Calling all gin lovers: Make your own bespoke gin and try a brand-new gin for lovers on a new Love Gin Valentine Experience in the New Forest.
Daisybank, a boutique B&B in the New Forest village of Brockenhurst, has teamed up with the local Dancing Cows Distillery to offer the bespoke gin experiences for the first time. The distillery makes small-batch artisan gins and spirits using locally sourced grains, fruits and botanicals fresh from the forest. On the Love Gin Valentine Experience weekend, tickle the taste buds by sampling delicious distillates and infusions, including lemon zest, cinnamon, cardamom and pink peppercorns, before following a series of gin recipes. After some experimentation and when happy with your bespoke mix, turn it into a bottle of your own gin with a personalised label to take home.
The two-night Love Gin Valentine Experience (9-11, 16-18 and 23-25 February) costs from £180 pp (two sharing), including two nights’ accommodation, local gin tasting on arrival, full New Forest breakfast each morning, travel to/from the Dancing Cows Distillery, a distillery tour (covering the history of gin, the distilling process and the range of ingredients), a walk around the forest’s stunning Ornamental Drive, a ‘make-gin’ event with tapas and a bespoke bottle of gin to take home. Maximum group size is eight.
The Dancing Cows Distillery has also created a new limited-edition gin for lovers. Called Love Gin, it is infused with New Forest honey, pink peppercorns, fresh ginseng and strawberries. Love Gin Valentine Experience participants will be amongst the first to get their hands on this unique potion with a £5 gift voucher included in the package to spend at the distillery.
Further Make Your Own Gin Weekend dates to be announced.
Local area:
The New Forest is Britain’s smallest – and oldest – National Park, covering an area of 220 square miles in Hampshire and home to around 3,000 horses and ponies that roam freely. The forest offers a glorious blend of open heath lands, ancient woodlands and beautiful coastline that can be explored directly from Daisybank on foot or by bike. Local maps, hints, tips and information on the surrounding area are provided by Cheryl and Ciaran, Daisybank’s owners.
Daisybank is situated a ten-minute stroll from the charming village of Brockenhurst, home to a train station (1.5 hours to London Waterloo) and a plethora of cafés and restaurants. The ancient seaport of Lymington, with its rich maritime history, yacht-filled marina and open-air sea-water baths, is 15 minutes by car, as are Beaulieu’s Palace House, Abbey, National Motor Museum (home to the original Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Del Boy’s three-wheeler and Harry Potter’s Flying Ford Anglia) and the spectacular 200-acre Exbury Gardens.
For more information, or to book, call Daisybank on 01590 622 086 (www.bedandbreakfast-newforest.co.uk).
