A couple of months ago I received a rather exciting invitation to a 1st birthday party. I wouldn’t normally be quite so enthusiastic, after working with children all day I rather enjoy a bit of peace and quiet, however, this was a party with a difference. The party was to celebrate the 1st birthday of That Boutique-y Gin Company and was most definitely over 18s only! Excited, erm, just a little, however the party was on a school night, ARGH! There was no way I was going to miss out on this, I figured a few drinks then home is not going to hurt anyone. R.S.V.P sent! Now a month on and I’m still reminiscing about such a fabulous evening, and figured I should share it with you all.
The Where and When:
On Wednesday 28th February I fronted up to The Beast From The East and headed into London town. I have honestly never seen so much snow in London and there was a quick flurry of panic (how was I going to get home?) mixed in with the snow, but that soon melted away as I arrived on the doorstep of Drink Shop & Do and was ushered into the basement for the party!
The place looked great, balloons, cheese and pineapple on sticks, crisps, birthday cake, party bags AND a fully stocked rather amazing looking bar. Cocktail menu firmly in hand I headed straight there!
The Drinks:
We’d been sent a sneak peak of the menu before hand, I’m pretty sure there were over 100 combinations to choose from along side the cocktail menu, so I had formulated a plan. Go for the cocktail menu and work from the top down, simple yet effective.
Beginning with the Pineapple Mule, 30ml Spit-roasted Pineapple Gin, 1/2 a Lime, Ginger Beer and pineapple to garnish. As I’ve said before, not a ginger fan, but I figured the gin is pretty incredible, so why not! Oh my goodness, that stuff was good! Too good in fact, it went down all too quickly and I could see my couple of cocktails then home idea putting on it’s coat and waving goodbye!
Next up, the Rhubarb Spritz, which combines 30ml Rhubarb Triangle Gin, 45ml cava and 15ml soda. I’d made my own version of this as part of the Boutique-y Advent Serves which accompanied their Advent Calendar, but having one made properly really did taste marvellous.
That’s No Moon, which combines Moonshot Gin, Manzanilla, Cocchi Americano, Creme de Violette and Galaxy Dust, was next on my hit list. I have to say, I think this was my favourite drink of the evening, not only did it taste insane, with a flavour reminiscent of parma violets, but it also sparkled like the night sky…or a unicorn! I then weighed up my options, decided there was absolutely no way I would be able to recreate this cocktail at home and figured the only sensible thing to do was to skip the Fifty-Fifty and order another That’s No Moon.
Then I went a little off piste, something which I blame entirely on Jazz, one of my drinking companions for the evening. Random cocktail one, a Steph Special, combining Finger Lime Gin with goodness only knows what else, Steph managed to create something utterly stunning.
My final drink of the evening was a Cherry Cola, of the boozy variety. To say I was coerced into this one by The Drinking Twins may be a slight exaggeration, I was most definitely a willing recipient and I’m seriously glad I tried it. Simple yet very effective, this cocktail combines Cherry Gin with Franklin and Sons 1886 Cola. This drink threw me back to my childhood, was truly reminiscent of a kids party…and was dangerously drinkable. I’ll definitely be using this combination to win brownie points the next time my cherry obsessed sister-in-law comes to stay!
The Entertainment:
According to That Boutique-y Gin Company, (and quite frankly i’d be inclined to agree,) no 1st birthday party is complete without a magician, cue Fay Presto, who was pretty hilarious. She caught my attention when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw flames…not what I was expecting inside a such busy room. I was a little dubious of her skills to begin with, this was probably down to the fact that I feared she may set us all alight at any point, then oh my days she was awesome! Fitting coins into bottles, making gin disappear and reappear from £10 notes, she even managed to wow Jazz who is apparently just a tad sceptical when it comes to magic.
There were delicious mini Boutique-y birthday cakes and of course a rather fabulous rendition of Happy Birthday which followed on from several boozy birthday toasts.
There was also a gif booth, something which scared me slightly. A photo booth I can handle, but a gif booth, well that’s all just a wee bit too current and new-fandangled for my brain to handle. Although it did seem a popular feature with the other party-goers.
The Party-Goers:
An occupational hazard of being part of any online community is not actually knowing who you’re talking to. I communicate almost daily with people from all over the world, whom I’ve never met and could easily pass in the street without even knowing that I had. Which is one of the reasons that events like these are so awesome, being able to put faces to names is fabulous.
The Party Bag:
Of course there was a party bag, it’s not a real party without one and this one was teaming with bubbles, cake, postcards, sweets and gin inspired treats. I must say I was completely over the moon to discover that my gin print was of the Rhubarb Triangle Gin!
The Behind-the-Scenes Part:
A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped put together such an immense evening, you guys are utterly awesome and definitely deserved to put your feet up with a cheeky G&T as a reward! Steph, you are an absolute angel, thank you so much for my invite, I cannot wait for the next one, you guys seriously know how to throw a party!!
Gin Obsessions 
I am so glad you braved the weather and made it, it wouldn’t have been a party without your smiling fave! Can’t wait until we turn 2!! It
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Sounds like a great party!!! Can’t wait to try the Pineapple gin xx
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