What better way to spend a wet, windy early autumn Edinburgh evening than in the grand space of the Corn Exchange for the Gin Festival!
On arrival we were met with cheery, well informed hosts who provided each visitor with a large glass to keep and use for the evening along with a small information booklet to enable us to record any information about our favourite samples (£20 for any 4 drinks)
In the buzzing, busy atmosphere a live band was playing contemporary jazz while gin experts and those still developing their tasting skills had the opportunity to choose samples from a huge variety of well known and new gins from all over the world. Choosing was made slightly easier by the bars being labeled and in the visitors “kit” we were provided with including a little guide book which described the gins and at which bar so you could find your perfect match.
After sampling a rather delicious, but somewhat intoxicating gin cocktail, we decided to visit the masterclass room to discover how to make the perfect G&T – so we would be able to impress our friends at home with our drink mixing skills.
We were lucky enough to hear Chris Molyneaux, managing director of Daffy’s gin present in a very engaging yet informed way about why Daffy’s gin (43.4 proof!) is the best in the world. He has every right to claim this as they were awarded “Gold” from the International Wine and Spirit competition. Chris entertained us with anecdotes of how they created the bottle, (Italian crystal) the cork (beautiful “pop” when it is pulled) and who the image of “the Goddess of gin” on the bottle is based on, and why it is called Daffy’s which I’ll let you find these two out for yourself! Amazingly it can also be drunk neat – which I did- and I am now a confirmed Daffy’s gin drinker.
So…. to make the perfect G&T:
Ice cold glass plus lots of ice – large cubes best | 50ml Gin – poured slowly down the side of the glass | pour over 100ml (max 150ml) | finish with a garnish of mint, lime or apple |Sit back and enjoy!
I would thoroughly recommend a visit to any of the gin festivals across the UK for entertainment, information and of course, wonderful gin sampling in a great atmosphere.
~Morag
Morag Pendry is based in Edinburgh and believes in all things social enterprise and co-operative. She can most usually found quaffing whisky in untrendy places.
The Plus Ones were invited as kind guests of The Gin Festival.
