Plymouth Gin Festival

If you know me, you'll know I love gin. When I saw that a gin festival had scouted out the Plymouth Guildhall for the next location I texted my friend Sian (fellow gin lover) and we bought our tickets instantly! It cost us £12 for the ticket which included free entry to the festival, as many samples as we could manage, a gin bible (best thing ever) and a gin festival glass (they were selling for £3.50). I have to admit I was expecting at least one full G&T on entry for the price but it was good fun!

The event started at 2pm and went onto 11.45pm. We arrived at 3.30pm, we didn't want to get there at the start as we were going on a night out afterwards with work so wanted to pace ourselves... As you entered you got given a wristband to allow entry in and out of the festival as you wished. We also got the goody bag and then were let loose!

Now, this was the first time I'd been to this sort of event before so I had NO IDEA what you were meant to do... We soon found out that there were stalls around the left of the hall where you could go and chat to them about their gins (and buy some if you wanted) then have a taste. After you'd gone around around 10 (?!) stands tasting at least two gins you definitely feel a bit fuzzy headed! Then you'd consult your gin bible and go to choose a gin from the bar, there was hundreds. I was in heaven. My favourite gin of the day was a Warner Edwards rhubarb gin with a ginger ale tonic (Franklins & Sons tonic). The guys on the tonic stall were great at advising you on what tonic to have with your gin.

I was very excited when I saw Sipsmith as I'd wanted to try their sloe gin for agessss and debated for a very long time buying some a while back, but more on that later. Other brands that were there included Curio, Plymouth Gin (obviously), Tarquins, Copperhead and a few more that slip my mind...! Now gin interests me more than just the taste... (what, you don't believe me?!...) I love finding out what distillers put in to make them different from everyone else. Most of the stands had pots of what they put in the gin other than the normal ingredients. You were able to smell and taste the individual ingredients which meant you were able to pick out the tastes when you drunk the neat (!!) gin they gave you.

I'm a little biased, Plymouth Gin has always been a favourite of mine and their sloe gin is the best I've ever tasted. The guy on the stall has convinced me to come for a tour around the distillery, not that it took much convincing, I'll be honest, I've always bought their gin but Sipsmith is battling out with them for a top spot now! We waited for a long time to try their sloe gin as I've mentioned I've wanted to try it but £30 is a lot of money if you aren't a biggest fan of something! Unfortunately he only had one bottle of taster left and needed that for the masterclass later in the day. So we made a note to attend. 

8pm comes around and two fuzzy headed twenty somethings turn up to hear about about Sipsmith and damnn it didn't disappoint! The lovely rep Rich proceeded to talk through the history of the company and how it was formed. Two old friends reuniting and finding their drinks historian Jared who helped them brew their first bottles in a tiny garage in London. Years passed and they now make the most beautiful gin. And as I said, it is now a very close call between their sloe gin and Plymouth Gin's, I FEEL SO CONFLICTED.

I had a great day at the festival and enjoyed learning all about the gins (as well as drinking ALOT of gin)... You can't really go wrong with a good day of drinking with fellow gin lovers.

My top ten tips for festival virgins...

Its getting to that time of the year again...I am going to Glastonbury this year (yayyyy!). I first went in 2014 and it was incredible. instead I’m sharing some words of wisdom for all of you yet to break your festival virginity…

1. TISSUES

So I saw a few people walking around with massive loo rolls. Let be honest, its not a good look.. They give away free loo roll at the property lockups but i’m not sure about you but I would definitely rather an extra couple of strongbows in my bag than loo roll. I would recommend popping to the pound shop (you will notice a theme with this) and pick up some tissue packs. You will only need one a day and they are perfect for everything. Need the loo? No worries! Split a kebab down your top? Don't worry about it! Smudged your makeup due a torrential rainstorm? Pfft! So you get the picture, take tissues.

2. A rucksack

I wanted to be all cool and get a (now what I call) lame bumbag. It fits nothing in it and you look like a wally so please don’t buy one. I ended up using the free Glastonbury bag all weekend and even resorted to getting a free Guardian newspaper one (I was desperate). I was envious of all the people with their rucksacks, as by day 3 you don’t care how you look, you just care if you can fit all that alcohol for the day and night into your bag (classy, I know).

3. A big tent

Please don’t do what I did and think a three man tent will be big enough for two tall girls plus all their bags. It was a bit of a nightmare if i’m honest. There just isn’t enough room and you end up sleeping with your bag pretty much on top of you. We went to visit a friend on another field and she had the biggest tent for just her and I was so jealous. It really makes a massive difference so if you are wanting to change without elbowing the person you are sharing with buy a good tent!

4. Alcohol

We took a lot of mixer with us (which may I add, was a nightmare to carry) and most of it popped on the way to the fields… Just buy some on site (its really not that expensive) or just drink it straight. It saves a lot of hassle, trust me.

5. Food

Just don’t take any with you. The food is incredible, that’s all.

6. Dioralyte

I know this is for Dirroreha (it replaces lost fluids rehydrating you quicker) but please just imagine this. The day before you starting drinking at 9am and it is now 4am and you’ve just managed to find your way back to your tent without face planting the tent. You are going to feel this when you get woken up by the soundcheck at 9am… Down some Dioralyte. Its vile, but I never had a hangover once, which is surprising as I drunk a lot… Its a saver.

7. A torch

I don’t think I really have to say much about this one, but I will say this… just picture trying to use the longdrops at 3am in the morning… yeah you know what I mean.

8. Anti bacterial gel

Glastonbury were very good at having stocked up gel at every loo I saw. Although, when I got home my hands were so so dry due to using it as I assume it was cheap stuff. If you don’t want this to happen (it wasn’t very pleasent) take some lovely gel with you that you get from boots!

9. A groundsheet

This was a last minute purchase for me. I saw it in the pound shop and thought it would come in handy and was I correct!! We had a thunderstorm on one of the days so we used the groundsheet so protect our bags from getting drenched and then used it as a seat when it was dry. It was definitely a multi use purchase!

10. A good waterproof coat..

Finally, I can’t stress this enough BUY A GOOD COAT. I know it seems pretty obvious, but when you see a pretty floral one in New Look it all goes belly up. I have a really good layered jacket but I decided to take a thin, one layered jacket with me because I looked good in it. WORST MISTAKE EVER. Every time it rained I was like a drowned rat. If you didn’t have a jumper on underneath you got soaked. It got to the stage when I had to buy a very fetching bright green poncho. You honestly won’t care what you look like, but you will care if you’re cold and wet.

I hope these points help you because I know I read so many blogs about festivals before I went. I hope you have an amazing time at whatever festival you are going to or planning on going too! Let me know where you are going and if this helped :)