World Gin Day is normally a huge celebration for the team at Bass & Flinders Distillery on the Mornington Peninsula, but with COVID-restrictions meaning fewer people at the cellar door the distiller came up with a new way to celebrate, writes Bars and Clubs.
That saw Ginspiration June born, a month-long celebration of gin that aims to support and honour those who have been an inspiration amid COVID-19, while also sparking some positivity around the country.
B&F Managing Director and second-generation Head Distiller, Holly Klintworth explained to Bars and Clubs the thinking behind the celebration.
“There are a couple of reasons why we decided to do Ginspiration June, the first one is that usually June is one of the biggest times of the year for us at our distillery door because of World Gin Day. We usually have a big celebration, we have live music, food trucks, mulled gin and lots of fun, but this year we had a 20-person limit, so it was quite different.
“We knew it would be different June this year, so we decided to take our celebrations online and make a whole month of it.
“Then the second reason was to acknowledge that it has been a tough last few months for many people; everyone has had to adjust to the new normal and we have all had to adapt to lockdown.
“So Ginspiration June is all about celebrating – celebrating our love of gin and also celebrating those who made a difference or who are deserving of a little recognition during lockdown.”
She added: “Just watching the news over the last few months has been so depressing, so anything we can do to give people a little pick-me-up, we thought would be great.”
In terms of how it all works, Klintworth told Bars and Clubs: “If you spend $60 or more on our website you’ll be asked to nominate someone who they think has been an inspiration.
“They can add a Ginspiration G&T, which zeros out on checkout and they can add a little note to say why, and that means the person receiving a G&T knows where and who it has come from.
“We’ve had some really nice messages come through from people saying ‘I want to nominate this person because they did all our shopping for us for 14 days and bought us coffees every day because we were in isolation’. So lots of stories like that.”
Klintworth added: “The other thing we are doing at the moment is donating $5 from every online order to Help Out Hospo, a fund providing financial aid to hospitality workers who have been stood down as a direct result of the pandemic.”
The G&T that the distillery sends out is a mini of one of the two new gins it has recently launched, one called Orient, the other Maritime, which are sent with a 200ml bottle of Fever-Tree.
For more about the new gins, the inspiration and the botanicals behind those head to the Bars and Clubs website.