Monday 28 May 2018

GUILDFORD GIN FESTIVAL


I think they say laughter is the best medicine but failing that, if you're anything like me - have a few gins and you'll soon be giggling away. I bloody love a good Gin so when I was invited to the Guildford Gin Festival, I knew this was a must attend event! 

We attended the Sunday afternoon session, unfortunately the weather didn't quite deliver on that day as it was absolutely freezing! Weather aside, we were there to try the fabulous variety of gins which they had available and the way in which it worked was that you payed with tokens. We were kindly gifted a couple of free drinks as part of attending the event which was amazing. 


My first & probably my favourite drink of choice was the Tinker Gin Pink - this wasn't a gin I had tried previously but definitely one I would have again. I love love love pink gin - this has a delicious strawberry flavour! When trying this initially I had this with a normal tonic.





Other drinks we tried included...

Sharish Blue Magic Gin: It's magic as this turns from blue / purple to pink when you add tonic... very 'instagrammable' and tastes amazing too! 

Rhubarb Rumble: My favourite cocktail by far from the festival and maybe I had a few too many of these on the day. This drink tastes so good that honestly it must be really unhealthy for you - made up of Edinburgh Rhubarb & Ginger Liqueur, Advocat, Apple Juice, Lemon juice, Rhubarb Bitters and finished off with a rhubarb and custard sweet! Reading the description of this drink, I was curious to give it a try but did not think it would be a favourite of mine but i'm obsessed.

Anyone know where I can get this drink again? If not, I'm going to have to learn how to make it. 

Tinker Pink Fizz: Made up of Tinker Pink Gin, Prosecco, Elderflower Cordial, Creme de Fraise, Cranberry Juice, Mint & Lemon Juice. Another delicious drink! 

Also, another bonus from the event was we were able to take our Gin Festival glasses away with us, so I can now enjoy my drinks at home using proper glasses too! 

Overall, we had a fab day at the Gin Festival and would definitely love to go back again. Let me know if you've ever been before or if there are any similar events happening soon... 








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Thursday 10 May 2018

TURTLE BAY: RUM TASTING EXPERIENCE

OK, so I am officially the world's worst blogger and have been meaning to write this post for a long long time now. Honestly, I know its not an excuse but time really does just fly, especially with working in London - the commute takes an extra few hours out of my day. 

Anyway... enough about that, today I wanted to share the fabulous experience I had at Turtle Bay, Guildford for their Rum Tasting event. This happened to be on James birthday, who is a massive fan of Rum, so I decided this would also be a great evening for him too. When we arrived we were greeted with a Rum Punch (the drink), a new favourite of mine since visiting Antigua. We were then seated in front of a selection of 7 different neat rums for us to try- I knew I was definitely going to be leaving a little bit merry...

The place mat beneath the glasses indicated the brand and name of the rum along with the strengths - personally the way I look at it was the rums were becoming more and more alcoholic as the evening went on - not that I'm complaining!  

There were three different types of Appletons Estate with each being aged for different lengths of time. We had the original, an 8 year old and then a 12 year old. Each had a unique flavour, this is definitely something you pick up more on when drinking rum neat. We finished with one of strongest rums - Wray & Nephew 63% white rum, a little to strong for me personally, this literally burnt my mouth drinking it straight!!  



 The Koko Kanu white rum was definitely my favourite out of all as it was much sweeter with a coconut flavour. I also learnt this is the rum that they use in my favourite cocktail from Turtle Bay, the Koko Colada (picture below). 


We had also reserved a table in Turtle Bay for dinner to celebrate James' birthday. We ordered Jerk Halloumi to start - this is sooo good and isn't actually too spicy! 


For mains I had the Pulled Chicken Wrap and James had the Street Shack Burger, both of which came with fries! Both meals we're delicious! 



Lastly for dessert we shared the Banana and Toffee Cheesecake, something I'd had before at Turtle Bay and had to have again. 


We've also downloaded the new Turtle Bay app which means you can earn points and also receive offers per visit to Turtle Bay - we'll definitely be going back again soon!








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