The Society Room in downtown Hartford hosted GinFest U.S.A. on June 10 for an afternoon of gin tastes, cocktails and culinary pairings from area restaurants. The U.K.-based festival featured brand seminars including those from The Botanist Gin, Brockmans Gin, Monkey 47, Bulldog Gin and Farmers Gin. Co-owner Lelania Dubay of Hartford Flavor Company in Hartford also held a seminar called “Botanicals Drive Cocktails” and United States Bartenders’ Guild Connecticut (USBG CT) chapter member Roger Gross offered “How to Create Crowd-Pleasing Gin Refreshments.” Chango Rosa, The Blind Pig, The Society Room and Republic provided small plates and tastes. The Bottle Stop in Newtown, Torrington and Avon, The Madison Wine Exchange in Madison and Valley Discount Wine & Liquor in Ansonia were on hand as on-site retailers to manage local consumer gin requests.
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- The Society Room, located in the historic Pratt Street district, hosted GinFest on June 10, otherwise known as World Gin Day. The event was sponsored by Next Level Marketing and Transcend. Proceeds from the event benefited Foodshare.
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- All with Brockmans Gin: Bob Fowkes, Co-founder and Director; Lisa Panteleakos, Market Manager CT/RI; David McNicoll, Market Manager NY; Jennifer Sutherland, Market Manager MA.
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- Ed Dunn, Account Development Manager, Brescome Barton; Dave Rudman, Director of Education and Account Development, Brescome Barton; and Beth Rose, Administrative Assistant Sales Team, Brescome Barton showcasing Farmer’s Organic Gin.
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- Donna Taylor and Mya Scott representing Hendrick’s Gin.
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- Nick Neves, Trade Development Manager, Worldwide Wines.
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- Ben Valentine, Northeast Regional Brand Ambassador, Tommyrotter Distillery of Buffalo, New York.
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- Rachel Kim, Bartender and Lacy Hawkins, National Brand Ambassador, Monkey 47 Gin.
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- Meg Fanion, Catering Sales Manager, The Hartford Club with Hawthorne Gin; Nadine Gengras, Portfolio and Account Development Manager, Connecticut Distributors, Inc. (CDI) with Nolet’s Dry Gin; Matt Landry, Bartender, Butchers & Bakers with New Amsterdam Gin.
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- Tom Dubay, Co-owner, Hartford Flavor Company showcasing Wild Moon Liqueur.
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- United States Bartenders’ Guild Connecticut (USBG CT) chapter members: Adam Patrick, USBG CT President; Rachel Markoja; Roger Gross; Elizabeth Dunn.
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- Kelsey Renfro, Sales Associate, Waypoint Spirits.
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- USBG CT chapter member and Bartenders Academy Instructor Dave Cohade behind the bar GinFest Hartford.
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- Asylum Distillery’s Rob Schulten and Neil Doocy.
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- David Baker, Co-owner, Litchfield Distillery featuring Litchfield Distillery’s Batchers’ Gin and Batchers’ Barrel Finished Gin.
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- Rayane Azevedo and Sade Owoye representing The Botanist Gin.
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- Mya Scott, Promotions; Gary Dritschler, State Manager CT/RI, Campari America; and Candice Dritschler, showcasing Campari and Bulldog Gin.
