Craft Gin Club Summer Road Trip: crafty cocktails in Kent with Anno Distillers and their Kent Dry Gin

Summer time = traveling time! What's better than throwing your gear in a suitcase and throwing your work into the dustbin as you leave your stress and troubles far behind in exchange for a sun-filled season of new adventures? We can't think of much - except sipping a cool, craft G&T. But what makes that G&T even better? Drinking it at the distillery where the gin was made!

This summer, we're taking a trip through the regions of our craft distiller partners, the places where they make the delicious, small-batch gins that Craft Gin Club Members enjoy every month. 

This week we're visiting the Garden of England, Kent, and our May 2015 Gin of the Month, Anno Kent Dry. Anno Gin is the creation of two chemists, Andy Reason and Norman Lewis. Fittingly, their motto for Anno - which is a portmanteau of their first names - is Spirit of Alchemy. 

Anno Distillers will introduce you to their Spirit of Alchemy when you visit the distillery for a tour. You are welcomed with an Anno G&T and your tour fee goes towards a discount on a 70cl of their delicious gin, all whilst you say hello to their still, Patience, in the quaint village of Marsden.

The Cliffs of Dover are world famous, so really they need no introduction. But did you know that the primary botanical in Anno Kent Dry Gin can be found growing in the cracks of the cliffs’ rocky facade? Samphire - a marsh plant - is even mentioned by Shakespeare in King Lear when the Bard refers to the old practice of hanging people on ropes over the cliffs to pick samphire. A “dreadful trade” he called it. It’s quite the opposite of dreadful when you add samphire to your Anno G&T!

These parks funded by the charity, The John Aspinall Foundation, specialise in breeding and reintroducing into the wild endangered species. With over 70 species including tigers, rhinos and even a gorilla that walks upright like humans, it’s a fun day out for the whole familly.

Dover Castle, also known as the “Key to England”, is the country’s largest castle. Overlooking the Channel, the spot on which the castle sits was first used by conquering civilizations such as the Romans and the Normans before the first rendition of today’s castle was erected by Henry II in the 12th century. Today, you can visit the castle every day from 9:30 to 6pm.

This family-run, Michelin-starred restaurant in the village of Biddenden offers a “relatively simple” style of food in a 16th century weavers village. Nearby you can find Biddenden Vineyards which makes Kentish wines and ciders.