So, it’s been nearly a month since the month that was #GinADayMay but what a month that was! Ordinarily I would have written the recap a little more promptly but (what with homeschooling two kids and caring for two elderly parents) lockdown hasn’t been particularly easy of late. Anyway, better late than never right? And actually it’s been really lovely for me to look back on it all with a little more distance; it’s really helped me appreciate just how good it all was!

Whether it was down to better planning, reaching out to more makers or that we’re all living under lockdown, the second #GinADayMay was definitely bigger and better than the first. With lots of new bloggers and brands getting inspired by this year’s prompts we saw approximately 6.5k posts on Instagram, compared to last year’s 4k, and lots of engagement on Twitter too. So, before I share some of my highlights, a huge thank you to everyone who took part in 2020; I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Having learnt last year how few of you like posting selfies and being asked to pick your favourite gin (or indeed almost anything!) I dropped those prompts (and some others) and came up with some new ones for 2020. Some definitely worked better than others; had I known we would be living in lockdown I don’t think I would have included event for example! But others really sparked some wonderful artistry and imagination. Here are (some of) 2020’s #GinADayMay posts that really caught my eye.

Alongside all the creativity and cocktails, a number of brands also decided to use #GinADayMay to announce the launch of their new gins which was a huge honour.  Day 16, Navy, saw the announcement of Colonsay‘s Tonn Mor – meaning Huge Wave – and Gower‘s GWYR Rhosili ‘Dragon Strength’ Gin which comes in at a stonking 60% ABV!  Then on Day 26, New, Pin Gin shared their new Oak Aged Gin and Puddingstone Distillery teased us with, what has since been revealed to be, the relaunch of Domestique Gin; a London Dry style using botanicals sourced from the host nations of some of the world’s greatest cycling events and now available in glass bottles sealed with, what else but, a piece of bike inner tube!

In these exceptionally difficult times for the industry, it was wonderful to hear many makers report increased engagement as a result of #GinADayMay. But the original idea behind this social media challenge was to celebrate the gin community and encourage collaboration, communication and creativity so it’s been heartening to hear all your feedback too.

Not only have you told me you loved the challenge and seeing how everyone interpreted the themes, but that you’ve also enjoyed getting to know the gin community better, made new friends, learnt new skills and been inspired to buy more gin and even, in some cases, create your own dedicated gin accounts! Better still, and most importantly for me, #GinADayMay offered us all a welcome distraction from the state of the world this year, making many of us feel more connected even in our isolation.

^{#GinADayMay 2020 best nines courtesy of (L-R): @ginqueen_kilpatrick, @agirlandherappetite, @gin_thursdays_, @the_orginiser_, @adventures_in_gin_land, @mumslovegin, @memoirs_of_a_cocktail_girl_, @gin_and_trilby, @ginseys.ginsta}

So thank you all again for taking part and making #GinADayMay the special celebration of gin it is. And thank you for all your lovely comments too; it’s been an absolute pleasure to read through them again. I’m already looking forward to doing it again next year (in hopefully less unusual circumstances) as I hope you are and, until then, my best nine are below and – in case you missed them in May – you can catch up with all 31 of my posts here.