Today’s Thursday Club is a little bit different and a little bit special because both Aidy and I are on with Mike Graham and we are celebrating Pride month with a few drinks!
We’ve chosen these companies today because they are all created by members of the LGBTQIA+ community and all of them give back in some way, so are well worth our support. We hope you like them as much as we do.
Gays Who Wine
Gays Who Wine is a friendly community where the founders run a popup, gay wine bar offering wine tastings and great food pairings in welcoming, judgement-free venues around London, Brighton and Cardiff. While live events are on hold due to you know what, they have been creating some wonderful, at-home experiences. It’s more than a shop, it’s a whole community. Today, we’re test driving one of their monthly, ‘at home’ hampers, which comes with a couple of bottles of wine, cheese bread and snacks. Today’s wine is a South African, Pinotage (that’s the grape) rosé. It’s packed with ripe strawberry and melon fruit with a beautiful, biltong-esque bite.
10% of the profits go back to LGBTQ+ charities. Find their hampers, beers, wine cases and a whole new community at www.gayswhowine.com
LuvJus (4.8% ABV)
The hard seltzers in super smart cans are all-natural, low sugar low alcoholic craft-pop drinks. They currently come in two flavours: The yellow one, which is Pineapple, Mint, Korean Ginseng, Jasmine & Vodka and the red one, which is Blood Orange, Pomegranate, Korean Ginseng & Vodka. It all started back in 2016, when housemates George and Owen set off for their first international Pride experience and discovered a true celebration of a huge, new community. The wanted a way to bottle the experience having had the time of their lives, but not finding anything they wanted to drink amidst the sugary, expensive, unhealthy options and corporate brands jumping on the Pride bandwagon, so they spent the day discussing their ‘perfect' drink and came up with this. In keeping with the supportive nature of everything they encountered during that first Pride, a proportion of the LuvJus profits support LGBTQ+ charities and initiatives. It has also become a social platform for the community.
Find it at Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Amazon and their website £19.95 for 6 cans.
Ciroc Vodka
Celebrate Pride month with this exclusive hunapologetic Philip Normal x INKD CÎROC design. For the month of June, INKD will donating £5 from every bottle sold to the Albert Kennedy Trust, a charity working to tackle homelessness in the LGBTQ+ community. Each bottle sold in June will also get an exclusive free Philip Normal tote bag featuring the text “It’s vodka hun”!
Philip Normal is famous for his bold, characterful statements which he integrates into colourful designs. Inspired by the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community, this bold bottle is a true celebration of self-acceptance. Choose from a variety of CÎROC flavor's and add your own message to make this exclusive Philip Normal bottle your own.
Get it here for £45
Chambord Liqueur
Yep, it’s the world’s favourite raspberry liqueur and with their brand new PRIDE edition they’re giving back to the community! A portion of proceeds from ever sale will go straight back to the Stonewall charity.
The sumptuous spirit starts its life as an infusion of juices from blackberries, raspberries and blackcurrants. They intertwine with a variety of fine French spirits over six weeks before being gently pressed.
Finally, this berry infusion is blended with all-natural black raspberries flavours as well as with a combination of exquisite XO Cognac, Madagascan vanilla, Moroccan citrus peel and delicate honey. Et voila!
The normal edition is available on Amazon and in Tesco for £23.99 for 70cl and the Pride edition is out in July!
Want to discover more LGBTQ+ led drinks brands? Check out this article.