So you want to start a Gin bar?

So how did this all get started? I mean, I'm pushing 70 right, time to slow down, enjoy retirement yada, yada, yada.

Unfortunately my head doesn't seem to be wired that way, I always need to be doing something and when Karen and I walked into Kouklia square and saw the "For Rent" sign at Sophia's Unwined I said, "Hey look. We can open a Gin bar." And that, is how it all started.

When we left Dubai at the end of 2019 I had a plan in my head to start up a gin distillery to make a home grown brand of Cyprus gin in an eco friendly distillery. I had taken and passed my exams with the IBD (Institute of Brewing and Distilling) before leaving Dubai, the irony of taking a distillers exam in a Muslim country did amuse me. However, that idea all came to a grinding halt on March 15th 2020 when COVID arrived.

So I moved on to other things. I bought a drone and became certified drone pilot. I learned video editing. I learned how to create 3D art and use Photoshop. I have been working with a software company demonstrating and selling Contact Centre Software (CCaaS) and we even bought a couple of nice recurve bows and started archery. However, something is missing, where is the challenge?

The challenge presented itself with that "light bulb" moment while walking through Kouklia square. So we had a chat with Gabriel and Sophia and have decided to go ahead with this, I mean, how could it possibly fail, what could possibly go wrong?

Wine o'clock, beer o'clock gin o'clock whatever you want to call it is that time of the day when you want to sit down with you partner or some friends and have a catch up over a glass of wine or your favourite tipple. When Karen and I first moved out here it was a cold wet winter and we were trying to find somewhere, preferably warm, and we finally stumbled into Sophia's Unwined one evening and became regulars there.

The cunning plan is to re-brand and re-create a boutique bar with an emphasis on gin but also bring in some imported wines and craft beers to compliment the local brands. We will create a variety of cocktails and also offer cold platters of food.

And the question I was asked is "Have you done this before Mal?" Nope! Never done anything with F&B in my life but I do have a son who heads up a big F&B empire in Dubai who I can lean on for advice. Actually, if I'm honest, his advice was don't do it but hey, why miss out on an adventure.

I think that it's going to be an evolution rather than a big bang but that is OK, Rome wasn't built in a day.

I will give regular updates over the next month or two and will put them out on social media so stay tuned guys.