World Gin Day

Yesterday, June 13th, was World Gin Day. I only stumbled across later in the evening so I waited until today to post about it.

The UK is well known for its gin. Less well known but an up and comer is South Africa. They are especially getting known for their craft distilled gins. From my recent trip to South Africa, I brought these two home with me. This brings to seven the different gins I’ve brought home from there.

Bloedlemoen (pronounced ‘Blue’d Le Moon’) adds blood orange to the traditional juniper and other botanicals. It is distilled in Cape Town, South Africa. According to their website, it is the world’s first blood orange gin.

Six Dogs Blue comes from the Six Dogs Distillery. They are located on a farm in De Wet, Western Cape which is northwest of Cape Town. The blue color comes from the blue pea flower. When mixed with tonic water, your drink turns a light pink. Six Dogs makes a number of unique gins including Six Dogs Karoo which uses botanicals such as wild lavender and the Karoo thorn flower which they grow on their own farm.

To all the gin lovers out there, I wish them a happy but belated World Gin Day.

International Gin & Tonic Day

October 19th is International Gin and Tonic Day. It was created by Jayne Withers in honor of her grandmother Mary Edith Keyburn. Mrs. Keyburn lived to the ripe old age of 95 and enjoyed her gin and tonics. Indeed, her family smuggled a gin and tonic into the hospital in water bottle and served it to her in a tea cup. She sounds like she was my kind of older woman!

I plan to honor this day (and Mrs. Keyburn) with a gin and tonic made from one of the craft gins that I brought back from my two trips to South Africa this year mated with a tonic from Franklin and Sons. The British Empire will be well represented with a UK tonic and a South African gin. As an aside, distilling craft gins in South Africa is quite the industry with small distilleries scattered across the country.

Happy International Gin & Tonic Day

There is a special day for anything and everything. Thus, today is International Gin & Tonic Day.

I shall be partaking of course. I am thinking Fever Tree Tonic with one of my Texas gins such as Calamity or Waterloo No. 9. The only gins I have in the house right now are from either Texas or California. I don’t know where Sam’s Club distills their gin so I won’t worry about it.

The day was founded by Jayne Withers in honor of her 95 year old grandmother who refused to drink water in the hospital. She insisted on her gin and tonic so it was smuggled in to her as Ms. Withers explains below.

So here is to Mary Edith Keyburn who preferred gin and tonic over just plain water.