Bombay Sapphire Mixology Lessons in Vancouver with Merlin Griffiths and Murray Bancroft

One of my favorite drinks is gin and tonic, and I’ve always enjoyed Bombay Sapphire, so when Lorraine suggested that I’d be interested in participate in the event, I was thrilled that the team behind Bombay Sapphire’s event invited me to come to a wonderful evening where Merlin Griffiths (Global Brand Ambassador for Bombay Sapphire) and Murray Bancroft (a Vancouver-based chef, food stylist and entertaining guru) gave a number of bloggers and several entertaining specialists (including bartenders) a few lessons on how to entertain guests and what kind of food you can pair with certain gin-based drinks. Merlin shared with us a few recipes, including the lethal Sapphire Ginger Mint (ginger ale, fresh mint leaves and Bombay Sapphire). I’ll admit that I absolutely loved this particular drink, particularly because it’s sweet and light. I’m not a real fan of traditional gin-based martinis (even though Merlin does mix a really great martini), but I can totally appreciate when a good one is prepared.

Throughout the night, I had a chance to mingle and enjoy a number of Bombay Sapphire-based drinks. Luckily for me, Murray shared with us a few recipes for food pairings with each drinks, and we were able to enjoy samples of these finger-food items. I was really impressed by Murray’s expertise and how easy to make were the recipes he shared. I was also delighted that Bombay Sapphire decided to invite along someone to share the stage with Merlin who was based out of Vancouver. I think it’s important to tie-in a local element to any successful campaign, and in this case, Bombay Sapphire and their PR team (I think mostly Convergence folks) were right on the ball. The location choice was another winning factor, as we shared a suite in the 58th floor of the recently-opened Shangri-La (arguably, the tallest building in Vancouver if I recall correctly). And the swag bag… *swoon* what can I say about the swag bag? Just two words: Sapphire Collins. Those of you who attended the party will understand what I mean (in other words, I walked away with a bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin, and a few other items that will make my entertaining all the much more fun).

I was really pleased with having the chance to attend the party, and particularly grateful to Lorraine for linking me with Victoria Taylor, and to Gus and Russ for joining me as my entourage. Russ is a gin connoisseur so I was thrilled that he came along, and I always have a great time with the both of them as well as Colleen, Tanya, Emme (whom I thoroughly thank for giving me a chance to use her photos to make my post prettier!), Shallom, Terri, Richard (whom I was delighted to meet for the first time), and a number of folks whom I didn’t know in person before (like Craig). Thanks to Emme also for driving me home. At the end of the night, I was really exhausted. But as I mentioned above, Merlin was delightful and charming, Murray was awesome too, and everyone had a fantastic time. I have to say that this was possibly one of the best social media outreach events I’ve seen since the epic Molson Brew 2.0. I am hoping Bombay Sapphire will do another of these Mixology 2.0 events soon! I do, of course, expect my newly-made friends from both the PR team and from Bombay Sapphire to stay connected. Staying connected has been crucial in the success of post-Brew 2.0 events for Molson.

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