According to the old world wide web, it only takes one hour to learn how to learn the fundamentals of Google Docs, how to tie your shoelaces more effectively and how to morse code. But who needs to waste an hour of their time learning how to save one second tying your shoelaces, when you could instead use 60 precious minutes vastly improving your gin knowledge?
That’s precisely what Fever-tree’s Gin School aims to do, along with teaching you more about the often-ignored tonic-side of drinks. Taking place in the backroom of a wood-panelled, basement pub in the City, the school kept things personal with room for around 15 people per session. Max and Connor led the proceedings, kicking things off with a talk on the Fevertree Tonic range; just as we’d finished slurping elderflower and Mediterranean mixes, we were onto a whirlwind history talk. If history has never been your strong point, the boys make it a whole lot easier with a Portobello Road G&T to sip as they condense 400 years into some fun and quirky facts - did you know the average Londoner used to drink 1.5l of gin every darn day?
With our bar chat-up knowledge greatly improved and a deeper appreciation for tonic, it was onto crafting our own bottles of spirit. A beaker of base spirit was already prepared and it was our task to create a flavour from the five bottles of various distils which ranged from sweet and citrus through to spicy and savoury. Once we'd muddled up 100ml of our chosen flavours, it was poured into a bottle with the base spirit, slapped with a label and plonked in a Fever-Tree goodie bag. Who says learning something new has to be hard; Fever-Tree couldn't make it any easier with this fun and fast class.
Fever Tree Gin School is taking place at Merchant House Bow Lane until 20th December. Tickets cost £45 and include an hour lesson, a gin and tonic, a 500ml bottle of your own gin and a Fever-Tree goodie bag.