I enjoyed posting for #GinADayMay again this year but only managed 11 posts this time. Still, I thought it would be good to collect the posts to look back at in the future. These are from Instagram as they were more detailed and the #hashtags have mainly been removed. (Some were on Twitter as well).
#GinADayMay is a 31-day social media challenge hosted by Sarah Miller @gin_a_ding_ding in May. The aim is to promote and build the gin community online while encouraging creativity and helping participants find new accounts to follow. www.ginadaymay.com
Here are my posts for 2021:
Day 1 Hello: I’m Fiona and I’m a writer. I’m the author of 2 gin books YORKSHIRE’S GINS + The GIN CLAN. I love finding the story behind the gins and talking about them. Having done the full month of posts last year (when freelance work had almost dried up) I’m aiming to “do a dozen” this year.
Day 6 Pair: It’s always good to meet new gin makers – and when there are a pair of them “paired” up with the star of many of my Instagram posts – Starbank Park – it has to make GinADayMay. Lindsay and Jamie Thomson have paired up the two sides of the Forth to create FIRTH GIN – the botanicals from the north bank with a commercial still on the south. Their crisp gin marries Fife gorse and seaweed in a recipe created on their own still as a lockdown project involving their three boys. The chemistry class and foraging close to their home as valuable as any from school books. They then had the gin made by Fabrizio at Old Poison in Leith, which is also Jamie’s hometown. Firth has great environmental credentials. Paper labels, glass bottles, sustainable corks, and a portion of sale price donated to an environmental charity. They will also use two feet or two wheels to deliver if they can. The crisp citrusy gin pairs perfectly with tonic … of course. @firthgin @oldpoison @friendsofstarbankpark
Day 9 Shelfie: This is a real lockdown project. It was probably during GinADayMay last year that I realised the potential in a piece of furniture in my late mother’s flat. And the Gin Cabinet Project was born. Swipe through the pictures to see how I transformed a 1970s sideboard into my gin cabinet. I’m thrilled with it but it took quite some time (because of lockdown) and lots of @rustoleum paint plus new handles. Still a bit of work to do but I’m loving having display space – for gin yes … but also family treasures … the projects I’m working on and the fun “gin things” friends find for me. @firthgin @farmhousegin @perthgin @harrogatetipple @mcleansgin @1881distillery @waltergregorstonic @ogilvyvodka @pentlandhillsgin @sutorsgin @leithgin @glaswegin @daffysgin @williamkerrsgin @darnleysgin @lussagin @lonewolfgin @linlithgowdistillery @masonsofyorkshire @whitbygin @edinburghgin @exeter_gin @cocktailelements @woodymarvellous #ginandtonic @homebase_uk @greatnorthernbooks
Day 12 Bottle: What to do with the empties? Some gin bottles are just too nice to throw away. So I found these usb-rechargeable lights and now my new gin cabinet has its own unique nighttime look. These two bottles hold special memories. Leith Gin was served to guests at The GIN CLAN’s book launch and I spent a very happy couple of nights at Stathmashie for Gin School with Daffys. I also think both bottles are great examples of the creativity in the Scottish gin community. Too good to waste. @daffysgin @leithgin
Day 21 Words: 39,131 words in The GIN CLAN and 26,045 words in YORKSHIRE GINS. It was a privilege to learn about all the makers and their gins in order to write these two books.
Day 23 local: These three things are just a small part of the rich Edinburgh gin tapestry. The gins from Hamish Martin’s Secret Garden Distillery continue to surprise us with their inventiveness – and great flavours. And I can’t wait to get up to the Secret Herb Garden for a coffee and cake in the glasshouse. The Big Big Gin Festival at Edinburgh’s Corn Exchange went from strength to strength when they took the plunge to run their own festival. Looking forward to the next one. The home of Leith Gin is within a mile of where I’m writing … of course there are others which are as close (@lindandlime @oldpoison_distillery @edinburghgin @crabbiesgin @holyrooddistillery @electricspiritco). @leithgin @secretgardendistillery @secretherbgarden @fhiorgarden @bigbigginfestival @ed_cornexchange
Day 24 Global: In the days before Covid I did quite a bit of travelling. And my habit was to bring back some duty free spirits for the family drinks cabinets. This Larios gin from Spain came back from Schipol airport on my last big trip – in 2019 – to Aruba. As my focus has really always been on Scottish and Yorkshire gins, there is still one measure in this bottle. I also love blue glass so it’s nice to have a reason to keep it on the shelf. Aruba is a Caribbean island blessed with fab beaches, happy vibes and Dutch influences which make for a fascinating destination. I have to admit we mostly drank the local lager Balashi. @lariosgin_es @balashiaruba @arubatourism
Day 25 Fruit: What do you do when your supply of citrus garnish has dried up? Spray on the Cocktail Elements [#gifted]. It was in the midst of a Lockdown conundrum with no lemons, limes, oranges, or even strawberries in the house when this set of fruity Cocktail Elements arrived from Linden Leaf. @lindenleafproject . A couple of squirts and the real organic fruit juice jazzed up the straight-up G&T perfectly. They came to the rescue whenever lockdown gins were looking for a zesty partner to cheer the Covid winter. The Linden Leaf scientists from Cambridge have more flavours for us to experiment with. Yuzu, coffee and citrus pepper essences line up beside their range of molecular spirits – gin, absinthe, vodka, and aquavit. All very interesting!
Day 27 Memories: Writing YORKSHIRE’S GINS brought back so many childhood memories – of the years when we lived in Yorkshire. Researching the book, I spoke to gin makers in places I had connections with and It became a real trip down memory lane. Conjuring up pictures of my relatives around Leeds and my grandparents in Ilkley, playing in the Wharfe in a drought summer, netball matches around Harrogate and trips up into the Dales or to Whitby. I can even hear the 70s soundtrack in my head now. (If you are wondering: Wings at the Speed of Sound; Fleetwood Mac; the Bay City Rollers and the original Rasputin from Boney M come to mind now ). It was fun to pull all the gin facts together to give a different – more grown-up – perspective on Yorkshire. Thanks to all its fabulous gin makers who make Yorkshire great. @whitehousedistillery @masonsyorkshiregin @militaryspirit @whitbygin @watertonsreserve @locksleydistilling @raisthorpemanor @divinegin @prioryvodka @foxgins @millhouse_gin @masonsyorkshiregin @locksleydistilling @thelickerishtooth @jpadlamgin @jacqsongin @humberstreetdistillery @hothamsgin @hootingowldistillery @gascoignesyorkshiretonics @harrogatetipple @slingsbysocial @royalfoxgin @forgedinwakefield @cooperkingdistillery @molotovsocial @sp8gin @sloemotionuk @singgin @divinegin @prioryvodka @foxgins @millhouse_gin @locksleydistilling @thelickerishtooth @jpadlamgin @jacqsongin @humberstreetdistillery @hothamsgin @hootingowldistillery @gascoignesyorkshiretonics @harrogatetipple
Day 28 Sweet: Was I the only child who didn’t like candyfloss? So when Debbie Rutherford at DeliQuescent sent me a miniature of her pale pink Candy Floss Gin I was a little apprehensive. First lesson don’t judge a gin by its label. This is smooth neat and not highly perfumed (phew) and its a proper (37.5% ABV) gin. Ice brings the flavour out and with the bitter tonic it combines into a rather nice G&T. There are gentle toffee notes as a treat for my sweet tooth. Debbie has a history of creating interesting gins – until recently at the famous micro pub she and Simon created in Kelso (It is now under new management). Her full strength repertoire includes haggis, Lemon & Elderflower and their amusingly named zesty juniper-led signature gin ChiQuiOui. Look out for the gins and a line-up other spirits and of the recently launched “Freeze me/Squeeze me” cocktails at farmers markets in the Borders and Leith and online at www.deliquescent.co.uk
Day 31 Secret: So the end of another day and the end of our social gin fest that is Gin A Day May. I wish I could reveal what’s next for @theginclan but it’s still a mystery … hidden in post-Covid indecision. Book? Articles? DIY projects? Travel? What would you suggest? For now an ice cold G&T … cheers to Sarah @gin_a_ding_ding for a great month of ginnery! And cheers to everyone who took part and kept us entertained.
The GIN CLAN 