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Cheers to the Return of the Tasting Evening..... The Best way to Discover New Flavours and Friends.

Writer's picture: AdminAdmin

Updated: Apr 5, 2024

Cast your minds back to early 2020 and the world as we knew it seemed to change in a blink of an eye, now you do not need me to tell you about all what happened during the months of National lockdown and local lockdown, we all have our memories some good and some bad no doubt. However what became apparent in many households over those months was the following:


We as humans (even though some may refuse to accept the fact) require interaction. We missed seeing our friends and family, we missed the sound of laughter as the pop of the Bollinger bottle was opened to celebrate our best friends birthday, we missed the glimmer of amber hues against the crystal glass of our favourite whisky as we relaxed with colleagues on a Friday evening after a long week in the office, we missed the sound of the ice against the metal of the cocktail shaker on a Saturday evening in our favourite bar and we missed long relaxing Sunday dinners with family accompanied by our favourite red to complement Mums Sunday Roast.


Yes, we all utilised the many companies that changed their business structures over night to maximise sales to ensure that they could survive so once it was all over, we could all return to the bar that we all missed to hear the cocktail shaker being shook the way it should.


I for one was very grateful for my favourite bar being able to deliver "at home cocktail packs" not only to myself but to send to friends and family to let them know I missed them.


So the question is, did we miss the drink or the company?


I believe it to be a mixture of both, so yes the homemade Mojito may by the end of lockdown look exactly like it does when our favourite bartender creates it on a Saturday evening because lets face it we had enough time to practice. However did it taste the same, because a drinks flavour is not only made up of the ingredients inside the glass, it is made up of atmosphere, laughter, location, company and sometimes maybe even tears both happy and sad.


That's right it is the way that the drink makes you feel, the memories that are being made with every sip and the company that you are in, is what increases the flavour inside the glass.



The fabulous tasting evening was also an activity that we craved. Being able to go along to our favourite, restaurant, bar or liquor shop to enjoy an evening of discovering new flavours and being educated about our favourite or soon to be favourite wine, whisky or spirit.


Again these evenings were not designed as solo evenings, these evening's are meant to be enjoyed with company over the several glasses of wine or whisky that you will consume. Actually these evenings thrive off the atmosphere and rapport that is built once the butterflies of talking to complete strangers pass.


So again the drink no matter how great it is, is only made better by the people, whether that be the brand ambassador leading the evening, the bartenders serving the delicious drinks, the friends and family that you attended the event with or the new friends that you meet on the evening.


So we have our bars back open, we can go for those Friday night drinks with colleagues, we can here the popping of the champagne bottles when our friend announces her engagement and we can definitely stop trying to perfect the at home Mojito.


However has the way that we drink and socialise changed?


We craved interaction so long during those months of lockdown that it undoubtedly changed us and the lifestyles we now live.


As we missed out on so many events for so long, I believe people now more than ever (myself included) have a much higher fear of missing out and for this reason have a very different mindset than pre-COVID.


People no longer say no to that Friday drink even if Sue (sorry no offence to any Sue's out there) from HR is coming along and you have not always seen eye to eye, people are no longer saying no to celebrating Uncle Paul's 50th even though he lives over 5 hours away and we are definitely not saying no to that Sunday Roast accompanied by a bottle or several bottles of our favourite red.


Another thing that we are not saying saying no to is going to a tasting evening or event by ourselves. Pre COVID a high majority of us may have never said yes to going to an event by ourselves but now we are seeing a substantially increased number of solo attendees who are looking to enjoy an evening of exploring New Flavours and New Friends..... who knows you might meet your future husband/wife at the next event and it will be your very own bottle of Bollinger that you will be popping at your own wedding if you just say YES!!!




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