Four years ago I would not have thought I’d be sat writing here about a fantastic experience I’d had at the beGIN Glasgow gin bar but hey! Here we are and times certainly do change. Over the last couple of years I’ve really started to enjoy gin and have found what is to my taste, especially with all the pairings and flavours that have launched, as I detailed in my post all about the most popular alcoholic drinks you may find in bars all over the world.
I ventured up to Glasgow this past weekend and stayed at the Hilton Glasgow Grosvenor which has a swanky gin bar called beGIN attached, located on 383 Byres Road. I had such a great experience that I really wanted to share it with you on here incase you’re visiting the city.
The decor inside is stunning, great music and a chilled ambiance. It’s table service so we took a seat on one of the chesterfields to browse the menu. It is VAST and overwhelming if you don’t know too much about what you’re looking for.
When I order gin in a bar I usually go for something sweeter like rhubarb and ginger with lemonade but I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to properly try gin with a mixer and garnish that goes with it rather than just having it with lemonade. I didn’t want to just wing it and risk feeling like I was drinking mothers ruin, especially as the bar wasn’t the cheapest place so I asked the person serving us for her recommendation.
After asking a few questions to point her in the right direction, she recommended the Hoxton gin which has a light tropical taste with a hint of coconut, as I’d said that I like sweeter drinks.
beGIN gives you the option of having ‘The Perfect Serve’ which is a 50ml serving of your preferred gin with the perfect mixer and garnish, as determined by their ‘master drinkologists.’ By all means you can choose your own but I wanted to go with what someone who really knows what they’re talking about suggested.
My perfect serve at beGIN was the Hoxton Gin (in the bottle with the yellow label), served with Fevertree Ginger Ale, desiccated coconut and a couple of dried pineapple slices. A sort of gin take on a Piña Colada and by god was it lush! Grown up sweet but not sickly, still distinctly gin.
I honestly don’t think I could have been recommended a more perfect drink for me and I cannot wait to recreate it at home.
I couldn’t recommend this Glasgow gin bar more highly, definitely visit if you’re in the west end, well worth the money.
I am going to be reviewing the hotel separately but from the outset, I’d definitely recommend it as it’s perfectly located if you’re visiting the West End. We booked and paid for our stay through Booking.com here.
Whats your favourite gin? Let me know your favourite pairings in the comments, I’d love to discover a new favourite!
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