SLTN interviews two Scottish bartenders about their outlet’s gin offering
Dennis Forsyth, Cheers Cafe Bar & Tavern, Fraserburgh
How big a deal is International Scottish Gin Day? What opportunities does it afford bars?
International Scottish Gin Day is the perfect opportunity to showcase our huge collection of Scottish gins, which now totals over 180 fabulous hand-crafted gems! It’s something every bar with a serious gin offering should embrace.
What has your bar got planned to celebrate it? Any special serves/events?
International Scottish Gin Day (ISGD) coincides with a huge fundraising event we are holding this year.
We are helping to raise money for a local five year old girl who is being treated for leukaemia. We’ve several live acts planned, including the fabulous Graham Brown Band and many local acts.
We already offer many fantastic ‘big serve’ deals, but we will be providing free Schweppes tonic and Cushiedoos Scottish tonic water in all our Scottish gins on ISGD.
We will also discount many of our Scottish gins in our off-sales department.
Which gin serves are proving particularly popular this summer?
Gordon’s Pink Gin and lemonade still seems to be a popular choice. We serve ours with fresh strawberries and a lime wedge.
Blackwoods Vintage ‘60’ is also popular with Fever-Tree Elderflower Tonic Water and a lime wedge. Jindea Single Estate Tea Gin in a Tom Collins and Eenoo gin with mixed berries and Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic Water are also popular.
How many gins do you currently stock and which is most popular with customers?
We stock over 300 gins now in our collection of over 1100 spirits. The most popular are still the widely available ones like Gordon’s, Tanqueray and Brockmans. Our serious gin loving customers tend to experiment and try many different ones and discuss them with staff, so it’s hard to say which is the most popular among our premium gins as there’s so many.
What qualities do you look for in a gin when updating the back-bar?
We are very selective when updating the back-bar now as space is at a premium. Any new gins need to warrant their place and are generally well-balanced, not too green, a little citrusy and a bit fruity.
It also helps if the bottle stands out, like the new GlasWeGin and Lind & Lime gin bottles.
However, we still purchase a wide range of gins across the various flavour profiles, which are rotated between the back-bar and our display cabinets depending on their popularity.
Ib Shariff, Jax, Glasgow
How big a deal is International Scottish Gin Day? What opportunities does it afford bars?
It’s an amazing opportunity for consumer education and engagement, as it showcases the huge number of amazing gins that Scotland has to offer on the world stage. This subsequently allows bars to confidently stock a larger range of Scottish gins, as customers now, more than ever, base their purchasing decisions on inspiration from social media.
What has your bar got planned to celebrate it? Any special serves/events?
As we’re located on the basement level in Princes Square, we’re able to use the unique courtyard space. In collaboration with Braw Wee Emporium, we’re putting on a lamp making session using Eden Mill’s unique ceramic bottles.
Guests taking part in the session will be kept refreshed by our take on a classic afternoon tea, served with gin-infused Scottish sweets.Â
Which gin serves are proving particularly popular this summer?
If it’s not our Love Gin accompanied with rose lemonade, it’s our Eden Mill Oak Gin served with Valencian orange tonic. And what we’re really excited about is the new Mango and Pineapple Love Gin Liqueur, which we’re serving in a spritz this summer, with Prosecco and a splash of lemonade.
How many gins do you currently stock and which is most popular with customers?
We currently stock 21 different gins from a mixture of national and local brands. Currently, our most popular is the Eden Mill Love Gin, due to its more floral take on the pink gin trend currently dominating the market.
What qualities do you look for in a gin when updating the back-bar?
Firstly, flavour and mixability, then, aesthetics! Of course, you can’t judge a book by its cover, but a unique bottle not only catches your attention but gives you an indication of the time and effort put into making the spirit.
