The Gin Palace of knowledge

{"id":589177356523,"title":"Eight Lands","created_at":"2023-01-12T08:43:34+00:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003eEight Lands is a gin brand produced at the Glenrinnes distillery, in the heart of Scotland's Speyside whisky producing region. Located adjacent to Ben Rinnes (Speyside's highest peak) the Glenrinnes estate is comprised of 6,000 acres of organic sheep, cattle and deer farmland, and now a distillery too.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0656\/3128\/9579\/files\/EightLands_August_Print_0033_Joshua_Rosenbaum_-_01_600x600.jpg?v=1673512953\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe distillery is a newcomer to an area that already boasts over 50 spirit producers, and can call the likes of Cardhu, Glenfiddich and Glenlivet nearby neighbours. Built in 2018, Glenrinnes began production in 2019 and has thus far released a gin (as well as a limited edition sloe gin) and a vodka. Given the location you might assume that whisky will soon follow, but the team here designed this distillery specifically to make gin and vodka so that's what they do.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0656\/3128\/9579\/files\/315699540_993102691628814_9209912039284842368_n_600x600.jpg?v=1673512820\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe name Eight Lands was inspired by the eight counties of Scotland that are visible from the top of Ben Rinnes. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTheir gin recipe uses a total of 11 botanicals, including chamomile, lime, and sheep sorrel (mild lemon flavour), as well as wood sorrel (sharper citrus flavour) and crowberries (subtle fruitiness), which are sourced from their own Glenrinnes estate. The spring water used for diluting to bottle strength is drawn from the Clashmarloch spring on the lowest slopes of Ben Rinnes, very near to the distillery.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0656\/3128\/9579\/files\/EightLands_August_Print_0166_Joshua_Rosenbaum_-_01_600x600.jpg?v=1673513000\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDistillation is done on a 1,000 litre hybrid pot and column still that can be used to make high strength spirit for their vodka as well as a neutral base for their gin. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Glenrinnes distillery is open to visitors Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.\u003c\/p\u003e","blog_id":88151654635,"author":"Tristan Stephenson","user_id":84698431723,"published_at":"2023-01-18T12:42:39+00:00","updated_at":"2023-01-18T12:42:39+00:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"eight-lands","tags":"ben rinnes, distillery, eight lands, gin, glenrinnes, scotland, soctland, speyside gin, tag:Botanicals, tag:distillery, vodka","image":{"created_at":"2023-01-12T08:43:34+00:00","alt":"","width":1469,"height":981,"src":"\/\/gin-me.club\/cdn\/shop\/articles\/EightLands_August_Print_0117_Joshua_Rosenbaum_-_01.jpg?v=1673513015"}}

{"id":589046153451,"title":"Kyrö","created_at":"2022-12-16T15:23:05+00:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003eThe idea of a distillery came to founders Jouni, Miika, Kalle, Mikko and Miko, while enjoying a sauna together (as Finns do). They may or may not have been drinking rye whisky in the sauna at the time, and rye subsequently became their focus and, indeed, obsession.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFounded in 2012, the location for the distillery is an old dairy overlooking the great plains of Ostrobothnia in Isokyrö, which is around five hours drive from Helsinki. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0656\/3128\/9579\/files\/CleanShot_2022-12-16_at_15.20.33_600x600.png?v=1671204053\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut like many new whisky distilleries, they realised it takes a while to make great whisky, so they set about making gin while their whisky matured. This gin is made from the same rye base as their whisky and serves almost like an additional botanical with its subtle nuttiness and spice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKyrö Napue gin is designed to capture the free-spirited and wild nature of Finland. Kyrö ask us: \"Have you ever stood barefoot on a misty meadow after sauna, or run through a field of rye (naked)?\" If you haven't - and let's face it no matter how rock and roll we like to think we are, most of us haven't - Napue gin is designed to be an excellent stand-in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0656\/3128\/9579\/files\/naked_rye_600x600.jpg?v=1671204167\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSixteen different botanicals are used for the Kyrö Gin. Twelve of them are dried, ten are macerated, two are added to the aroma basket inside the still and four of the herbs are fresh. Birch leaves, meadowsweet and wood sorrel are picked in the local area.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0656\/3128\/9579\/files\/kyro-distillery-is-located-1_600x600.jpg?v=1671204119\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe distillery has great sustainability credentials too. It is powered entirely by biogas and wind turbine, with only a single diesel powered tractor preventing them from claiming 100% renewable. Spent grain for the mashing of the rye is sent to feed cattle in the nearby area, while the stills are cooled using water from the Kyrö river, which is cycled back in to the river (unspoilt) once it's been used.\u003c\/p\u003e","blog_id":88151654635,"author":"Tristan Stephenson","user_id":84698431723,"published_at":"2022-12-19T12:07:28+00:00","updated_at":"2022-12-19T12:11:57+00:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"kyro","tags":"gin tasting, kyrö, kyro gin, napue, tag:distillery","image":{"created_at":"2022-12-16T15:23:05+00:00","alt":"","width":5212,"height":3468,"src":"\/\/gin-me.club\/cdn\/shop\/articles\/Running-Naked__Kimmo_Syvari_Dylan_bell.jpg?v=1671204186"}}

{"id":588979208427,"title":"Hepple","created_at":"2022-11-21T07:04:08+00:00","body_html":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eWhat do you get it you take one of the most celebrated figures in the global bar industry, a televangelical food guru, two of Britain’s brightest brains in distillation and flavour extraction, a super-critical CO2 extractor, and Walter Riddell, an English baronet who’s estate includes of 6000 acres of wild Northumberland moorland? You get the Moorland Spirits Company, and Hepple Gin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e“We didn’t want to just buy a copper still, call it Matilda, and make a London Dry gin” Nick Strangeway tells me. Nick was one of the leading lights in the development of the UK's cocktail scene from the 1990's and into the 21st century. He's teamed up with TV cook Valentine Warner, and turned his hand to making gin. But to describe what is happening in the Northumberland National Park — the most sparsely populated area in all of England — as simply ‘making gin’ would be doing Hepple a great disservice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0656\/3128\/9579\/files\/Pouch_600x600.jpg?v=1669014164\" alt=\"Pouch\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eIn the past the Northumbria hills were covered in juniper bushes, but the land was adapted for farming and the juniper either removed by human hands or hungry sheep. Almost all that remains today is gnarly old ladies, huddled together in gravity stricken clusters, some of them almost as ancient as Walter’s family tree. Walter and his wife, Lucy (a trained horticulturist) feel a burden of responsibility to the land. Wellington boots and trowels will be their tools, rejuvenation and conservation of juniper across the landscape of the moor, their legacy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eWalter has identified the first few naturally propagated trees on the moor and fenced it off to protect it from hungry sheep flocks. Meanwhile, Lucy is busy germinating new seedlings which after five years of nurturing are ready to be planted in to the wild. Each cone has three seeds, which Lucy picks apart by hand on the kitchen table. Each tree is\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eindividually named, usually after distant family relatives, like Dorothy, an old aunt who was rumoured to have had an affair with the gamekeeper.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0656\/3128\/9579\/files\/Wild_moors_600x600.jpg?v=1669014196\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThere’s a fighting spirit at Hepple. Amongst the haggard, half-collapsed trees that have been surviving since before the gin craze even began, but also in the newest generation of fragile saplings, breeding a fresh life in to Northumberland juniper.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eAll purple (ripe) berries are carefully processed in this manner, none are used for making gin because the quality can’t yet compete with imported juniper. But the team are also foraging green (unripe) berries, and they \u003ci\u003eare\u003c\/i\u003e being used to flavour their spirit. Collected in August, at the perfect time of the season, their flavour is preserved by low-pressure, low-temperature, distillation in neutral spirit through one of the largest rotary evaporators we have laid eyes on. The flavour is undeniably juniper-y, but greener, more crisp, fresh. It was news to us that green juniper berries are a popular condiment in Nordic cuisine. Nick first got the idea for using them from the chefs at Copenhagen’s Noma restaurant, who would pickle or brine the berries and serve them like olives or capers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eIt’s not just the juniper that the Hepple team are interested in. The moorland is a treasure trove of other forgeable matter, from catkins through to blayberries. Douglas fir (also known as Oregon pine) was the first\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003ebotanical guinea pig, but this was later joined by bog myrtle, then blackcurrant leaf and lovage from Lucy’s venerable vegetable garden. These ingredients are treated with the care and attention of a palaeontologist obsessing over a dinosaur fossil, their processing methods refined, their captured flavour nuanced.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe Douglas fir distillate is sensational in its complexity; sweet, ginger-like and curried. Bog myrtle tastes warm, like bay leaf, with green eucalyptus notes. The lovage is an epiphany; rich with cardamom and florals. Blackcurrant leaf is vibrant, fruity, creamy, yet green. There’s absolutely no question that these individual distillates could all be bottled as products in their own right, but in this instance they are A-list actors playing supporting roles. That can only be good for the finished gin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0656\/3128\/9579\/files\/made_on_the_moor_600x600.jpg?v=1669014234\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThe gin is a complex composite of ingredients, starting with a traditional (steep and boil) pot still distillate. The botanicals include the usual suspects of juniper (Macedonian and Bosnian) angelica, orris, English coriander seed, fennel seed, and liquorice, joined by fresh lemon, dried Douglas fir needles, Hepple blackcurrants (fruit and leaves) and Hepple bog myrtle. This flavours a base spirit that as a standalone gin ticks all the boxes. The four rotary evaporator liquids mentioned previously are then blended with this along with a cold distillation of Amalfi lemon to make the final product.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eBut there’s one more thing…\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eIn the corner of the barn there’s a big, unassuming, beige box. It looks like a supercomputer from 1970. Open the case up and there’s not much to see inside, a couple of pipes and a cylinder. It’s a supercritical CO2 extractor, capable of 10,000 PSI of pressure, this machine turns gasses in to supercritical fluids and is just about the most efficient way of extracting flavour from a product that there is. Head distiller Chris Garden uses the machine to convert 1kg of juniper berries in to a meagre 10ml of absurdly concentrated juniper extract, leaving behind only spent husks of juniper ash. The concentrate is diluted in to ethanol, and a tiny amount added to complete Hepple Gin. It’s potent enough that a single 10ml extract is enough to impact 720 bottles of Hepple gin. \u003c\/p\u003e","blog_id":88151654635,"author":"Tristan Stephenson","user_id":84698431723,"published_at":"2022-11-21T07:05:54+00:00","updated_at":"2022-11-21T07:30:08+00:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"hepple","tags":"hepple, hepple gin, nick strangeway, tag:Botanicals, tag:Production, walter riddell","image":{"created_at":"2022-11-21T07:04:08+00:00","alt":"","width":1500,"height":1000,"src":"\/\/gin-me.club\/cdn\/shop\/articles\/KLJ_Hepple_Autumn_26.10.22_Shot_19-026_working.webp?v=1669014249"}}

{"id":588800590059,"title":"The Gin Craze","created_at":"2022-09-23T12:29:27+01:00","body_html":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eThe word ‘gin’ didn’t appear in the Oxford English Dictionary until 1714. Defined as ‘an infamous liquor’ it had clearly made its mark already. During the early days of the ‘craze’ gin was known as geneva or ‘Madame Geneva’. Probably no coincidence that gin’s entry in to the dictionary coincided with Bernard Mandevilles’ ‘Fable of the Bees’, a poem that was published in 1705, followed by a book, which first appeared in 1714. In his frank and detailed description of London’s various vices and corruptions Mandeville gives us one of the earliest insights in to gin as a purely ruinous force, as well as one of the earliest uses of the word ‘gin’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eNothing is more destructive, either in regard to the Health or the Vigilance and Industry of the Poor than the infamous Liquor, the name of which, deriv’d from Junipera in Dutch, is now by frequent use and the laconic spirit of the nation, from a word of middling length shrunk into a monosyllable, intoxicating GIN.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eSlowly at first but gathering pace, the overconsumption of gin became endemic, far removed from the blithe alcoholism associated with beer and wine, it was perceived by those lucky enough to escape its clutches as perfectly abhorrent. Gin was the widespread social drug of the time that preyed on the poor and vulnerable, gutting London from the inside out. Dr Stephen Hales, an anti-gin campaigner wrote in 1734 that “Man, has unhappily found means to extract, from what God intended for his refreshment, a most pernicious and intoxicating liquor.” In the 1730’s around five million gallons of raw spirits were being distilled in London every year, less than 10% of it would ever leave the city.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThe population of London as a whole was relatively stagnant between 1725 and 1750, but this was only due to the steady influx of migrants. More people died in London during the mid-1700’s than were being born. In the worst areas a newborn had less than an 80% chance of making it to the age of two. Many families were forced to live in single rooms in ramshackle tenements or in damp cellars, with no sanitation or fresh air. Drinking water was often contaminated by raw sewage and garbage was left rotting in the street. Problems with the disposal of the dead often added to the stench and decay. Many London graveyards became full to capacity, and coffins were sometimes left partially uncovered in ‘poor holes’ close to local houses and businesses. It’s little wonder that the poor turned to gin as a release from the hardships of survival.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eImagine every single newsagent, store, supermarket and street vendor in central London turning their hand to selling gin. Then imagine that it’s cheaper than bread or milk and that anyone can buy it: violent drunks, the elderly and infirm, children. Finally, imagine that it’s not only highly addictive, but poisonous, laced with added ‘flavour enhancing’ properties that when consumed in large quantities cause blindness, death, or the loss of ones mind.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eIt’s easy to imagine widespread turmoil throughout the entire city, but ‘dramming’ was really only centred around the poorest districts. In 1700 London had a population of 575,000, which made it the largest metropolis in Europe. While the residents of St Giles got drunk for (literally) a penny, the city could press on with business as usual, preoccupied and only vaguely aware of the horrors taking place around the corner. Gentleman, politicians, merchants, and scholars wouldn’t venture in to fleshpots of Holborn or Shoreditch. They would meet in nearby Cornhill to drink coffee and discuss politics, trade, the colonies, science, or poetry. Perhaps some might have indulged in glass of gin on occasion, but it would imported Holland’s Gin, not the ghastly stuff produced in some squalid basement. The single biggest reason that the gin craze lasted so long and its affects were so brutal is ignorance of the upper classes to what was taking place under their noses.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eIf the gin craze was a storm then the area of St Giles in the Fields, near Charring Cross Road, was the centre of the deluge. Renowned as one of the countries biggest slums, for the 20,000 people living there gin was a a simple, cheap and accessible solution to all of their problems.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eAs you might expect, there’re no shortage of harrowing stories from the period. As a researcher it becomes a macabre process of selection, sifting through the fallout and singling-out the accounts that best represent the grim horror of the gin craze. William Hogarth’s ‘Gin Lane’ etching might seem a grizzly exaggeration of events, but the true plight of the people embroiled in the gin craze was perhaps even worse.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eOne of the most disturbing and notorious tales from the period is of Judith Dafour. In 1734 Dafour deposited her unclothed two-year-old daughter, Mary, at the workhouse where she was employed, then returned the following day to claim her. Now fully clothed, she stripped the child of his clothes then strangled her to death, dumped his body in a ditch. She then sold the clothes for 1s and 4d and used her earnings to buy gin.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eSpare a thought too for Joseph Barret too. A 42 year old labourer, who was hung in 1728 for beating his son to death. Barret’s final confession is an harrowing account of how his son (James) spent his days begging for money and his nights “drinking until he appeared worse than a beast, quite out of his senses.” Garret apparently had “no evil intention” and planned only to “reclaim [James] from his wild courses.” Barrett’s punishment was too savage however, and James died in his bed. He was eleven years old.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eBy 1751 half of all the British wheat harvest was used to make spirits. There were reportedly 17,000 ‘private gin shops’ in London and almost half of them were in Holborn. That’s approximately one shop for every black cab in Greater London today. And that figure only represents the gin specialists! It doesn’t include all the taverns and public houses that also sold gin by the bucket load. Neither does it include the street markets, grocers, chandlers, barbers, barrows and brothels that also did a roaring trade. Some estimates — and they can really only be estimates — suggest that over 10 million gallons of gin were consumed in London that year. A worthy effort for a population of only 700,000, helped along by the fact that many factory workers were partly paid in gin. Follow the maths down and you’re looking a pint of of gin per week for every single London citizen. The novelist Henry Fielding argued that there would soon be \"too few of the common people left to drink it\" if the situation continued.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","blog_id":88151654635,"author":"Tristan Stephenson","user_id":84698431723,"published_at":"2022-09-23T12:32:15+01:00","updated_at":"2022-11-21T07:30:36+00:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"the-gin-craze","tags":"tag:history","image":{"created_at":"2022-09-23T12:29:27+01:00","alt":"","width":800,"height":621,"src":"\/\/gin-me.club\/cdn\/shop\/articles\/gin-header.jpg?v=1663932567"}}

{"id":588800524523,"title":"Making Sloe Gin","created_at":"2022-09-23T12:02:06+01:00","body_html":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eNot so long ago the home kitchen was a veritable hive of booze based activity. As household cookbooks like those published by The Women’s Institute will testify to. The Manufacture of wines, cordials and liqueurs was a commonplace as the baking of bread or making jams. Gin was a popular candidate for all manner of fruit infusions and that goes for out of the home too, where the big distillers of the day sold lemon and orange flavoured gins with some success. These days flavoured gins have all but died out and despite the emergence of some contemporary gin brands choosing to flavour and sweeten their product (see the distillery pages of this book) it is only sloe gin that has truly stood the test of time. And the manufacture of sloe gin stands as one of the few alcohol based culinary crafts that remains in the British housekeeper's repertoire.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eBefore we dive in head first it’s important to stress that on the subject of manufacturing sloe gin we must tread very carefully indeed. There is no other line of conversation that can send handbag ripples through a Women’s Institute tea room like the finer points of gin\/fruit infusions. What began as a wholesome household craft is now seen by some as a classical art form, shrouded in superstition and mystery. As for the sloe berry itself, there is a fruit that, to some, holds a position of near divine reverence, reflected in the manner in which it must be treated prior to and during sloe gin preparation.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eSome older recipes for sloe gin suggest waiting until after the seasons ‘first frost’ before picking the berries. At first this might seem an attempt at some biodynamic strategy (allowing the heavens to align before foraging for the fruit) and explained away by most as nature’s way of softening the fruits skin prior to infusion. Science tells us that the hydrogen cyanide (natural antifreeze) content of the fruit increases during cold snaps and imparts a desirable almond character to the liqueur, similar to bitter almond kernels of apple pips. If hydrogen cyanide sounds a bit dangerous to you that’s because it is. \u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eIn my experience the first frost generally lands a little too late in the year anyway and runs the risk of losing the crop altogether. One option is to make your own frost by picking the ripe fruit and briefly freezing them before infusion, although that won’t . I’ve heard of others who choose to prick the sloe berries one by one before mixing with the gin, in a process so arduous that it has been clinically proven to gradually erode the mind of it's psychical capabilities and is now officially classified under the human rights act as a form of prolonged mental torture. Traditionally this is done with one of the thorns off the blackthorn tree from whence the sloes were picked, but a needle will do it just fine, so long as it is made from silver (naturally).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThe point is that everyone has their own method that’s been handed down from one generation to the next. For better or worse, most people are fairly stubborn when it comes to cherished family recipes and as quaint as this may sound, traditions such as these are often tough nuts to crack when it comes to enforcing some logical culinary processes in to the mix.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eWe make sloe gin using two different methods. Both work very well and both require very little time. The first is to cook the sloe berries, in gin, \u003ci\u003esous vide\u003c\/i\u003e. This means packing both fruit a liquor in to ziplock bag (or vacuum packing bag) and holding it in a temperature controlled water bath for a few hours. Afterwards the mixture is strained-off and sweetened. This method extracts more bitterness than a cold infusion, which means the liquor can take a touch more sugar, resulting in a more concentrated shot of juice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eOur second technique is a ‘cold’ method and it calls for the use of a blender. It isn’t pretty or particularly efficient, and it certainly isn’t the way your mother would do it, but it gets the job done quickly, and easy. It also makes for a good talking point around the Christmas table. Blending the sloes and gin together makes a fine purée that requires only a short infusion followed by a slightly longer filtering process.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eIn both methods you’ll find you need comparatively less sloes and far less finger tapping than in the traditional recipes.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSous Vide\/Osmosis Method\u003c\/strong\u003e (makes approximately 1 litre)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e500g sloe berries (You can flash freeze them to soften the skins, but it’s not essential)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e250g sugar\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e500g gin\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e10g malic acid\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e5g salt\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eUsing a large zip-lock or vacuum bag, add the sloes, 100g of the sugar, the acid, and salt. Give it a good shake and a bit of a squash and leave to sit in the fridge overnight. In the morning you’ll find a lot of the juice has leached out. Add the rest of the ingredients, including the gin, then seal the bag and drop it in to a water bath set at 65°C. Leave to cook for 3 hours. You can go hotter and quicker, but this is the best balance of flavour, efficiency, and time for me. Remove the bag and filter the liquid through a fine mesh filter and cheesecloth - even better if you can get hold of a Superbag - an inexpensive brand of micron filter. Pour the filtered liquid in to a sterile bottle. It should keep for years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ci\u003eBlender Method\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e500g sloe berries\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e100g warm water\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e500g gin\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e200g sugar\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e10g malic acid\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e5g salt\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eStart with sloes at room temperature, as they tend to give up their juices more readily. Add them to the blender along with the water and most of the gin. Blend on a high speed in ten second bursts for a couple of minutes. The aim is to puree everything without the liquid heating up too much through friction. Pass the puree through a coarse sieve using the back of a spoon to push all the juice out. Then pass through a finer sieve, doing the same, followed by a cheesecloth or Superbag. Use what’s left of the gin to ‘wash’ any flavour out of the left over fruit pulp. Add the sugar, acid and salt and bottle the liqueur. Keep in a warm place for a few hours until the sugar has completely dissolved. Serve chilled.\u003c\/p\u003e","blog_id":88151654635,"author":"Tristan Stephenson","user_id":84698431723,"published_at":"2022-09-23T12:03:17+01:00","updated_at":"2022-11-21T07:30:45+00:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"making-sloe-gin","tags":"tag:recipes","image":{"created_at":"2022-09-23T12:02:06+01:00","alt":"","width":980,"height":979,"src":"\/\/gin-me.club\/cdn\/shop\/articles\/glass-of-homemade-sloe-liqueur-or-gin-decorated-royalty-free-image-1598435001_980x_08e32416-4fb9-4860-ba5d-c21644245cd1.webp?v=1663930927"}}

{"id":588799901931,"title":"Juniper","created_at":"2022-09-23T06:53:58+01:00","body_html":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThe common juniper tree (\u003ci\u003eJuniperus communis\u003c\/i\u003e) is a coniferous plant and a member of the \u003ci\u003eCupressaceae\u003c\/i\u003e (cypress) family. It has the widest geographical range of any tree in the world, taking up residence in western Alaska, throughout Canada and northern parts of the USA, in coastal areas of Greenland, in Iceland, throughout Europe, north Africa, and in northern Asia and Japan.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eJuniper is quite content in either acid or alkaline soils and examples can be found across a variety of landscapes. At its southernmost extent it has been recorded at elevations of up to 3,500m. Suffice to say that if you live in the northern hemisphere, you probably live close to some juniper.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0656\/3128\/9579\/files\/LeCocq_20120204_0074_600x600.jpg?v=1663912382\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eCommon juniper can grow up to 10 meters in height and live for over 100 years, but those cultivated for gin production are engineered to be much shorter and bushy.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eJuniper is a slow-grower, it takes a leisurely ten years before the plant produces flowers and fruit. Juniper is \u003ci\u003edioecious \u003c\/i\u003e(as well as being delicious) which means that individual plants are either male or female, unlike most tree species, where both male and female flowers occur on the same tree. Male flowers present themselves as yellow blossoms near the ends of the twigs in spring and disperse pollen in to the wind. Female flowers are in the form of very small clusters of scales, and after pollination by the wind, these grow on to become tiny cones. It’s these cones that soften and develop in to the juniper berry that we know and love.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0656\/3128\/9579\/files\/35238-juniper-berries-whole_600x600.jpg?v=1663912399\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eShaped like irregularly-sided spheres, juniper berries are green at first, but ripen only after 12 - 18 months to a dark, blue-purple colour. They’re about 0.5 - 1cm in diameter when fresh. Each berry contains 3 - 6 triangular seeds, which are dispersed by birds which eat the berries. Given that it takes so long for the berries to ripen it’s normal to see both ripe and unripe fruit on the plant at any one time. This means the same tree may be harvested three times over a two year period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eMost of the juniper used to make gin is sourced from Italy or Macedonia, although there are examples of juniper sourced from Netherlands, Bulgaria and Albania. Juniper can still be found in the UK, especially Scotland, but the fungus \u003ci\u003ePhytophthora austrocedrae\u003c\/i\u003e has decimated up to 70% of Britain’s juniper in recent years and in general the tree is at risk of extinction throughout the British Isles.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eIt’s surprising to find that most juniper trees are not farmed or cultivated and picking is more akin to foraging than harvesting. In the traditional manner, pickers will circulate around a tree, beating the branches and catching the falling berries in a round flat basket. On a good day, an experienced beater might be able collect their own bodyweight in berries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0656\/3128\/9579\/files\/Juniper01_600x600.jpg?v=1663912390\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe earliest recorded use of juniper medicinally dates back to ancient Egypt and around 1500 BC when the brown coloured fruit of \u003ci\u003eJuniperus phoenicea\u003c\/i\u003e was used as a poultice to treat musculoskeletal disorders (joint and muscle pain), consumed orally as a cure for tapeworms, and used to induce child birth — the effectiveness of which has been validated by modern pharmacological studies. Athletes in Greece’s ancient Olympic games gobbled up juniper berries, believing they would improve performance. The Roman’s used juniper for a range of digestive ailments, and famous mediaeval herbalist Culpepper used juniper infusions for the relief of trapped wind, for which juniper oil is still used today. During the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic, hospitals experimented with spraying vaporised oils into the atmosphere of flu wards in an attempt to prevent airborne infection spreading, and juniper was one of those found to be particularly effective. Extracts of juniper are still used today in alternative medicine for the treatment of skin problems like dermatitis, acne and athletes foot.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe highest concentration of juniper oil is actually found in the seeds of the fruit, rather than the flesh or skin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThe volumes of both juniper oil and its constituents can change quite dramatically according to the the berries ripeness, the age of the plant, period of harvesting, and terroir. In general, the essential oil content of juniper cones peaks at around 3% just before the fruit reaches full ripeness. Over 70 different components have been identified in the oil of \u003ci\u003ejuniperus communis\u003c\/i\u003e, but it is largely made up of five flavourful terpenes:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003ci\u003ePinene\u003c\/i\u003e is the predominant terpene in juniper, and there’s no prizes for guessing the aroma that it imparts. There are actually two types (isomers) of \u003ci\u003epinene\u003c\/i\u003e in juniper: \u003ci\u003eα-pinene\u003c\/i\u003e, the principal of the two, is one of the most widely encountered aromas in nature, and used by coniferous trees as an insect repellant. It has a woodsy cedar-like aroma. β-pinene is found in much smaller quantities in juniper, generally one-tenth than of \u003ci\u003eα-pinene, \u003c\/i\u003eand it can be distinguished by a green, Christmas tree type aroma.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eMycrene\u003c\/i\u003e is perhaps the second most important terpene in juniper after \u003ci\u003epinene\u003c\/i\u003e. It’s also found in thyme, bay and hops, and gives us a lingering herbal, mossy, aroma. \u003ci\u003eSabinene\u003c\/i\u003e gives juniper a warm, slightly nutty aroma. Limonene provides freshness and citrus notes.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eOne 2011 study conducted jointly by the University of Vienna and University of Food Technoligies in Bulgaria found that levels of α-pinene across 13 samples of Macedonian \u003ci\u003ejuniperus communis\u003c\/i\u003e ranged from 16-43% (the modal average being about 22%) of the oils total composition. Pinene content has arguably the biggest impact on gin flavour intensity, so where infrastructure permits producers will carefully assess samples before committing to buy.\u003c\/p\u003e","blog_id":88151654635,"author":"Tristan Stephenson","user_id":84698431723,"published_at":"2022-09-23T06:53:58+01:00","updated_at":"2023-12-06T14:57:16+00:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"juniper","tags":"tag:Botanicals"}

{"id":588620300523,"title":"Enter the Dragons","created_at":"2022-07-29T09:53:40+01:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003eWe have some exciting news to share with you!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBack in September, Tom and Tristan travelled to Manchester with a suitcase full of Whisky Me pouches (and a head full of dreams...) to film with the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/b006vq92\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Dragons Den\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"\u003eBBC show Dragons' Den\u003c\/a\u003e. In case you are unaware of the show's format, it sees entrepreneurs pitch their businesses to a panel of multi-millionaire investors with the hope of taking one (or more) of them on as a partner. Dragons' Den has helped to grow brands like \u003cem\u003eLevi Roots\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Craft Gin Club\u003c\/em\u003e to name but a couple.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo spoilers here I'm afraid, as the BBC asks participants not to reveal whether their pitch was successful until after the show airs. Truth be told it's been a bit of a struggle for us to keep quiet for the past nine months!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you are interested to find out how we did (or just want to watch us squirm!) be sure to pour yourself a large whisky - perhaps your May dram? - and tune in to BBC1 at 8pm on Thursday 13th May.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKeep an eye on this blog and our social media channels too, as we'll be posting more about our experience in the Den soon!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor press and media enquiries please contact \u003ca href=\"mailto:laura@whisky-me.com\"\u003elaura@whisky-me.com\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","blog_id":88151654635,"author":"Tristan Stephenson","user_id":null,"published_at":"2021-05-06T20:52:54+01:00","updated_at":"2022-07-29T09:53:41+01:00","summary_html":"","template_suffix":"","handle":"enter-the-dragons","tags":"tag:media","image":{"created_at":"2022-07-29T09:53:40+01:00","alt":"","width":1200,"height":675,"src":"\/\/gin-me.club\/cdn\/shop\/articles\/p09b00ky.jpg?v=1659084821"}}