10 Ways to Celebrate World Gin Day
The most popular drink at the moment is arguably gin. It’s like we can’t get enough of the stuff – everyday we hear a new way for us to drink the juniper-based spirit, whether it’s a new cocktail, pop-up or the largest collection in London. And are we complaining? Not at all. We’re Londoners, whilst our relationship with gin might have been rocky in the past it’s always been strong, so with World Gin Day taking place this Saturday (11th June) we’ve rounded up 10 ways for you to celebrate:
Junipalooza
The Ultimate Gin Festival
Somehow, from the juniper berry that gin is made of, came the name Junipalooza, a huge gin-obsessed weekend at Tobacco Dock in honour of World Gin Day. Back for the third year, gin fans can sample the drink to their hearts content, as well as talk to the makers, all 40 of them from 14 countries (that’s a total of 95 gins to be tried). Where there is gin there is tonic so get involved in tonic tasting to choose your favourite sidekick to make the ultimate G&T.
Where: Tobacco Docks, Tobacco Quay, Wapping Lane, E1W 2SF
Website: www.ginfoundry.com
Strand Palace Hotel
G & Tea
Put the ‘T’ in G & Tea with The Strand Palace Hotel’s boozy afternoon tea. Cocktails are created with a nod to the hotel’s Gin Palace bar and include ‘The Business’; Hendricks, elderflower cordial, cucumber, lemon and pepper which we think goes perfectly with sharing plates of teriyaki salmon, lamb kofta and crab cakes with sweet chilli sauce.
Where: 372 Strand, London WC2R 0JJ, United Kingdom
Website: www.strandpalacehotel.co.uk
Graphic Bar
Gin with a side of competition
If you like your stiff gin with a side of stiff competition, get to the third round of this year’s The Graphic Gin Off in Soho on 20th June to witness gin experts battling it out for their place in the quarter final. Each brand creates a signature cocktail which, after tasting, guests are required to vote for. The two winning cocktails will see their brands progress to the next stage and you get to have your say. Everyone’s a winner.
Where: 4 Golden Square, Soho, W1F 9HT
Website: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gin-off-2016-round-three-tickets-25669259446?aff=erelexpmlt
Portobello Star
Local gin and gin masterclasses
One of the best spots for gin in West London, tucked away on Portobello Road, Portobello Star has an extensive gin menu for the most discerning gin drinker. Stay local and ask for a G&T made with Portobello Road Gin, tonic, ice and a twist of grapefruit. They also offer masterclasses and gin blending experiences – check the website for details.
Where: 171 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, W11 2DY
Website: www.portobellostarbar.co.uk
Aqua Shard
Royal Gin Cocktails
Embrace two festivities at once with royal cocktails at Aqua Shard. Honoring The Queen’s 90th birthday, which is conveniently also World Gin Day (what a day for a birthday), four Tanqueray No.TEN gin cocktails have been created, inspired by flavours of the Queen’s wedding cake and the spirit of Silver Jubilee celebrations back in 1977. Our favourite is the Coronation 1953 – a twist on the classic martini with rosemary infused gin, raisins, lemon, spiced tea and mango. Just add chicken and you have yourself a Coronation chicken cocktail… We’ll stick to the gin.
Where: Level 31, The Shard, 31 St Thomas Street, London, SE1 9RY, United Kingdom
Website: www.aquashard.co.uk
Lowndes Hotel Summer Terrace
Bombay Sapphire Terrace
We love gin and we love a summer terrace so obviously we’re going to love the terrace at Lowndes Bar and Terrace which is serving up a whole host of Bombay Sapphire gin cocktails this summer. Give us a sunny evening and you’ll find us drinking the Sapphire French, a twist on the classic French 75 cocktail – a generous glug of Bombay Sapphire (music to our ears) infused with lemon juice, pear nectar, sugar syrup and topped with Champagne.
Where: Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel, 21 Lowndes Street, Belgravia, SW1X 9ES
Website: www.lowndesbarandkitchen.co.uk
Balans Soho Society
Gin for Breakfast
We don’t normally advocate alcohol for breakfast (brunch, yes) but breakfast is a little early… then again, not every day is World Gin Day is it? So if you’re looking to start your day with a little debauchery or you haven’t made it home yet then Balans Soho Society is the place to go. They’re serving up a range of breakfast and brunch plates all with different gin libations. We’ve got our eye on the steak and eggs served with a breakfast martini made from King of Soho gin, triple sec, lemon juice and orange marmalade and comes with a crispy toasted sourdough ‘dunker’ which you have to use to soak up the cocktail and then dunk in the egg yolk – apparently it’s a winner. We also like the look of the Eggs in Hell; poached eggs in a tomato chilli sauce with parmesan, Balans potatoes and paired with the spicy Original Snapper; a blend of Broker’s gin, tomato juice and Tabasco.
Where: 60 - 62 Old Compton Street, Soho, W1D 4UG
Website: www.balans.co.uk
Rosewood London
London's Largest Collection of Gin
If it’s choice you’re after, then you’re going to need to go to the Gin Bar. They have London’s largest collection of gin – with over 400 different types and 27 tonics meaning that there are a staggering 14,035 different G&T pairings… forget World Gin Day, we’re going to need World Gin Year.
Where: Rosewood London, High Holborn, London, United Kingdom
Website: www.rosewoodhotels.com
SUSHISAMBA
Artistry in Alchemy Terrace
Until the 30th August if you head to the SUSHISAMBA Tree Terrace you’ll find that it has transformed into the Artistry in Alchemy Terrace, which will showcase a new cocktail list celebrating Bombay Sapphire and its 10 vapour-infused botanicals. Head of Spirit and Cocktail Development at SUSHISAMBA, Rich Woods, will be mixing up the cocktails and he certainly knows a thing or two about Bombay Sapphire having won their Most Imaginative Bartender UK and Ireland in 2014. He’ll be using unusual ingredients from around the world such as matcha green tea, yuzu juice, kaffir lime leaf and coffee infused aromatised wine to create cocktails such as the Yuzu and Gin Fizz and Mayan Rose. Your standard G&T these are not.
Where: Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AY
Website: www.sushisamba.com
The Goring
A Gin Safari
The Goring garden has seen many things in its time from a zoo to a beach with 80 tonnes of sand but currently it’s all about gin. They’ve teamed up with Hepple Gin, an emerging British spirit brand to launch new summer cocktails including a Hepple martini and Hepple summer cup. To do this they’ve brought the moors of Northumberland to the garden in the form of a living hill filled with botanicals, heather and wildflowers.
Where: Beeston Place, Belgravia, SW1W 0JW
Website: www.thegoring.com
