We were promised bigger and better at Catford Gin Festival this year and it certainly did not disappoint! It’s a measure of how much Team Catford value this small but perfectly formed event in their efforts to drive regeneration that, in the space of a year, the festival has moved from 2017’s empty retail unit down the road, to the Art Deco grandeur of Catford’s Broadway Theatre. With the imposing venue came higher ticket prices but, with a brochure, copa de balon glass and tote bag for every attendee as well as free tasters of all the gins available, it still offered excellent value for money. Especially with such an impressive line-up!
Tag Archives: Old Bakery Gin
Catford Gin Festival 2017
If there has ever been a gin festival in a more incongruous location, I’m yet to hear of it. The newest addition to the festival scene opened its doors in Catford in south east London; a priority area for regeneration in the Borough of Lewisham. More unusually, those doors opened into an empty retail unit located in Catford Shopping Centre, which was purchased by the council in 2010 as a sign of commitment to the transformation of the local area. And things got stranger still when you made your way into the bar on the top floor, which opened out directly into the enormous shopping centre car park where the festival’s street food vendors had set up stall!
Preview: Catford Gin Festival featuring Tom Cat Six Gin
In a recent interview with The Gin Guide I was asked what my top tip was for people just starting to discover gin. My answer? Get yourself to a gin festival; quite probably the most fun and relaxing way to learn about gin and discover what you like, love and occasionally even loathe! There are, thankfully, plenty of festivals taking place up and down the country nowadays, and each one tends to have a slightly different set-up, but one of the newest and most exciting has got to be The Catford Gin Festival in south east London.
Old Bakery Gin
I love craft gin. It goes without saying that I love drinking it but I also love hearing the stories behind it. The tales about why people embarked on small batch distilling and how they selected their botanicals. Many craft gins are born of love of the spirit, such as Esker Gin and Rock Rose Gin, or, less often, of each other, such as with Manchester Gin! Some, like Pothecary and Sipsmith, are tales of perseverance and determination. Lots of new gins look to the future, searching out increasingly unusual botanicals, in their efforts to be modern and unique but far fewer look to the past. One of those is Half Hitch inspired by the lost gin history of Camden and now another to add to that list is Old Bakery Gin.