The Gin Experience at Three Rivers Manchester

I like Gin. I really don't drink that much but if it's on offer, a G&T is my go to choice so when I got the opportunity to go on a 'Gin Experience', I was on it. Because, I bloody love gin. 

Manchester Three Rivers is a Gin Distillery is tucked away and located a stone's throw from Manchester Victoria station. The Distillery is a small friendly business and there's something so northern about the whole thing that just makes you warm and fuzzy inside (and no, it's not the Gin talking...). The Distillery was born from the idea of creating not only a bloomin' brilliant gin but also paying homage to the rich industrial history of the city I live in. 

The Gin Experience offered at Manchester Three Rivers takes you through the history of Gin, whilst sipping on a few g&t's, and explains how it came to be such a quintessentially British drink. Not only do they take you around the very 'Northern Quarter and industrial-meets-hipster' bar Distillery but you also get the chance to make your own Gin.

I'm not going to lie, I wasn't entirely sure what the first part of the experience would be like and was rather worried I'd end up falling asleep to the sound of someone who looked and sounded like they belonged in a Sussex Country Estate but the host, Ryan, was incredibly charming and very personable - making the history of Gin far more fun than expected. But time seemed to whizz by as we flicked through the history of gin, whilst enjoying a fair few gin and tonics along the way...

But then onto the fun stuff. Making our own gin. 

Although I do enjoy gin, I'd never really known what goes into it aside from Juniper berries but Ryan gave us some handy advice and we set to work weighing out our ingredients. I went for tastes I knew I'd love (I wasn't prepared to ruin a £40 bottle of gin), opting for Vanilla Bean, Honeysuckle, Oats and Lemon Peel which worked so well together. A key part to Three Rivers Gin is their combination of Pepper and Oats with Juniper berries so I wanted to work with this fiery taste. I'm not going to lie, I don't think my combination was the most creative but it's so good. The honeysuckle adds a wonderful fragrance and slight sweetness which is cut by the lemon peel and the vanilla adds an earthy warmth with the oats adding a unique creaminess. A good Gin.

By the end, we were all raving about the evening (and again, definitely wasn't the alcohol talking) and it would honestly be such a wonderful present for someone. The price tag may seem steep but when you take into account the numerous drinks + a bottle of gin worth at least £40, it's definitely worth it. 

Would this appeal to you?