Where to find Bath’s new secret gin bar
12 December 2022If you love nothing better than a frosty G&T, you’ll be spoilt for choice in Bath. There are a number of fabulous gin bars in Bath, including The Bath Distillery Gin Bar where you can sample 230+ gins along with the famous Bath Gin made right here in the city.
But in 2023, there will be a new gin hotspot in town. The newly opened Brixham Gin Pop-Up Shop has just been granted a licence to serve drinks on the premises. It plans to hold small events, gin tastings, poetry readings and perhaps even open at weekends in the summer.
You’ll find one of Bath’s newest shop on Margaret’s Buildings, nestled between The Circus and The Royal Crescent. This tucked-away street is already a charming place to visit, home to galleries, independent shops, a much-loved bookshop, a bakery and a cute cafe.
Brixham’s gin shop has now joined the lineup, opening its doors in November 2022. It’s the second outlet for the Devon-based distillery, which launched its flagship gin shop in its hometown of Torbay earlier in 2022.
Brixham Gin is a family run seaside gin distillery, a mother-and-son team or Katrina and James Wade. They started their business, and continue to run it, from the Old Sail Loft above Brixham Harbour.
The shop was originally designed to be a Christmas pop-up shop, open until the end of Christmas Eve. But with the granting of its on-premises alcohol licence, it looks likely to be sticking around.
First events to be held in early 2023
If you love the idea of visiting a tiny bar at the back of a gin shop on a charming little Bath street, you hopefully won’t have long to wait. Brixham Gin plans to launch its first events in late February or early March next year.
Now that the alcohol licence has been granted, the owners need time to refit the shop ready for its new gin-focused events calendar. They’ll be transforming the area at the rear of the ship into an events space and licenced bar. This will include the space right behind the retail area, a tiny courtyard at the back and even the historic vault underneath the building.
Speaking to Somerset Live just after Bath and North East Somerset Council approved the new licence, James Wade from Brixham Gin explained their plan for the building:
“In the new year we will be refitting it for what I am calling a posh licence.”
“We do local speciality products, our own gin, rum, and vodka products and then craft beers as well.”
He also said that the shop itself will have standard opening hours, while reassuring local residents that it only plans to hold “quiet little events”. If all goes well with the first few events, the business could open up for drinks at weekends in the summer, according to Wade.
Book in at our beautiful Margaret’s 1770 Townhouse and you can actually stay on Margaret’s Buildings itself, with the gin shop and other cafes, shops and bakeries right on your doorstep.