Over 30 local and international gins will be available to gin lovers as part of the Fever-Tree Gin & Tonic Festival, taking place in Sydney at the end of September.
Fever-Tree’s General Manager Australia and New Zealand, Andy Gaunt told TheShout that the festival has previously proved successful in Europe and that it helps people to understand more about how the gin category is evolving.
“What this means for me is, how does Fever-Tree help Australians discover the wonderful world of gin? While these is a lot of curiosity and interest in gin and the numbers show there is huge growth in there, there’s also the potential for people to be a bit confused about how to try the new gins.
“These gins can be quite expensive and people might not have heard of them before. So we there is an opportunity as a tonic business to help Australians discover more about this wonderful and changing category.
“We wanted to create something that would be a really great day and that was ultimately a celebration of the gin and tonic. It’s about helping people discover a whole new variety of gins and gin and tonic pairings that they can take away and feel a bit more informed.”
The Festival will include discovery sessions, interactive demonstrations and masterclasses over the three days to help people understand how gin and tonic pairings can actually work.
Gaunt added: “There has been a lot of change in gins over the last few years with newer styles coming in and with that organic evolution over a number of years it’s been important for us to make it easier to appreciate the flavours of gin. You have a lot of gin distillers working hard but rather than shining that work can get masked by some quite bitter Indian tonics.
“So we’re now in a position where we have got a range of flavours, a wide variety of gins and people are not quite sure how to use them. So a big element of the Festival and all our programs across spring and summer is bringing to life that pairing concept. So you can discover that there are certain groups of gins that have similar flavours.
“You might also discover that you really love the Mediterranean Tonic and then you can discover some new gins of the back of us recommended which gins go with the Mediterranean Tonic.”
The Festival runs from Friday 27 September to Sunday 29 September at the Rose Gardens in Centennial Park, Sydney, with more information and ticket prices at the Fever-Tree Festival website.