The Gin Nest (part of The Wine Box, an independently owned local off licence) is located opposite B&Q on the way out of Torquay, in the direction of the M5. It’s dead easy to find, just turn right out of our drive and after a mile you’ll come to the B&Q traffic lights – turn right here. However, if you’re going on a Gin Making Experience, why on earth would you want to drive? We took part in the activity earlier this week and chose to walk. There’s a lovely wooded path which runs alongside the railway track most of the way. It’s only just over a mile which took us about 30 minutes.
The friendly Leanne took our experience and welcomed us with a G&T, in fact she kept us in G&Ts through out. It was a really good opportunity to try some of the more unusual gins they sell there.
Laid out in front of us was everything we needed to make our gins, apart from the ingredients we wanted to add ourselves, more about that later. Leanne took us through some basics and we tasted different gins with and without tonic to compare floral notes against citrus, herbal, fruit and spice so we could tell the difference.
Leanne talked us through the history of gin, and the different flavours and ingredients in gins and how they work together. It was then down to us to choose flavourings for our own gin and weigh them out, ensuring a balance of flavours.
The ingredients were added to an alcohol base and then into our own copper still for it to bubble away until the finished product started coming out of the pipe, very much like a chemistry experiment at school and very exciting.
When we had our gins, they were topped up with water, measured for their alcohol content, bottled, and we gave them names and labels. We had tiny sampling cups to taste our gin creations too.
It was a great couple of hours and we'd thoroughly recommend it to our guests. What's more, we've even negotiated a very exclusive £10 discount per person off a joint experience if you are staying at The 25! Contact us for the coupon code, then you can book online via their website.
They do have limited numbers, so whilst it's a great idea for a last minute rainy day activity, if you really want to do it, we'd suggest booking in advance with them. I'm off for a G&T now...
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