We had a great talk from Laura of the Still Sisters, where we learnt a bit about the origins of gin and the distilling process. You may have noticed that there has been an explosion in the number of artisan producers recently i.e. producers of batches of small craft gins which come in a wide variety of flavours. Laura explained that a change in the law a few years ago broke the hold of the major distillers and was the catalyst for this to happen and for the Still Sisters to start producing their gins.
Hannah and Tori are the Still Sisters who often use botanicals from local producers to flavour their gins. There's apples from a Somerset orchard, watercress from Dorset, roses from Chard, and lavender from Wiltshire to name just four. Juniper is always used - this is what makes gin, gin after all. This plus any other botanicals needed for the batch are gathered together into what looks like a large tea bag to go into the still called Storm alongside the raw alcohol they buy in as the base for their gin.
The photo above gives you an idea of the enormous range of botanicals they use to go into their gin - even birch bark! They reckon their watercress gin is the best from what they produce and Laura recommended a twist of cucumber instead of the usual slice of lemon to really bring out its flavour. The small still in the photo is a representation of their larger one to give us an idea of what it looks like and is an example of the small stills used by students attending their gin school.
The Sisters are currently experimenting with producing a zero or low alcohol gin - strictly speaking not a gin as the law states gin must have a certain alcohol proof. It's proving tricky to get the consistency and taste to their liking, plus it's a lengthier process as the normal gin needs to be made first in order to take out the alcohol.
We also had a tasting session for those that fancied it and several purchases were made. We had lots of questions, with the most notable answer addressed to those who confessed they didn't like gin. Laura suggested it's often the tonic flavour which isn't liked as it can be quite bitter. She then produced some lemonade as an alternative and at least one of our gin haters professed a conversion with this different combination!
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