Bath is without a doubt my favourite city. It is absolutely gorgeous to wander through; it is a world heritage city for a reason! (I mean, I think that almost everyone has at least heard of the Royal Crescent.) And as someone who is a die-hard Austenite, I more than appreciate that entire city embraces Jane Austen and her time in the city. And of course, while we visited the Jane Austen Centre, and visited different Austen landmarks on our walking tour, I wanted to do something on the fun side. Enter Gin Austen at the Canary Gin Bar!
Although Austen only completed six novels, there is quite a massive community surrounding her works. People meet at festivals around the world, movies are remade over and over, and some people do yearly rereads of each book. (That is commitment I don’t have, I will admit.) There are communities of people that sew period clothing, create calendars of everything that happens in her books, and needlepoint her designs. I admit, I’m not that zealous- I tend to focus on reading new scholarship throughout the year. However, I was quite excited when I was researching Bath and discovered that there is a gin tribute to Austen….
Canary Gin Bar in Bath
The Canary Gin Bar in Bath is part of a local gin distillery, the Bath Distillery. They have three of their own gins (which you can purchase if you want to take it home), and also sell over 200 different gins in the bar. (A note: if you aren’t a gin drinker, I believe that they do have a few other options, but I don’t know that it will be the best fit…) If you are really interested in gin, you can even visit the distillery for a Botanical Laboratory experience, or a Gin Making experience where you visit the distillery and then make your own cocktails. We didn’t have the time (or the energy, if I’m honest), so we stuck with Gin Austen.
And, in case you haven’t been, you will actually be walking down Trim St. to get to the bar, which happened to be the last home of the Austen family in Bath. (I don’t believe that it was on purpose, but it is a nice coincidence for the Austenite visiting…)
Gin Austen at the Canary Gin Bar
The Gin Austen at the Canary Gin Bar isn’t a direct copy of Jane Austen- Virginia ‘Gin’ Austen is hosting a murder mystery dinner party and her guests are the cocktails. Think Clue/Cluedo meets Jane Austen, if you will. As someone who adores both mysteries and Jane Austen, I was all on board! I have read complaints that it isn’t directly linked to Austen’s works, but I think that this is a more creative way to do it. If we are being realistic, no likeable character in Austen’s works drink gin in any sort of measurable quantity. So, unless you want to hang out with Austen’s villains, you aren’t drinking gin with Mr. Darcy…
I know that there is a Gin Austen cocktail book that was released earlier in 2019, but I’ve heard mixed reviews. It is essentially the same thing as this, only in a recipe format. (From the descriptions, it also seems to try and closely tie the cocktails to Austen’s characters, but as I said above, that doesn’t really fit for me.) And if I can have said cocktail in a fun location….
The Canary Gin Bar certainly is a wonderful experience- it is lively but not too loud, the staff were fantastic, and the cocktails were fab. At £9, they were on the pricier side to me, but it is also quite a large beverage. I don’t normally find myself drinking elaborate cocktails, but I was quite happy we decided to go in. My friend had the Dr. Orchid (above), and I had the Miss Scarlet (below)- Miss Scarlet was quite lovely. (If you can’t tell from my skirt here, or my overall Instagram, red is always my number one choice…) And I am happy to say that the cocktails looked exactly like they were supposed to!
I am a fan of businesses and organisations getting into the spirit of their city, and I think that the Canary Gin Bar has done this well with Gin Austen’s cocktails. It is linked so that I was able to find it when doing research on Bath before the trip, but not so close as to make me question it. (No, I’m not going to buy that every Austen character was continuously swilling gin off-page.) It is a fun experience, adds a bit of a twist to Jane Austen’s Bath, and is a bit of a treat. Five stars from me!
Have you enjoyed Gin Austen at the Canary Gin Bar in Bath? Or any other Austen-esque cocktails?
Cheers,
The Historian
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