We chat to The Gin Queen in the lead up to World Gin Day

The 8th of June is World Gin Day, the second Saturday of June each year.

Meet Caroline Childerley, the women behind The Gin Queen, an online platform she launched in 2013 as a way of sharing her enthusiasm for all things gin.

As the Australian ambassador for World Gin Day, we chat to Caroline about her plans for the upcoming day, her favourites types of gin and the best way to drink it.

How did your love of Gin start? 

I was introduced to gin by a family friend years ago, but when I moved to Australia in 2011, I began to take a real interest in Australian gin, and it grew from there.

Tell us a bit about The Gin Queen, how has it evolved since its launch in 2013? 

I started The Gin Queen initially to show people there was more to it than just gin and tonic ( Nothing wrong with a G&T of course). Then as the Australian (and global) gin boom happened, I began to focus more on the provenance of the gins and the people making them.

In 2016 you were appointed the ambassador of World Gin Day for Australia how did this come about?

Emma Stokes (Gin Monkey) who manages World Gin Day from the UK is someone I've looked up to for a long time. Over the years, she has become a dear friend and as World Gin Day has grown so much, she approached me to help grow it in Australia.

Do you think gin is as popular here in Australia as it is overseas?

Gin has definitely become more popular in Australia, thanks to our great culture of cocktail bars. However, Australians still consume far more whisky and rum.

What will you be doing on World Gin Day this year?

I will be in London this year, helping my business partners in Junipalooza Melbourne (Emile and Olivier from Gin Foundry) at Junipalooza Melbourne. We have a whole group of Australian distillers heading over too, so it will be great fun and a wonderful opportunity to 'fly the flag' for our amazing gins.

What is your favourite type of Gin and how do you like drinking it? 

I'm all about the juniper, so anything that's juniper-forward is a yes from me. Savoury and herbaceous gins are also high on rotation here. West Winds 'Cutlass' is hard to beat in a martini.

How I like drinking gin, definitely depends on the time of day. A martini is a perfect way to start an evening, G&Ts for a lazy Sunday afternoon and a negroni is the perfect way to round off an evening.

For those who have just started drinking gin and don’t know much about it, how would you recommend they drink it? 

Gin and tonics are a natural go to, but there are lots of people who say they don't like gin, when really they don't like tonic. Gin and soda can really bring out the botanicals and some of the spicier gins go superbly with ginger beer and some mint. 

For a cocktail, I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't like a French 75; gin, sugar syrup, lemon juice topped with champagne!

Don’t forget to check out this month’s GBL specials including some of our favourite Gin’s to get you ready for World Gin Day.