The title says it all doesn’t it?
With just over a week before the London Marathon this was in my diary and I wasn’t going to behave. I’d had it booked for months in advance. And besides. It was GIN.
Four bars holding thirteen different gins.
Fifty two gins.
It was a giant game of gin Pokemon (Gotta Catch ‘Em All), though of course, I was aiming for the unusual craft gins I hadn’t tried before. Fifty two samples in one night is beyond even me. At least if I were to remain conscious.
This idea of heaven was held in the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Art in the Northern Quarter and, after a heavy day at the Cake & Bake Show and a quick supper in Beef & Pudding (yes, again. I’m addicted), myself, Katharine and Keeley headed over to collect our tokens and start sipping.
As with most festivals of this kind, Gin Festival operates on a token basis. As well as your ticket, you pay £20 for a card with 5 tokens on it – £4 a gin is pretty reasonable given these are sometimes rare and unusual gins you won’t get in your local bar.
And if tasting gin wasn’t enough, there were learning opportunities, from brand representatives on site, including Fever-Tree Tonics and Ish Gin, as well as live music to get your feet tapping.
And if you were peckish, Flavours Found were on site with some delicious snacks and nibbles to keep tummies from grumbling – including some stunning gin themed macarons and a gin flavoured ice cream, alongside their usual spiced goodies.
Now to the gins.
As a long term gin lover I was thrilled to see the care and attention that had gone into the festival. Each gin was paired with a garnish that suited it’s flavours. Grapefruit, lemon, lime, blueberries, raspberries, mint, rocket, rosemary – the list seemed endless.
Once you selected your gin, your garnish and ice (as much as you preferred) was added, your token taken and then it was up to you. To tonic, or not to tonic.
I must admit, most of my gins were chosen for tasting and so drunk neat with a single cube of ice. But in amongst the gins on offer were some, such as Pinksters, that simply come alive with the addition of a little tonic.
And of course, having representatives from Fever-Tree tonics on hand meant you had not only a whole heap of knowledge to plunder, but a lot of tonics to choose from – decisions, decisions.
For those with a sweeter tooth, there were flavoured gins available including strawberry and mint, an exclusive for the festival and paired with Prosecco. Given her love of fizz, Keeley was a very happy lady.
It was also, for me, the opportunity to meet a whole bunch of fellow gin lovers – including long term twitter friends from London, who had headed up for a visit, and those from more local climes who though long used to my gin ramblings, had yet to hear them from the horse’s mouth as it were.
Given the sheer number of gins on offer, unsurprisingly there were quite a few stars of the show. The Colonel will be pleased to hear that Pinkster went down very well as did the newest offering from Da Mhile – the seaweed botanical in this gives it a stunning ozone scent and the saltiness would lend itself perfectly to a dirty Martini.
I was thrilled to be able to try Colonel Fox’s London Dry gin, which whilst peppery was also rather sweet and loved the pine and rosemary notes of Boodles.
Opihr went down very well again and Little Bird with it’s ginger and spice was delicious.
But from those I sampled, a surprise stunner came from a little closer to home and it was Liverpool Gin with watermelon as a garnish that is going on my ‘must have’ list. I loved this combination.
This was the first event by Gin Festival in Manchester and I sincerely hope it’s not the last. Their next event in Newcastle in June has already sold out and I’m certain their return visit to Leeds in July to sell out as well.
I’m sure we can persuade them back. Can’t we?
Tickets to attend the festival cost around £6, with five gin tokens costing £20.
With thanks to both Gin Festival and Katharine Sullivan for their images.