Newsletter – Floral Design Day

Newsletter – Friday 28th February 

Happy Friday Team!

I hope that you’re all good and have enjoyed the slow march towards, well March. February may have been some of the wettest and most miserable weather we’ve seen for some time. Thank goodness Spring is on the way and we will (fingers crossed) be seeing an improvement on this horrendous weather!

So, this week we’re celebrating Floral Design Day! A lovely day of the year for celebrating the beauty of flowers and the craftmanship of design. Now this really does go hand in with a rather special gin that we have here at the Gin and Rum Festival. It’s available to buy from our online shop as well as events themselves, and it’s a gin with a little bit of magic. May I introduce to you, Empress 1908 Gin.

Empress 1908 Gin is made by Victoria Distilleries in British Columbia. And, is inspired by the Fairmont Empress Hotel. The idea was to make a traditional gin with a modern twist, akin to the hotel, and they have certainly done that. A strong juniper led base also carries botanicals such as ginger, tea and a little bit of magic in the form of butterfly pea flower, a botanical added after distillation that gives the gin it’s beautiful indigo hue. The magic comes with a little bit of citrus, so in G&T, the addition of tonic water changes the PH and changes the colour from that deep indigo to a luscious pink. As well as being a showstopper for colour, it’s a great all rounder for a gin. Ticking 3 important boxes it works in Martinis, G&Ts and other cocktails too.

You’ll find this gin on our World Gin Bar and at our shop here:

And just to really showcase this gins capability, I’ve hunted out some of my favourite cocktail recipes from the gin’s website. The links are below, but to be honest, I would urge you to look through them all, they really are quite beautiful.

First up, the Empress Lavender Lemonade. With a beautiful fade from blue, purple, pink to orange then yellow, this is a front cover thing. It combines floral lavender honey along with old school lemonade. I can imagine these flavours smooth out the juniper forward notes into something quite spectacular.

https://www.empressgin.com/our-cocktails/lavender-lemonade/

Secondly, the Cucumber Blue. This is a smooth, cool cocktail, perfectly displayed by its blue green hue. Made with cucumber, basil and mint, this will be heaven sent in the summer months so you keep this recipe safe, or just knock up a few now.

https://www.empressgin.com/our-cocktails/cucumber-blue/

And last, and by no means least, the Royal Treatment. As if the gin wasn’t special enough, this cocktail, made with white cranberry juice, sparkling wine and generous fruit garnish gives it that little bit extra for those who need some pampering.

https://www.empressgin.com/our-cocktails/royal-treatment/

So there we have it for Empress 1908.

Another gin that we carry that I’d like to introduce you to is Highfield Bramble Gin. Highfield are a family run business located in South Derbyshire. Their Bramble Gin is lovely, a really good blend of sweet and sour, which is just want you want with bramble. Bramble is a really popular flavour with gin lovers, being the namesake of popular cocktail, the ‘Bramble’. Brambles are ultimately comprised of gin, crème de mure, lemon and sugar syrup. So the basis of the cocktail is that twist between sweet and sour. With Highfield Bramble a gin and tonic with a lemon garnish is going to be very like and much simpler to make, so if you’re a fan of a Bramble, then perhaps Highfield Bramble Gin is the one for you!

Happy last day of February everyone! And Happy Floristry Design Day too! Hope you have a fab weekend and I’ll be seeing you next week for some frozen fruit specials and some info on the local brands you’ll be seeing at our Northampton event.

Big love, Bernadette and G&R