Scottish Food and Drink News – June 2018

We start June with a double dose of foodie science courtesy of the Glasgow Science Centre. Their latest Science Lates night is all about our sense of taste, and the museum’s loaded with a host of interactive demos and happenings from the likes of Clydeside Distillery, tea experts Eteaket and The Good Coffee Cartel (1 Jun, 6pm, £15). The following day, The Science of Rum is explored in fine detail with the help of the Good Spirits Co – expect a six-part runthrough of the best that the rum world has to offer (2 Jun, 7pm, £35).

Over in Edinburgh, the Juniper Festival of gin and gin-related paraphernalia returns to Summerhall with a focus on the people behind your favourite spirit. The fest features a host of masterclasses, demos and the chance to ask your clever, clever questions about gin to the very people who make it. Oh, and there’ll be the odd gin & tonic as well. Nearly forgot about that… 1-3 Jun, various times, £22.50

Next up, a left-field reminder that food-related events aren’t just about boozing, as Edinburgh Fringe hit Eaten arrives at Platform in Glasgow as part of Take Me Somewhere Festival. Suzi Cunningham and Mamoru Iriguchi portray a lion and human respectively; guess which one’s eaten by which? An ideal afternoon out for those of you who love pithy children’s theatre but insist on a food and drink theme, which we assume is all of you. 4 Jun, 1.30pm & 7pm, £4.50-8.50

Right, back to the drinking, with Summerhall’s FestivALE. The fest moves outdoors this year to coincide with the Southern Exposure series of music events at the venue, which in turn tie in with the Rip It Up exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland. All you need to know is there’ll be more than 30 beers on tap, street food to fill the gaps between those beers, an intriguing ‘Crisp Confessional’ to help you find the ideal savoury snack for your choice of tipple, and the Massaoke band will be at hand to provide the music. They will be taking requests, so good luck to everyone involved. 15 & 16 Jun, 5.30pm, £10

In Glasgow, much-loved vegan chef VSO’s new Cantina Nite series of music and food pop-ups continues at The 78. This time around, the top-drawer plant-based grub is paired with a DJ set from Glasgow’s favourite Euro-synth duo Free Love (up until recently, they were the aptly-titled Happy Meals). An ideal opportunity to have an amazing meal and get MWI all at the same time. 19 Jun, 8pm, free entry

And finally, some extremely inspirational beer from the winners of this year’s IBD Home Brew Competition. The Hanging Bat in Edinburgh host the launch of this year’s three winning brews – try them out to get some ideas for your own home brew and grab a chat with this year’s winners to find out how to stop your beers from going bad and/or exploding. 21 Jun, 6pm, free entry