TWO gin cocktails in and the group is unmistakably tipsy. The giggles are rife.
...to arrive in ‘Gintopia’ the group would have to wake up and smell the juniper
Our Gin Journey host, aptly named ‘Gin and Juice Jonno’, is attempting to guide us through the tumultuous yet romantic history of 'Mother's Ruin', from eighteenth century booze-addled mothers hooked on cheap homespun gin to its modern day renaissance.
Midway through the story, the tipsiest of the group sets down a massive pitcher of what was the jolliest cocktail of the evening (Home Sweet Home's ‘super blueberry maple flapjack Collins’) and whimpers, “so is that why gin makes me cry on a night out?”
The group bursts out laughing.
Effortlessly charming, Gin-and-Juice Jonno (real name Jonathon Ojinnaka), an actor by profession, including stints in Dr Who, Coronation Street and The Caravan, orders the group to drink up, there's four more gin bars to visit and plenty more 'gincidents' to be had.
The Gin Journey - as much about the laughs as an educational tour - sees us visit a clutch of Manchester's best bars: Hawksmoor, Home Sweet Home, Gorilla, Cottonopolis and Cane & Grain. Travelling via posh mini bus, Jonno promises us ‘a school trip, but sexier’. Given all the flirtations and fluttering eyelashes directed towards our host, he's not far off.
Gin and Juice JonnoLaunched in London in 2013 by dapper ‘Gin Boss’ Leon Dalloway, a self-styled ‘booze-loving and knowledge-thirsty’ ex-bartender, the Gin Journey is successfully riding the wave of the gin renaissance in London, Manchester and Liverpool, with plans to extend operations into other major UK cities. And with gin sales in the UK currently set to top the £1bn mark, Dalloway couldn't have timed it better.
Back to the journey, where we'd be told that to truly reach 'Gintopia' we'd have to wake up and smell the Juniper, quite literally, as our host carried the berries round in a doctor's bag. The class is told we'd be sampling 'only premium gin brands', including Manchester-distilled Thomas Dakin gin and Martin Miller’s Westbourne gin - once voted the 'Best Gin in the World'.
To kick things off in a sophisticated manner we congregated at Hawksmoor - perhaps Manchester's classiest bar - to begin with their 'anti-fogmatic' cocktails (originally crafted as morning 'pick-me-ups'). ‘Away with the Senses’ was a medley of green Chartreuse, lime, Cocchi Americano and Thomas Dakin gin, and true to it's name, an invigorating hit to the senses (Incidentally, Warrington-born Dakin spearheaded the first gin resurgence back in the eighteenth century).
Dalloway leads a Gin Journey in Cottonopolis
Thomas Dakin Gin and the 'Away with the Senses' cocktailBack in the bus now and over to Great Northern’s Home Sweet Home and a secret entrance by an innocent-looking vending machine... who knew? Our second cocktail was a super sweet diabetic coma-inducing concoction named ‘Super Blueberry Maple Flapjack Collins’, using botanically-packed Martin Miller's Westbourne, garnished with a full sized flapjack. Yep... a bloody flapjack. Should we have expected anything less from Manchester's favourite cake merchants?
Here we learnt more about Gin Lane, a famous illustration by William Hogarth which culminated in the Gin Act of 1751, through which many shady gin shops were shut down. We also discovered why one of the group broke down in tears every time she but sniffed a drop.
On to the next stop where the group got chance to mix it up and make their own cocktails behind another secret door at Gorilla, this time using Beefeater Gin and Fever Tree tonic water. This resulted in the tipsier few attempting to bung as many garnishes as possible into one glass. Things begin to get fuzzy, the notes become unintelligible...
Home Sweet Home's 'Super Blueberry Maple Flapjack Collins'We hopped back onto the mini-bus and ventured on to Northern Quarter’s Japanese'ish restaurant bar, Cottonopolis. Waiting for us there was a refreshing, summery Kurofune cocktail; a concoction of Plymouth gin, Plymouth Sloe, cucumber and shiso-infused Soju (try saying that after a few gin cocktails), lemon and gomme, served long and cool with a shiso granita garnish.
Jonno dished out more wise words on gin... but unfortunately I lose them in the bottom of a glass.
Finally, we finished over at Cane & Grain and up into their tucked away hush-hush bar upstairs - a far more laid back, mature and wooden affair than the bright lights and pop-punk downstairs - to try their 'North Pole'; using Sipsmith London Dry gin, home-made coco/rose almond syrup, fresh lime juice and a dash of violet liquor. Served in a Martini glass with strawberry, coconut and Amaretto dust on the rim, this turned out to be a firm favourite amongst the Gin Journey's troupe, as had Jonno, who was now gallantly deflecting the advances of the now shamelessly gin-soaked rabble.
Beefeater 24Having imparted all the gin wisdom he could muster on what were now thoroughly sozzled minds, Gin and Juice Jonno departs in a blaze of glory, his guests in high spirits, a job very well done.
To savour the Gin Journey (and its host) will set you back £50, which, when you consider the cocktails, the transport and the chance to pick the knowledgeable mind of the gin host, is a pretty nifty deal.
Gin Journeys take place in Manchester on Wednesday nights, though we're sure more Manchester tours from the Gin Boss and 'Gin and Juice Jonno' would be most welcome... and just for the record, we're also happy to 'research' whisky, rum, vodka, tequila...
Book yourself on the next Gin Journey here
