Gin Journey in London
One of the passions I share with my parents is my love of gin. When I’m home, they regularly ask me if I would like a pre-dinner G&T, and the answer is usually yes. During one of these occasions, they told me about their plans for their upcoming trip to London. One of the activities that they were thinking about was going on a gin tour. I thought this sounded like a dream come true! London is famous for their gin, with some of the most popular brands of gin coming out of the city. I knew that tasting my favourite beverage in the gin capital of the world was something I wanted to do in my lifetime. A few weeks before my parents left for London, I found a new job and had some time off before my start date. Just enough time to join my parents in London for a few days!
The gin tour we went on was through Gin Journeys, which offers gin tours all over the UK. They run tours in a few different areas of London; the one we went on was through Notting Hill. The tour entailed visiting five different bars and trying a gin sample and a gin cocktail at each bar over four and a half hours.
We expected the drinks would all be sample sized, as most people don’t typically consume 10 drinks within the span of a few hours, but we were wrong (I was more than okay with that). The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable, and had worked at one of London’s premiere craft gin distilleries. He educated us all about the history of gin and tonics, and told us what to look out for in each drink. They also provided us with a minibus to chauffeur us around to all the bars, which was a nice touch.
Tip: Drinking gin straight isn’t my favourite, so I would I have a sip of the sample, and then dump the rest in my cocktail to turn it into a double.
They allotted enough time at one of the bars so we could order food. This was definitely needed after consuming that amount of alcohol. As well, one of the fancy bars we went to provided us with mixed nuts to snack on! They also had some gin trivia throughout the tours where you could win sample size bottles of gin.
The tour was roughly $100 per person, and I definitely think you get your money’s worth! Everything was extremely organized, and the drinks were typically waiting for us when we entered the bar.
I loved my experience with Gin Journey and would recommend it for any gin lovers visiting the UK!
Check them out here: http://www.ginjourney.com
If you’re looking for something else to do while you’re in The UK, check out my post about the British afternoon tea experience.
