World Gin Day Date in the current year: June 8, 2024

Gin is an alcoholic drink distilled from barley or other grain and flavored with juniper berries and other botanicals. Like many other alcoholic beverages, gin originated as a medicine made by alchemists and monks. Its predecessor was jenever, a Belgian and Dutch juniper-flavored liquor. It was introduced to England in the 17th century, where it became popular and transformed into modern-day gin. The English consider gin their national alcoholic drink.

Juniper berries are the main flavoring agent in gin, but most gins are formulated with a combination of various botanical ingredients, which gives each brand of gin a unique taste. Common botanicals used to flavor gin include almond, angelica, anise, cinnamon or cassia, citrus peel, coriander, nutmeg, pine cones and needles, saffron, and others.

Gin can be drunk neat, on the rocks (with ice), or added to cocktails. The most popular gin cocktails include the aviation (gin, maraschino liqueur, lemon juice, crème de violette), the gimlet (gin and lime cordial), the gin and tonic, the gin fizz/Tom Collins (gin, lemon juice, sugar, carbonated water), the martini (gin and vermouth), the Negroni (gin, red vermouth, Campari), and the Vesper (gin, vodka and Lillet).

The celebration of World Gin Day was launched by Neil Houston, a gin lover from Birmingham, in 2009. The first celebration was just an excuse to get together with some friends and drink gin. However, it was Emma Stokes, a British author, gin tutor, bartender and owner of the gin-themed website Gin Monkey, who helped make the celebration truly international.

One of Neil’s gin-friends, Emma suggested that they bring the celebration to London in 2010 and involve more people. In 2013, she formally took over coordinating World Gin Day since Neil was too busy with work, and has been running it ever since. Thanks to Emma, World Gin Day has become a truly global celebration with events being held in more than 30 countries.

In 2018, Gin Monkey teamed up with That Boutique-y Gin Company to create the official World Gin Day gin! Their collaboration resulted in 7 Continents Gin made with ingredients sourced from all seven continents: six botanicals (angelica root from North America, cinnamon from Asia, coriander from Australia, juniper from Europe, licorice root from Africa, lime from South America) and sea salt harvested from water currents originating in the Antarctic Ocean.

The main goal of World Gin Day is to encourage people over the legal drinking age from all over the world to enjoy gin in any form, be it neat, on the rocks, or mixed in cocktails. There are many ways to celebrate this amazing holiday. You can go out to your favorite bar and have a glass of gin or a gin-based cocktail, splurge on a bottle of expensive gin, host a cocktail party for your friends, attend a gin tasting, book a gin distillery tour, and spread the word about the holiday on social media with the hashtag #WorldGinDay.