World Gin Day
8th June 2022
8th June 2022
Saturday 11th June 2022 marks World Gin Day, a global celebration of all things gin! The idea of the awareness day is simple – celebrate and enjoy the popular juniper spirit.
Gin is a distilled alcoholic drink that derives its flavour from juniper berries. The spirit originated as a medicinal liquid made by monks in Europe, especially in Italy and the Netherlands. Gin became widespread after 1688 and the Glorious Revolution led by William of Orange and the restrictions that followed on French brandy. Gin then emerged as the national alcoholic drink of England.
The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) is toasting World Gin Day this Saturday by revealing that Brits continue to explore the world of gin, with sales in shops at a record high. Figures released by the WSTA show that sales of gin in shops, supermarkets and online equated to a staggering 80 million bottles in 2021, worth £1.3 billion. That is an increase in 30% from the previous year.
The UK’s spirit sector is made up of a large number of SME businesses and supports around 230,000 jobs across the supply chain. The WSTA is confident that, owing to the continued popularity of gin, the spirit proves just the tonic to aid our resilient hospitality’s recovery since covid, and is encouraging drinkers to head out and raise a glass this World Gin Day.
Miles Beale, Chief Executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association said: “Hospitality’s closure during the covid pandemic didn’t dampened enthusiasm to enjoy the vast array of gins now on the market. Sales of gin have never been this high in our shops and supermarkets before – but this is encouraging news for our hospitality industry too – some of these sales have shifted over to pubs, bars and restaurants.”
The growth in gin sales began to emerge in 2013 when British consumers started to show renewed interest in the juniper-based spirit. Over the subsequent three years sales continued to grow at a steady pace enticing entrepreneurs to invest in artisanal brands leading to an explosion in new distilleries springing up across the country. Remarkably the number of distilleries in England has almost tripled since 2016, which was the same year that the gin boom helped the number of English distilleries overtake Scotland for the first time.
England’s distillery numbers topped 300 for the first time, with 311 registered distilleries in 2020. Scotland increased its number of distilleries to 214, and Wales and Northern Ireland saw distillery numbers grow too. The total number of distilleries registered in the UK last year grew to over 560, up from over 440 the previous year.
The interest in British gin, which has been dubbed the ‘ginaissance’, has helped to fund new forays into spirit-making, with high-quality English and Welsh whisky and rums coming onto the market in recent years.
There are various venues at The Pantiles where you can enjoy a gin or two on World Gin Day, including Framptons.
Tom, Ed and Sam are three ex-military entrepreneurs who began their journey with Framptons in 2016. They discovered Framptons on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire and were inspired by the historic building and delicious menu, setting up their own branch in the old bank in The Pantiles.
Framptons is well equipped to quench your thirst this World Gin Day with the extensive gin menu, which includes:
Tanqueray: a balanced London dry
Cotswold Dry: a delicate blend with Cotswold lavender
Bathtub: a gentle infusion of citrus, cardamon and pine
Trevethan: handcrafted small batches from Cornish hedgerows
Conker: a Dorset dry with new forest gorse, elderberries and samphire
Greensand Ridge Raspberry Ghost: made with ripe Kentish raspberries
Tanqueray Flor de Sevilla: a balanced London dry with bittersweet Seville orange
Agnes Arber Rhubarb: the delicious tartness of rhubarb
Hendrick’s: a fresh infusion of cucumber and rose
However you choose to celebrate World Gin Day, always drink responsibly.