G & T are very close together on the keyboard.
Which is why you should never sign off an email with ‘regards’… especially after you’ve had a couple of G&Ts.
So it’s best to set aside a whole evening to enjoy one of these excellent juniper distillate slingers, which are without a shadow of a doubt… London’s best gin bars.
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Mr. Fogg’s Gin Parlour | Covent Garden
The explorer Phileas Fogg famously (and fictitiously) circumnavigated the globe in 80 days, a feat which has led to this array of eccentric London bars being established in his honour. Above the bunting-strewn Mr. Fogg’s Tavern in Covent Garden is the Gin Parlour; the former home of Phileas Fogg’s late aunt Gertrude (who was apparently an absolute hound for the gin). Her chintz-addled lounge is stocked with over 200 bottles of the stuff, listed in the Encylopedia Gintonica with suggested garnish pairings and tasting trays arranged by flavour profile. Then there’s the globe-trotting gin cocktails like the Shanghai, mingling Ki No Bi gin with mezcal, lychee wine & pandan buko. And then there’s the ‘Gin Safari’, in which you’ll receive an hour-and-a-half of expert tuition, a welcome G&T, and four different gin samples from around the globe. While wearing a Victorian explorer’s hat.
Details: 58 St. Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4EA | Make a reservation at Mr. Fogg’s Gin Parlour
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Mr. Fogg’s Gin Club | Soho
Johnny Stephens Photography
Another Fogg residence, this Soho bar is the enthusiastic response to the question ‘what would happen if you took an old pub opposite a historic hat factory, transformed the place into an eccentric Victorian tavern and slung a lavishly appointed subterranean gin bar underneath?‘ Slip downstairs to discover an exceptionally cosy lounge kitted out with velvet banquettes, Persian rugs, opaline pendant lighting and a frankly incredible amount of millinery-related paraphernalia, from bolts of fabric to feathers and ribbons pinned, taxidermy-style, in bespoke display cases. Once you’ve acclimatised to the surroundings, it’s time to tackle the drinks list – and being called the Gin Club, that’s exactly what this bar specialises in. Sip from their impressive collection neat, or muddled into one of their theatrical cocktails, served in frothing bathtubs and smoking pipes.
Details: 22 Great Chapel Street, Soho, W1F 8FR | Make a booking at Mr. Fogg’s Gin Club
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The Gin Bar at Holborn Dining Room | Holborn
Okay so, if 100 different gins sounded impressive, get a load of the The Gin Bar at Holborn Dining Room – they have five times as many, with 30 different tonics to go with them. All in all, that makes over 14k possible G&Ts, so choose wisely. And if you end up deciding to stay and try a few more, it wouldn’t be the worst thing – with red leather bar chairs, and a stunning Art Deco-styled bar, it’s quite a beautiful place to hang around.
Details: Rosewood Hotel, 252 High Holborn, WC1V 7EN | No bookings
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City of London Distillery | The City
London has a COLD. Which is a good thing, because here it specifically refers to the City of London Distillery – a basement drinking den in the City with two copper stills patiently distilling gin… which, naturally, you can then order. They also have a private workshop filled with miniature stills, where you can create your own bespoke gin to take home with you.
Details: 22-24 Bride Lane, EC4Y 8DT | Make a reservation at COLD
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Mother’s Ruin | Walthamstow
Housed in an old WWI munitions factory with two small orchards on site, the Mother’s Ruin team use home-grown and locally foraged fruit and flowers to craft an array of botanical gins and fruit liqueurs in their Walthamstow distillery. And from Friday to Sunday, they open the doors to host a tiny, built-with-love Gin Palace where you can sample the fruits of their labours – alongside over 70 different types of gin. It’s also a stone’s throw away from God’s Own Junkyard, which should prove particularly dazzling after a martini or two…
Details: Unit 18, Ravenswood Industrial Estate, E17 9HQ | No bookings
Gin… gin rummy… rummy…rum… Fate seems to want us to point you to a rundown of London’s best rum bars