Streamlining in high spirits

Tatty Devine Gilbert & George Gin Cufflinks - available at culturelabel.com

Fresh from our travels we Ladies have proven that we will happily travel great distances, to the other side of the world and back if need be, in search of a fine gin. That said, we of course welcome the prospect of a shorter commute, and when we were kindly invited along to Bibulous last week we were delighted at the prospect of stomping the sodden streets of SE1 with one of our chums from the CultureLabel gang... a little closer to home than Gin Gin.

Sponsored by The Drinks Shop, billed as ‘The Drinks Experience’ and held within one of the spaces of the sprawling Vinopolis, Bibulous was a pop-up paradise of alcoholic delight. Without teetering more than 10 metres in any one direction we were afforded the luxury of sampling exceptional wines, whiskeys, rums, vodkas and tequilas alike. The clear highlight of course was the Gin Tasting Masterclass held by the Grande Dame of gin, and the lady behind the exceptional Gin Time, Geraldine Coates.

In the spirit of streamlining one’s activities, The Drink Shop and CultureLabel will be the only places we venture this side of Christmas. The Drink Shop stocks a mouth-watering array of gins (yes yes, and other spirits, but with 71 gins on offer who needs anything else?!), and why mix with the riff-raff on Oxford Street when you can purchase the most cultural of gifts at the click of a button on CultureLabel?

All that’s left to do now is to sit back with a cold Martini and bask in the warm glow of our own virtuousness. It is ruddy cold out there after all.

Does my Bombay Sapphire look big in this?

Another schizophrenic week for the Ladies of the Lane, as we lord it about London in our various guises.  Last week saw us embracing world-class design - it was London Design Festival after all - at the Bombay Sapphire Designer Glass competition awards.  Gin and culture are two of our favourite things, and when the two combine, quite frankly we don't know what to do with ourselves.

It got too much for one of the Ladies, who packed her bags and jetted off to Roma.  Yours truly, however, managed to keep composed long enough to toddle on down to The Blue Rooms to take a peek at the short-listed designs and research (ahem) some cocktails.

The venue is a portion of the vast underbelly of Vinopolis on Stoney Street, bathed in that unmistakable sapphire blue.  Hypnotically so.  Ten minutes in and I began to wonder if I had missed the memo, and I should in fact have worn something a little more on-brand.  Not letting this minor outfit mishap faze me, I systematically worked through all four of the delicious Bombay Sapphire cocktails on offer (most notably an excellent Sapphire Collins, and a 'Vine'), before the clock struck nine and my (tube) carriage awaited me.

The prestigious award went to German designer Bruno Everling, and his mesmerising 'Liquid Sapphire' glass.  And deservedly so - we'd be more than happy to sip our Bombay Sapphire from such a thing of beauty.  Or, you know, a plastic cup.  As long as it holds gin, really.