[Photo: NZ Phang]
[Video: Razlan Yusof]
Malaysians turned out in force on 7th July to celebrate the first ever festival dedicated to gin and rum. ThirstMag’s GinRum.Me transformed the Worker’s Union at the KL Journal Hotel into a vibrant festival with displays from locally available brands like Plantation, Ron Zacapa, Angostura, Mekhong, Phraya, Caorunn, Citadelle, Nikka, The Botanist, and Gin Agricolo, also Monin, Fentimans and Beerfarm.
Over 300 guests attended throughout the day, and sampled different varieties available from each brand with their complimentary official GinRum.Me snifter glass. Guest bartenders from a few of our partner bars in KL (The Deceased, KLOO, Kenshin, Omakase + Appreciate, and W Hotel KL) made various gin and rum cocktails at the bar, while The Secret Mermaid (SG) encouraged everyone to ‘drink like a mermaid’ at their special pop-up slinging nautical-themed cocktails made especially for the event.
Guests were able to withdraw to some peace and quiet in the Special Tasting Room to sample exclusive labels from brands not currently available in the country, which attracted great interest. Workshops ran concurrently, offering classes on straw making (with Carolyn Lau from Tak Nak Straw), and Monin home mixing; as well as masterclasses on Gin Agricolo with Dr Alex Biasutti, as well as Angostura with award-winning bartender Joshua Ivanovic.
And because you can’t have gin without tonic, Fentimans was present as the official tonic for GinRum.Me. For those who were hungry, the KL Journal served up freshly-made nibbles, and The Ice Cream Bar took care of our sweet tooth with a GnT and a rum and raisin flavoured ice creams. To fully round out the day, our friends at Beerfarm brought along craft beers from Down Under for guests to crack open a cold one with the boys (and the Sheilas).
Prizes were announced for the best photo on Instagram under the official event hashtag #GinRumMe2018, which included an official event t-shirt, a bottle of Phraya Rum, and the grand prize of a stay at the KL Journal.
With such a promising start for the first edition of this festival, plans are already underway to make the next one bigger and better! Watch this space for further updates.
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