#worldginday

World Gin Day

Distilled from Juniper berries, gin is one of the sweetest, most subtly flavored liquors. Have a martini, gin and tonic, negroni, or any other gin cocktail.

Distilled spirits have been with us for a very long time, and all of  them have rich histories covering the sometimes mysterious origins of  their use. While spirits have long been used medicinally, only one  started as a medicine and then became a mixer for one of the most  important medicines in history.This delicious, smooth drink is  distilled from the berries of the Juniper tree and can trace its origins  back to an older drink from Denmark known as Jenever.

History of Gin Day

Gin Day was established by England’s own connoisseur of the  juniper-based drink, the Gin Monkey. Emma, the titular Gin Monkey, has  been a huge fan of cocktails of all kinds and has worked throughout the  Newcastle, London, and Leeds area in multiple cocktail bars. Taking this  experience to the streets she created her Gin Monkey site, put together  with the intent of saving intrepid bar-hoppers from finding the worst  of the alcohol joints at their destination.

After having had an incredibly hard time finding anything worth  drinking when she first arrived in London, she decided someone had to  solve this problem for other travelers, and it might as well be her.  Since then she’s taken a dedicated role in providing independent and  impartial views of the gin joints in her area… well, they serve more  than gin, but one is allowed to have a favorite, wouldn’t you say?

But gin has had a noble history as a medicine as well, or rather, as a  way to make medicine more palatable. Quinine is the distillation of the  ground bark of the cinchona tree, which produced a tonic that was  capable of treating malaria. Unfortunately, the quinine was incredibly  bitter, and gin was used to cut it. The flavor caught on, and to this  day, the tonic in the Gin and Tonic contains the slightest bit of  quinine to capture the flavor of the original.

The history of World Fin Day itself began in 2009, following the  efforts of an avid gin connoisseur, Neil Houston. He was already a  massive fan of gin, but wanted to find a way to bring the drink to more  people so that they could enjoy it. At the time, it looked as if other  spirits might supersede gin. So he and the “Gin Monkey” Emma Stokes,  teamed up to launch the first World Gin Day in Birmingham as a way to  popularize a gin bar. In 2010, they launched a similar event in London  and have been celebrating this juniper-based beverage like clockwork  ever since.

World Gin Day started as a tiny event in 2009, but it has since grown  to enormous proportions. In the last few years, things have really  taken off. At the last count, the organizers reached more than 200  million social media users and ran events in more than 30 countries.

Those in charge now put on a vast range of events – everything from  tasting to lectures on the drink’s origins. Prominent figures associated  with the day run masterclasses, too, where participants learn how to  make drinks. And there are even professional courses where bartenders  can up their game.

How to celebrate Gin Day

Celebrating Gin Day is best done by diving straight in and  experimenting with some of the drinks that gin has made amazing. Take a  look at Buzzfeed for a list of drinks that are out of this world, and don’t forget to check in with the Gin Monkey  to get the updated list of the best places in the world to have a  smashingly good cocktail! Gin Day is the best day (other than yesterday  and tomorrow) to have a nice Gin Cocktail!

The best way to celebrate gin day is to travel to one of the original  gin bars and try a range of mixers and cocktails. Some of the best  establishments offer “house drinks” with a unique twist you can’t get  anywhere else. While the classic drink is gin and tonic, there are now a  host of variations that you can try.

If you don’t want to travel, you can check to see whether anybody is  organizing a World Gin Day-related event in your local community. Local  gin companies will often arrange street parties where people can show up  and sample local beverages made in their area. Many of these events  also provide food and even opportunities to improve your cocktail-making  skills.

The organizers of the event have expanded their activities all over  the world. You can attend taste-testing sessions, gin-related treasure  hunts, pop-up markets focusing on gin, and garden parties. Just look for  what’s going on in your local area by visiting the official World Gin  Day website.

Finally, you can also experiment with making your own gin beverages  at home. There are dozens of recipes out there, both traditional and  modern, that you can try to emulate. Red Lake, for instance, is a gin  drink made of 1.5 oz Monkey 47 Gin, raspberry syrup, and lime juice.  Likewise, Feeling Blue is a cocktail that uses 2 oz gin mixed with lemon  juice, grapefruit bitters, tonic water, and dry Vermouth.

Gin is one of the most important liquors in the world and the basis  for some of our most beautiful drinks. Just like wine, it is possible to  become a connoisseur and learn the different tastes and subtle notes  from each producer.

Just remember to celebrate World Gin Day responsibly. Aim for merriment, not inebriation!