The power of a G&T: Singapore’s gin fest expands in Asia

The East Imperial Gin Jubilee, Singapore’s biggest gin festival has announced it will launch spin-off events in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Cambodia and Thailand this year.

Championing the humble gin and tonic, East Imperial Gin Jubilee has hosted three annual events in Singapore and is now looking to other Asian destinations to inflict the perennially popular drink onto gin enthusiasts and challenge the best bartenders to create innovative, gin-based cocktails.

Hosted by New Zealand’s premium tonic water brand, East Imperial – which reportedly bases its tonic on an old 1903 recipe – the festival will run in Kuala Lumpur from 18-20 August, Hong Kong from 30 August-3 September, Phnom Penh from 6-8 October, Bangkok from 27-29 October before ending in Singapore from 13-19 November.

Winner of 2015’s Best Gin & Tonic in Singapore, Tom Hogan, former head bartender of Anti:Dote in Singapore said:

“Gin Jubilee started as a grassroots competition based around the principles of educating, sharing and celebrating the wonderful world of gin and the centuries-old relationship with its bubbly stalwart, tonic. The wonderful part about it is how the consumer is an active and critical part to the competition.

“Unlike standard competitions that only test a bartender’s creativity, character and technique within a controlled environment, Gin Jubilee forces the bartenders to know their audience and ultimately be able to sell their cocktails in a real-life environment, so it’s not just about how beautiful the serve is, or how complex your technique is.”

Winning bartenders from participating cities will go on to the finals in Singapore.

East Imperial was founded in Auckland in 2012 by Tony Burt and Kevin Law-Smith who wanted to recreate traditional tonic recipes used for combatting malaria. East Imperial now exports to more than 30 countries but with a focus on Asia, “the home of gin and tonic,” said Burt.