MORE than 500 gin lovers helped break the Guinness World Record for the largest gin tasting event at a single venue.

The gathering at Stoke’s Kings Hall in Staffordshire, England, was organised by Andrew Wilson of Old School Wines, Tittensor, and smashed the target of 250 people by double.

“We’ve seen an explosion in the popularity of gin over the past few years and our Gin Jamborees have been getting bigger and bigger,” said Mr Wilson. “During the summer we contacted Guinness World Records to register our official bid, which sold out within weeks, leaving us with an extensive reserve list of folks who wanted to take part.”

The tasting session included an eye-watering amount of gin and tonic: 100 different types of gin from around the world were on offer with 1,000 bottles available in total, 300kg of ice was used to chill a staggering 5,000 bottles of tonic water with a team of 30 mixologists served a diverse variety of craft G&Ts and speciality cocktails.