Gin Workshop With The Botanist

A couple of months ago, I had a glorious evening trying out The Botanist’s new summer menu, so I was delighted to be invited back to join in with their gin workshop. I immediately knew this would be right up my pal/former housemate Polly’s street, and we both walked into the event expecting all good things, but not really knowing what the evening would entail.

I think it’s safe to say we underestimated just how much gin would be sent our way: imagine a makeshift production line of eager bloggers sat with their cameras poised along a lengthy table, where every ten or so minutes a different type of gin would be passed down along the line until we each had our own samplers. We were talked through each of the gins by the knowledgeable staff member leading the workshop, taught how to take full advantage of the smell and taste of them (apparently not everyone’s automatic response is ‘shots shot shots, down it fresherrrrr’, who knew?) , and advised on how best to serve and garnish them with the embellishments provided. Essentially, it was an evening of drinking gin and taking cute Instagram photos… exactly my kind of event. It got to a point where we were utterly surrounded by cute canapés and half full glasses of alcohol, with a constant stream of more heading down the makeshift blogger production line towards us. 10/10 would recommend.

If I tried to list the various types of gin and their qualities, I definitely wouldn’t do them justice. Instead, let me direct you to The Botanist’s drinks menu, where you can browse their selection for yourselves. During the event, we learned some really interesting things about the history of gin, and I really liked that it wasn’t an information overload: it was just the right balance of facts and, well… drinking. I have to admit that in the past, I’ve panicked when ordering a G&T and they’ve asked what gin I would like. Now, I can smugly say that I’ll have a Brockmans please: the sweeter, more fruity taste of this one was definitely my fave, and I’ll be looking out for it again on my next visit.

A huge thank you again to The Botanist team for another fab evening that gave me gorgeous and much-needed Instagram content (seriously, have you SEEN that place?!), lovely new blogger friends, wonderful food and drink, and actual knowledge about all things gin-related. I’ll definitely be back soon!