Food News

A new gin event from Bombay Sapphire

Travel to the source of the distiller’s botanicals through an event that combines food, drink and virtual reality.

By Emma Breheny
L-R: Lemon Verna, Javanese Melon, Moroccan coriander
Bombay Sapphire is taking drinkers to the source of its gin blend with its 2017 Project Botanicals event, using soundscapes, light installations and animations to recreate the locales where its ingredients are found. Over two hours, guests will become acquainted with four of the 10 botanicals used by the British gin house, from Spanish lemon peel to Chinese liquorice root, cubeb berry to coriander seed.
Snacks and cocktails based around the four ingredients will complement audio-visuals by Ta-Ku and Sam Price, creating an overall sensory experience of what goes in to each bottle of Bombay Sapphire.
Earlier this year, the distiller invited guests in London to board its royal-blue gin train and go on a simulated journey that illustrated how each herb, spice and flower for Bombay Sapphire is sourced and transformed from raw ingredient to final product.
At Project Botanicals, happening this November in Melbourne and Sydney, guests will get to taste each botanical in gin cocktails made by local bars. Snacks from Aaron Teece, who's done time at Est and Felix, will also profile each ingredient. Teece's menu of high-concept canapés includes char-grilled chicken topped with a cubeb berry floss, a reference to the clouds that sit over the Javanese mountains where the berry is found. As guests are transported to China, they'll nosh on twisted duck pancakes with liquorice root gel and sip cocktails of gin, liquorice root and lemon verbena by Bar Moncur.
Alongside Moncur's creation, drinks by Mjölner, The Barber Shop and Union Electric will be served at each stage of the two-hour experience.
The event takes place over several days in each city, with a number of time slots available each day.
Project Botanicals Sydney, 16-19 November, 225 Euston Rd, Alexandria, NSW. Project Botanicals Melbourne, 23-26 November, 524 Flinders St, Melbourne, Vic. Tickets $40 include four food and cocktails, available from projectbotanicals.com.au