As I've gotten older - brb whilst I cry into my knitting - life has become a lot more about memories to me than things. My favourite moments are not buying the expensive handbag or "it" dress from Topshop - although, you know, girl still enjoys doing those things too - they're spending time with the people I love, doing the things I love and most of those revolve around being chilled, being interesting and fun enough to tear me away from internet life and more often than not, enjoying a cheeky tipple or two.
YAY ADULT LIFE IS SO MUCH FUN.
One of my new recent discoveries is the Bombay Sapphire Gin distillery, based in beautiful picturesque Laverstoke, Gin lovers (or anyone interested in finding out more/wanting a lovely day out) can take a tour of the distillery to see how every single drop of omg so good Bombay Sapphire around the world is made. So I decided to leave the world of London behind for a day, MumNextDoor in tow to head along to the distillery and ahhh it was just the dreamiest day.
So, Bombay Sapphire is a little bit special. Not only because it obviously tastes delish, but the distillery is the most environmentally friendly distillery in the world. Absolutely nothing used in the distillery goes to waste - leftover fruit peels are put into cordials the next day, the ash from the biomass boiler is used to fertilise the soil on local farms for example - and as previously mentioned, every single drop of Bombay Sapphire all over the world has been produced in the distillery in Laverstoke. The distillery is open to absolutely anybody (who is over the legal age to drink alcohol of course) and offers the most incredible, interactive gin experiences, including learning how to make a Bombay Sapphire cocktail in the Cocktail masterclasses (which seriously made me feel like some kinda fancy bartender/cocktail expert when realistically I had all the gear and no idea).
I thought that this would be a good point to point out that my Mum, who has absolutely no idea about gin said something along the lines of "I thought this might be slightly boring but it's actually so interesting" (lol thanks Mum for saying that out loud but actually, everybody else agreed too )... and coming from MumNextDoor, that's saying a lot.
After having a chat with Sam Carter, Bombay Sapphire's Senior Ambassador and hearing about the sustainability of the brand, how it came to fruition, even to the packaging (which is a very sassy blue and was chosen because the founder was given water on a plane in a blue bottle and found it really appealing... also because it looks really chic and stands out amongst a lot of other brands too), we were then taken on a tour of the courtyard, glasshouses - the dreamiest, prettiest most instagrammable place in existence - Botanical dry room and Dakin Still house before heading back up to the Empire for a cocktail.
Can I just do this every single day please and thank you.
Until the tour, I had no idea that Bombay Sapphire uses quite an unusual vapour infusion process to infuse the taste of the 10 exotic botanicals sourced from the four corners of the globe which is just another reason why the gin tastes as good as it does. The brand goes to great lengths to ensure that the botanicals are sustainably sourced from all over the world and you actually get to see the living examples of those botanicals in the iconic Botanical Greenhouses, designed by Thomas Heatherwick, which are an absolute work of art all by themselves [insert heart eye'd emoji's here].
One of my favourite parts of the experience was discovering my very own aroma profile which basically meant going around and smelling 22 different scents/botanicals, making a marker on your favourite scents, and then based on those the absolute genius' at Bombay Sapphire will then make a cocktail from the menu which should be perfect for you. It's the little personal touches that always make such a huge difference so I loved this idea.
I think I've fangirled/made you aware that I had the best time enough now so here's a couple of things to round off why you should definitely head to Laverstoke and do a tour of the Distillery - It's under an hour away on the train from London (but makes you feel as if you're on holiday because it's so beautiful), there's a shuttle bus running from the station to the distillery meaning you don't have to worry about a thing and it's super quick and easy. Every experience includes a complimentary gin - yassss [insert hands in the air emoji here] - you get to stroll around the most beautiful surroundings whilst learning about how gin is made in the most sustainable distillery in the world... basically, I genuinely couldn't recommend grabbing a group of friends/your partner/parents/cousins/whoever you enjoy spending time with and heading down to the Bombay Sapphire distillery for a beaut of a day out!
I'd love to know if you've visited the distillery before or if it's something you'd enjoy doing? What's your favourite thing to do on a day trip?
As always, thanks so much for reading!
xx
This post is sponsored by Bombay Distillery but all thoughts, photos and extreme love of amazing days out and bloody good gin, my own.
Labels: Lifestyle
