The Wine and Spirit Education Trust bring intelligent thinking and education to your cocktails. Stirling immerses himself, naturally…
The Wine & Spirit Education Trust have created a series of immersive experiences. Kicking off in June, guests at Hixster Bankside were privy to an education in rum, and this month the Punch Room at The London EDITION will delight you with a fine selection of gins. The final leg of the tour will be Showdown in November, where the focus will be on the bar’s flagship spirit, whisky. Come on, I hear you cry, this isn’t new – hold fire, and read on.
When visiting each bar, guests that choose to take part in the experience will be asked to don a pair of headphones so WSET Spirits Educator, Will Lowe, can guide them through tasting a flight of the corresponding spirit, whilst pointing out what to look for and the key differences between each. Following this, visitors will be invited to choose their favourite of the three spirits, which their bartender will then use to create their signature cocktail based on that spirit.
It’s like the BBC (think ‘inform, educate, entertain’) but better, as there is a fine drink involved. Bravo.
Gin and education – perfect bedfellows at the Punch Room.
Having enjoyed their From Still to Bar experience, participants thirsty for more knowledge can download a follow-up podcast that describes their chosen spirit in more detail. Covering the history and production of the spirit, the podcast will see Will joined by head bartenders to discuss recent trends and mixology.
And if you want to continue your education, you are in luck – the WSET has additionally launched a series of short videos introducing some of the world’s most popular spirits. ‘3 Minute Spirit School’ introduces you to some of the key spirits of the world, and is presented by industry experts including Whyte & Mackay’s master blender Richard Paterson, The Cambridge Distillery’s distiller Will Lowe, and bartender Maria Johanssen.
If you do this in the right order you’ll be masterful by the time you get to the bar, and a world expert by the time you leave. So jump to it and get down to the Punch Room for gin during the month of August, and we hope to see you at Showdown for a dram later in the year.
Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines…
Priced from £15, the ‘From Still to Bar’ gin experience will be available until 31st August 2016 at the Punch Room, with whisky following at Showdown in November. For more information, please visit the WSET website.
