Did you know that the second Saturday in June is World Gin Day? Yep. Started in 2009 by Neil Houston in Birmingham, he thought it would be a great way to bring friends together who also enjoyed gin. In 2010 he collaborated with his, already Gin friend, Emma Stokes of Gin Monkey and took the celebration to London to a small bar called Graphic in Soho. Since then it has grown and grown to become a world wide celebration.
Gin dates back to around 16th century Holland, but since then different varieties of Gin have emerged.
- 1. London Dry – a very dry, light bodied but pungent Gin, this is what most of us know and mix with a tonic.
- 2. Plymouth Gin – This is made in Pylmouth England and is Clean fresh Gin, again good mixed with most tonics.
- 3. Old Tom – This has only recently come back on the market and is a dry but sweeter Gin. Haymans do a variety with hints of orange peel and Violets where as Ransom do one with hints of black pepper and Vanilla.
- 4. Genever – This is an original style gin which uses a malt-spirit base, not unlike whisky.
- 5. International Style Gin – These are the new style Gins using the expanding palates of Botanicals. These are good for making cocktails. Popular brands are Hendrix and Whitley Neill.
What is your favourite Gin and what do you like to mix it with? If you want to find out more about World Gin Day follow the link to the World Gin Day page. There you can see what events are taking place and where.
We are all told to drink responsibly, and so we should, but sometimes enjoying a drink can lead to events that shouldn’t happen. Back in 2016 a friend and me decided to go to Barcelona. We arrived at Gatwick airport in plenty of time and having booked a VIP lounge, that was going to be our first port of call after clearing security. Off we headed, found the lounge and the first thing we did was order ourselves a large Gin & Tonic. Second priority was to order our food, it was complementary after all. Confident that all was on track we started to enjoy our drink. Time seemed to stand still, but at some point I said we should check our gate time. As I read our tickets and then looked at the time I went numb. Gates were closing in 5 minutes and we were the other side of the airport. We both grabbed our bags and ran out of the VIP lounge. Two slightly tippsy women running along the corridor was not a good sight to be seen. As we came into the main terminal I glanced up at the information board, after all 5 minutes is long enough to get to the gates, isn’t it? But, and I read this two, three times to make sure, the flight was delayed by an hour. I shouted after my friend who came and double checked and yes, an hours delay. Feeling rather smug and hugely relieved, we headed back to the VIP lounge. The best bit is, that not only was our table still free, with our drinks still there, but as we sat down the waiter came out with our food.
I would love to hear your stories and see your pictures of you out celebrating. You can upload them to the Confident Cooking page I may run a competition, so keep an eye out and get yourself entered. I’m sure there will be Gin involved somewhere!
For meal ideas to go with your Gin, go to www.confidentcooking.net.
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