The Best Gin Tasting and Gin Experiences in London 2024
If you’re a gin fan then gin tasting is such a great activity for a night out or special occasion. You can order a premium gin flight at many bars that come with tasting notes or you can join organised gin tasting experiences where you taste gins as a group whilst being guided through them with a knowledgeable host.
Interestingly, a penchant for gin might reveal a little more about your personality than you may have initially thought. Various sources suggest that gin drinkers, especially those who enjoy a classic gin martini or a gin and tonic, tend to be seen as mysterious and intellectual individuals with a captivating presence.
There are so many gin bars and gin distilleries in London that it can be hard to know where to choose. I thought it would be good to put together all the places you can experience gin tasting in London along with London distillery tours – with many that also include gin tasting sessions – and also gin cocktail making workshops and other gin tours and gin experiences London.
If you’re looking for a gin afternoon tea experience in London this post could be useful:
Gin Tasting Experiences London
Merchant House of Bow Lane – 13 Well Court, off Bow Lane, London EC4M 9DN
Gin Masterclass: The award-winning Merchant House teams are among the most knowledgeable spirit experts in the world. Enjoy a masterclass and discover the secret histories and methods behind your chosen spirit. Each attendee will receive a welcome drink, followed by 4x tasters of their chosen spirit to illuminate the story. After about 60 minutes of swashbuckling stories, finish on something fine and rare from the private collection.
Cost: £50 per person. Gift vouchers also available.
Two One Four – 214 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3TQ
Gin Flights: Tantalise your taste buds and test your palate. Can you guess them all? Two One Four offer gin flights of three different gins for you to taste and enjoy in your own time. A great addition to any evening out. Will you go for The Great British Gin-Off or the Tour Of London?
Cost: From £19 per person.
Find out more here
Skylon Bar And Restaurant – Royal Festival Hall, London SE1 8XX
Gin Lover’s Experience: Visit Skylon Bar for a true epicurean bar experience; a gin & tonic masterclass led by Skylon’s expert mixologist. The masterclass will begin with the tasting of three gins from their extensive collection, each paired with the appropriate tonic.
The mixologist then explains the history and heritage of each gin, as well as the nuances and delicacy of tonics, and how to enhance flavour with homemade tonics. After learning and sampling a selection of gins at the bar, feast on a three course lunch from the Set Menu in the restaurant.
When: Monday to Friday, from 12pm to 4pm
Cost: £60 per person. Gift vouchers also available.
MAP Maison Cocktail Bar – 321 Kingsland Road, London E8 4DL
Japanese Gin Masterclass: This masterclass takes you through the journey of all things Japanese gin! Guests hear about gin production, its history and experience cocktail making together with MAP Maison mixologists.
The experience includes a complimentary signature cocktail on arrival, a small tapas plate to share. the tasting of three different gins and one gin based cocktail – made by you!
Cost: £55 per person. Gift vouchers also available.
The Terrace Bar At The Chesterfield Mayfair – 35 Charles Street, London W1J 5EB
Gin and Tonic Experience: Choose from three sensational menu tastings where you will have the opportunity to sample selected gins, from citrus to floral, accompanied by your choice of tonic water pairings and garnishes.
Cost: £60 per person.
Serata Hall – 207 Old Street, London EC1V 9NR
Gin Tasting Flights: Take a seat and sample a gin flight with five handmade small batch gins, distilled in the Serata Hall bars by hand. The experience includes tonics and ice, a tasting sheet to make notes and a mini guide to the gins, describing the botanicals, flavour profile and best serves. It also includes some great gin cocktail recipes to try at home.
Cost: £25 per person. Gift vouchers are also available.
The New York Bar – The Rubens at the Palace, 39 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0PS
Gin & Tonic Tasting: Visit The New York Bar for three sensational tasting opportunities where you will sample carefully selected gins ranging from dry to citrus or spiced varieties, accompanied by a selection of complementary tonic water pairings. Alongside your gin and tonic tastings is a sharing platter showcasing four plates of your choice.
Cost: £200 for two people
58 Gin – 329 Acton Mews, London E8 4EF
Gin Tasting London: The 58 Gin expert host will guide you through their unique distillation process, you’ll build rapport with the botanicals and get a real feel for flavour and aroma. Your host will lead you through the nuances and complexities of gin in a formal tasting in a hands-on, friendly and relaxed atmosphere. Includes tasting of three gins.
Cost: £35 per person
Cattivo – 207 Ferndale Road, London SW9 8BA
Gin Tasting Flights: Take a seat and sample a gin flight with five handmade small batch gins, distilled by Cattivo by hand. The experience includes tonics and ice, a tasting sheet to make notes and a mini guide to the gins, describing the botanicals, flavour profile and best serves. It also includes some great gin cocktail recipes to try at home.
Cost: £25 per person. Gift vouchers are also available.
Brewhouse and Kitchen – Highbury, Hoxton and Islington pubs
Gin Tasting Masterclass: Learn the origins and history of gin, including an insight into the distilling process. You’ll get to taste 5 different – and delicious – gins, whilst you are guided through the tasting notes, botanicals and subtleties of gin. All this is complimented by some tasty nibbles and a great range of tonics. Finish off by choosing your favourite gin and enjoying a large, perfectly served G&T.
Cost: £30 per person
Sipsmith Distillery – 83 Cranbrook Road, Chiswick, London W4 2LJ
Sipsmith Sipper Club: Enjoy a welcome drink and learn the Sipsmith story before the host takes you through a tutored gin tasting session. You’ll then be treated to a three course Michelin starred meal La Trompette.
Cost: £125 per person
Mr. Fogg’s Gin Parlour – 1 New Row, Covent Garden, London WC2N 4EA
Gin Safari: Enjoy a welcome G&T, followed by four gin tasters as you and your fellow hunters enjoy one and a half hours of expert tuition – covering gin, botanicals and tonics – and become masters of mother’s ruin. Then, celebrate your new-found skills as a gin master, by sitting back and imbibing a cocktail prepared using Fogg’s vast collection of over 230 gins. A tipple fit for even the most adventurous explorer! Your Gin Safari will include light nibbles.
Cost: £42 per person
Graveney Gin – Unit 22a, Tooting Market, 21-23 Tooting High Street, London SW17 0SN
Graveney Gin Tasting: Plan a visit to the intimate nano-bar in the historic and vibrant surroundings of Tooting Market, for a very special evening of Gin tasting, hosted by Graveney Gin’s distiller.
Cost: £35 per person
The London Gin Club – 22 Great Chapel Street, London W1F 8FR
Gin Tasting Flights: The London Gin Club offer a range of six different gin flights. All flights are served with a selection of tonic waters, botanical garnishes and tasting notes.
Cost: From £32 each
Gin Cocktail Making Experiences
The Distillery London – 186 Portobello Road, London W11 1LA
Gin Masterclass Experience: The Bon Vivant Cocktail Masterclass will provide you with the know-how to make the ultimate gin cocktail classics whilst enjoying them throughout the session.
Cost: £75 per person
Sipsmith Distillery – 83 Cranbrook Road, Chiswick, London W4 2LJ
Ultimate Gin Cocktail Masterclass: Join the Sipsmith mixology team to create your very own cocktails. Create three cocktails and take home a goody bag to ensure you can recreate the cocktails at home too.
Cost: £65 per person
Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen – St Paul’s, The City, Southwark, On The River, Ealing
Gin Masterclass: A gin lover’s dream, the immersive experience where you’ll head behind the bar with the Bread Street Kitchen’s expert bartenders to make the perfect botanical gin cocktail, from a list of classic BSK cocktails.
Cost: £100 for two people
Find out more here
Hayman’s Distillery – 8a Weir Road, London SW12 0GT
Hayman’s Cocktail Masterclass: This interactive Cocktail Masterclass includes a tasting of three gins followed by a chance to hone your cocktail making skills learning how to make a range of delicious gin cocktails. You’ll finish by making your favourite of the cocktails to enjoy.
Cost: £35 per person
The London Gin Club – 22 Great Chapel Street, London W1F 8FR
Gin Vault Masterclass: Head underground into the depths of Soho’s London Gin Club and embark on a spirited masterclass in the undiscovered Gin Vault. Begin your guided gin journey with a welcome Bombay Sapphire G&T, as the gin experts fill you in on the origin and history of London’s most loved spirit. Discover timeless tastings of premium hand-picked gins, botanicals and flavours, before learning how to create your very own Bombay Premier Cru Martini. Perfectly paired with a food board of savoury nibbles, sit back and savour the sublime zesty notes of your gin cocktail, in the low-lit, relaxed and atmospheric setting of The Gin Vault.
Cost: £49 per person
Gin Distillery Tours
As well as gin tasting there are also so many distillery gin tour London experiences and gin tours London where you go almost on a pub crawl. Gin is a big thing in London!
City of London Distillery and Bar – 22-24 Bride Lane, London EC4Y 8DT
Distillery Tour & Gin Tasting: Take a guided tour of the distillery to discover the history of gin in London and learn about City of London Distillery gin making techniques. The tour includes a Gin & Tonic on arrival followed by a 4-flight gin tasting.
Cost: £25 per person
Beefeater Gin Distillery – 20 Montford Place, London SE11 5DE
Beefeater Gin Distillery Tour: The tour starts with an interactive exhibition taking you through everything gin and Beefeater gin. Your host will then take you up to the tasting area where they explain the key components that make Beefeater gin the World’s most awarded. You will get a guided tasting of four London Dry Gins before being shown to the Still House where every single drop of Beefeater gin is distilled. All finished with a perfectly made Beefeater G&T.
Cost: £25 per person
Beefeater Gin Distillery VIP Experience:
Visit the Beefeater Distillery for an unforgettable 2 and a half hour experience. Start with the interactive exhibition, with a welcome drink in hand, that will provide an insight into the history of gin. You will then be taken into the very heart of the distillery, all the way up into the still house whilst providing you with an in depth description of the process of manufacturing gin.
From there you will be taken to the private speakeasy style bar where your host will provide you with various tastings, transforming your favourites into cocktails and G&Ts.
Cost: £45 per person
Hayman’s Distillery – 8a Weir Road, London SW12 0GT
Hayman’s Distillery Tours: Take this Distillery Tour for a behind the scenes look into how their award-winning family gin is made, distilled in the same way since 1863. The tour includes a welcome Hayman’s London Dry G&T and a fun and interactive talk through the gin botanicals with an opportunity to get a real feel for flavour and aromas. Plus a tutored tasting of three of award-winning gins with different mixers.
Cost: £25 per person
Sacred Spirits Distillery – 50 Highgate High Street, London N6 5HX
Distillery Visit: Visit the Sacred Distillery in the heart of Highgate at the world’s first vacuum distillery. While you sip on a Sacred G&T, a member of the knowledgeable team will guide you through a short history of gin and explain the unique Sacred process, while you taste through 8 of their award-winning spirits.
Cost: £29.95 per person
East London Liquor Company – Unit GF1, Bow Wharf, 221 Grove Road, London E3 5SN
Fighting Spirit Tour: Cross the threshold of the distillery bar and a welcome drink will find its way to you in no time. You’ll then be whisked around the stills, where you’ll learn what on earth goes on inside those copper beauties, before being beckoned to the depths of the barrel room to taste your way through the flagship gins and vodka.
Cost: £35 per person
Find out more here
Sipsmith Distillery – 83 Cranbrook Road, Chiswick, London W4 2LJ
Weeknight Sipsmith Distillery Tour and Tutored Tasting: Learn about the history of gin and how Sipsmith came to be. Learn how the Sipsmith are handcrafted and enjoy a tutored tasting too.
Cost: £25 per person
For something a little different, consider venturing out of London to the Bombay Sapphire Distillery Guided Tour in Hampshire. It’s a great alternative to the London options.
Gin Making Experiences
Serata Hall – 207 Old Street, London EC1V 9NR
Gin Blending Masterclass: In this masterclass, you will blend, bottle and name two of your own gins to take away, with the guidance of the Serata Hall distiller, Todd. The class also includes five drinks as well as 400ml of your bespoke gin to take home.
Cost: £80 per person. Gift voucher are also available.
Sacred Spirits Distillery – 50 Highgate High Street, London N6 5HX
Make Your Own Gin: Enjoy a G&T while learning about the history of gin and the Sacred Distillery. Then, taste through vacuum distilled botanicals and become a Master Blender and create your own recipe. One final drink and you’ll go home with a bottle of your bespoke gin blend and a 20cl bottle of Sacred Gin.
Cost: £95 per person
Mrs Fogg’s Dockside Drinkery & Distillery – 37 Broadgate Circle, Liverpool Street, London EC2M 2QS
Gin Adventure: Visit Mrs Fogg’s for a one-of-a-kind, immersive gin-making experience, where you will discover exotic flavours, the secrets of the craft and so much more, leading you to create your own very best gin.
Upon arrival, prepare to be guided below deck and adorned with sailing attire, before a stiff welcome drink to prevent scurvy during the two hour voyage. You will then be given mystery sacks of all manner of instruments that you will require during your journey. You will test your senses by creating your own gin cocktail, before embarking on a ‘voyage’ around the world to play with and discover the worldly ingredients you wish to use. Once completed, each sailor will undertake the challenge of creating their own personal gin, with 200ml to take home.
Cost: £75 per person
Find out more here
The Distillery London – 186 Portobello Road, London W11 1LA
The Ginstitute Experience: The Ginstitute experience gives an in-depth journey through gin’s colourful and checkered past before your Ginstructor guides you through to one of the Blending Rooms to create your own bespoke blend of gin. There are a multitude of favourite gin cocktails along the way and you leave the session with a bottle of your own personal blend to take home and enjoy.
Cost: £120 per person
City of London Distillery and Bar – 22-24 Bride Lane, London EC4Y 8DT
Make Your Own Gin: Visit the Gin Lab to learn about distilling and the different botanicals, design your own recipe and distil your very own personalised bottle of London Dry style gin. The Gin Lab Experience takes approximately 2 hours and includes three drinks.
Cost: £125 per person
Cattivo – 207 Ferndale Road, London SW9 8BA
Gin Blending Masterclass: In this masterclass, you will blend, bottle and name two of your own gins to take away, with the guidance of the Cattivo distiller, Todd. The class also includes five drinks as well as 400ml of your bespoke gin to take home.
Cost: £80 per person. Gift voucher are also available.
58 Gin – 329 Acton Mews, London E8 4EF
Make Your Own Gin Class London: Craft, distil and wax seal your own gin, using a bespoke blend of botanicals in a mini copper still. This three hour immersive gin masterclass includes four signature 58 and Co. gin cocktails per person and a 700ml bottle of your gin each along with a gin tasting session and nibbles whilst you enjoy a lesson on the deep, dark history of Gin in London.
Cost: £125 per person
There are great gin experiences that are coming back soon and not currently available to book, so make sure you check their websites for updates.
Gin Experiences in London
There are a few other gin experiences that I found online that look fantastic if you’re looking for something a little different for a gin themed day or night in London:
- Half Hatch Micro Distillery – Gin School London and Bespoke Gin Making
- Jensen’s Gin Experience at Bermondsey Distillery for Two
- Classic Mini Cooper Gin Bar Adventure
- Gin Journey London – Soho or Hackney
- London Craft Gin Cruise
- Golden Age Of Gin Private Walking Tour For Two
So there you have many gin experiences in central London and beyond to give you inspiration for your next evening out or celebration. I’ll add more as I come along them and if I’ve missed your favourite experience from the list please do get in touch and let me know.
I love Parma violet gin with soda