Graphic Bar Gin Off

On Monday we visited Graphic Bar in Soho – for ‘the greatest cocktail tournament in history!’ It was our first visit there and we loved it!

It was the first round of the Gin Off event they are running over the course of the next 6 months, there was a great vibe with a room full of gin enthusiasts. Graphic have a fantastic back bar featuring over 300 different gins but this night was all about 4 very competitive Gin brands: Bols Genever, Whitley Neill, Copper Head and Plymouth Gin.

Each night of the gin off, a bartender from each brand creates a signature inventive cocktail to show off their incredible gin. Each cocktail was then judged by everyone in the bar. They served a fascinating array of cocktails shown below, but a special congratulations to Copper Head for winning round 1 and Whitley Neill for Runner up.

Bols Genever

These guys served up ‘I’m not a cupcake’ – gin, sherry and lemon juice featured in this cocktail which was then topped up with Champagne and served in a chocolate cup.

 

Whitley Neill

These guys delivered a delicious cocktail that brought them in as runners up in this round. It tasted mainly of Melon and Cucumber and made a refreshing change to some of the sweeter cocktails on offer that night.

 

Copper Head

It’s safe to say they did a very good job putting on a fantastic show for everyone watching, everything matched their branding and dry ice is always a winner when there’s an audience of gin lovers to serve. The cocktail itself was delicious and there was plenty of it, even if it was a little too sweet!

 

 

Plymouth Gin

It was no surprise when Plymouth served up a nautical themed cocktail – even featuring a shell chocolate balanced on my slice of lime for garnish – yum! It was a delightfully refreshing cocktail although to be honest I was a little disappointed with the lack of flavour which surprised us as it’s a great gin but difficult to judge when sampling so many cocktails – we like your style Pylmouth!

 

 

Don’t panic if you missed out on this one there are three more rounds as sixteen gin brands from all around the world compete in the ultimate battle of the bottles with the hope of becoming the Gin Off champion 2016!

Round 2 – Monday 23rd April

Thomas Dakin

Slingsby

Boxer

East London Liquor Company

 

Round 3 – Monday 20th June

Ungava

Silent Pool

Haymans

Pink Pepper

 

Round 4 – Monday 18th July

Boodles

Sipsmith

Tarquins

Martin Millers

 

Semi Final – Monday 24th October

Final – 21st November

Anyone can attend the event but you need to purchase a ticket before hand. Tickets are only £10 and you get to try 4 different gin cocktails! I can highly recommend it as a fun evening out..its just a shame its a Monday night not a Friday!

The victorious cocktail will be announced in November and allocated to Graphic’s 2017 menu, so make sure to let your voice be heard if you’re a gin lover!