Following the inaugural Cornwall Gin Festival last summer, the event was held again on the 24th and 25th June on the Piazza in Truro, courtesy of Cornwall Food & Drink festivals, Truro City Council and Truro BID.
Tickets sold out for the two Saturday sessions but I managed to get some for Sunday afternoon and went along hoping for a sunny chilled out afternoon, some cool live music and some gin tasting education!
Gin seems to be the ‘in’ drink of the moment. In the past few years new producers seem to be popping up all over Cornwall, cleverly mixing highly individual ingredients like alchemists to create their version of the perfect tipple. Most of the Cornish gins were available for tasting and I was most impressed with the genuine enthusiasm each producer had for their product.
The gins available for tasting were ย Staffords Gin from the Fowey valley, Tarquins from Wadebridge, ย Jynerva ย from Newquay, ย Wrecking Coast from Tintagel, Curio from Mullion, Trevethan from Saltash and Caspyn from West Penwith.
Festival goers were encouraged to try tasters neat, with tonic (Feverfew seemed to be the chosen brand of tonic on the stalls) and then with the tiniest addition of a flavour such as orange rind, cucumber, strawberry (there was even a clotted cream gin) and the most delicate of all, a rose petal. The change in the taste with each addition was amazing and certainly demonstrated how different the gins were, both in strength and flavour.
Some of the distillers gave talks on gin production and gin cocktail recipes and there were a variety of live music artists throughout the festival. Seating and tables encouraged socialising and as it was a sunny afternoon, people were picknicking and enjoying the laid back atmosphere, no doubt helped by a gin infused happy haze!
The entry fee of ยฃ10 included all gin tasting and a free gin festival glass. Food stands were also present along with a bar. It’s definitely a must visit for all you gin lovers out there, keep an eye out for next year’s dates ย https://www.cornwallginfest.
