snapper, a twist on the brasserie’s traditional Bloody Mary, which can be enjoyed alongside the The Ivy St. John’s Wood’s brunch menu. The perfect hangover antidote for those that have been enjoying the World Gin Day festivities a little too much!
Gin Journey at 146 Paddington
This World Gin Day, why not travel the globe – via your tastebuds – with a Gin Journey at 146 Paddington? This vintage-inspired bar, located right next to Paddington station, boasts around fifty gins, and offers up some very cool garnishes to bring out the best botanicals and flavours.
You’re invited to take your tastebuds on a trip around the world, with gins inspired by as far flung places as the Spice Route (Opihr, exotic and earthy, served with dried baby red chilli), all the way to America (FEW Breakfast, with Earl Grey botanicals, served with orange), with a pitstop at the cherry blossoms of Japan (Jinzu, citrusy and floral, served with dehydrated apple). That’s not to say they’ve overlooked destinations closer to home, with Germany’s Monkey 47 making an appearance (garnished with blackberries), alongside Xoriguer ‘Mahon’ from Mallorca (with sweet cherry and dehydrated orange) and Blackwoods from the Shetlands (served with a sprig of rosemary and sliced cucumber). You’ve heard of being an armchair traveller – now it’s time to become a barstool explorer!
Pink cocktails at Graphic Bar
Enjoy a Taste of Spain in Mayfair with El Pirata’s new Gin Menu
Who doesn’t love heading to Madrid and ordering a balloon glass full of Gintonic (as the Spanish call it), ideal for sipping in the heat of the Mediterranean summer? This is the thinking behind El Pirata’s new Gin & Tonic menu, perfect for enjoying at their terrace tables in the Mayfair sunshine. Spain is Europe’s largest nation of gin drinks, and the menu features an array of Spanish gins alongside a selection of the best-selling gins from around the world.
In celebration of World Gin Day, El Pirata has created a new gin cocktail, Puerto del pirata, featuring the delicious Puerto de Indias strawberry gin. The cocktail combines the gin’s delicate liquorice and citrus touches together with its subtle strawberry hints, with fresh lime to create a tasty and uniquely satisfying flavour.
The bespoke cocktail is priced at £9.50 and will be available throughout June | www.elpirata.co.uk
Novikov’s Gin Day Celebrations
To celebrate the nation’s favourite tipple, Novikov – the swanky bar in Mayfair – has created limited edition cocktails available in the Lounge Bar
Guaranteed to lift the spirits are Basil Smash, a glorious combo of Plymouth gin, basil, lemon & matcha tea syrup; Clover Club, which takes Monkey 47 gin and mixes it up with raspberry syrup, fresh lemon juice & egg white and finally Curiositea which sees that perennial favourite, Beefeater 24 London Dry Gin, treated to a dash of house cordial syrup, fresh pineapple and Sauvignon Blanc.
These limited editions will be available at the Lounge Bar between 5pm and 8pm from now until Sunday 10th June. | www.novikovrestaurant.co.uk
