Welcome To The Gin Ignite Podcast

Whether you want to party or have a quiet night in gin will ignite

News

• Hello and Welcome to Episode 11
• Today I am chatting with Laura Bridge from Lava Spirits about her journey to get to where she is now, her brand and more importantly her two brand new gins that she is releasing today.
• If you listen to me in a podcast directory I would very grateful if you could review the podcast.
• Keen to talk to distilleries about their journey and their brand.
• Round of gin is going live on 10th August 2020

Gin Recommendation

• This weeks gin recommendation is Pitwheel Original Spiced
• I have been a big fan of Pitwheel ever since I was introduced to them via their hilarious posts on instagram and decided to take a punt.
• I have tried all of Pitwheels gins and although I loved the Classic Dry and the Raspberry and Vanilla the original spiced just pips them to the post
• Tried in June and I remember being worried about the spice -> Opihr gin
• This gin is exquisite. The palette starts of as dry gin followed by a very mild spice
• Just my cup of tea.
• If your looking for a sensational gin and something just a bit different look no further.

Laura Bridge from Lava Spirits

Italy

• Went to Italy because of redundancy from Random House and recession in UK
• Wanted to take a year out and travel around the world and then come back after a year to see what was happening regarding recession
• Went to visit friend in Florence, Tuscany
• Fell in love with Italy and struck by culture and lifestyle and art and art history
• Signed up for 3 month course and then stayed for 15 years
• Working with small magazine like timeout for cities concentrating on events in Milan, Naples, Rome and Florence

London

• Came back in millennium for personal reasons
• Changed gear and transferred skills into city
• For last 12 years in city working for offshoot of Fidelity investments in property investment arm
• Loved multi-cultural vibe in city and night life
• Gin bar around corner at back of St Pauls near to where based
• Decided had enough in 2018 with city life, commute, stressful job etc

Move to Essex

• Decided to get her Yorkie Narla and enjoy the Essex village in which she lives
• Wanted to do something more creative where she can enjoy environment a bit more
• Different type of stress but one she can decided how much she puts on herself

Gin Creation

• First fruit was Sloe gin
• Went down really well with family and friends
• Spring after that went to many places and saw many fruits
• Time in Italy gave love of food and flavours
• Going back to Tuscan table
• Making jams and fruit tarts. Only so much jam a girl can eat
• Base spirit produced elsewhere
• Masceration /compound method

The Big Reveal

• Could not pick enough fruit unless have an army of people so what would work
• What if I put coffee in gin ?
• Had a play in the kitchen and really worked
• Tried on friends and told this is not like Sloe gins "Laura you can't sit on this"
• Spent last 18 months honing recipe, getting to know drinks industry and setting up the distillery
• Two journeys one for coffee and one for gin
• Learnt so much on her journey
• Loving it now

Flavour Profile

• Coffee strong flavour
• Coffee led not juniper led
• Tuscan table combine simple flavours which become complex in the palette
• Very smooth. Sits nicely neat or on the rocks
• Depth of flavours come in waves
• Do actually get to the juniper but takes a while
• Cherry, marzipan, vanilla and chocolate flavours
• Juniper comes in waves
• Base spirit has citrus which complements coffee
• Premium London Dry

Twist on that Coffee and Orange

• Heavy on citrus
• Aroma of orange and zest
• Really going to be favourite

7th August

• Launch day
• Ad campaign launches
• Both gins will available on website https://www.lavaspirits.co.uk
• Two sizes 35cl and 70cl
• Coffee Gin and Coffee Orange Gins available in twin packs of 35cl
• Later on will be available in other places.
• Local bars doing a pre-launch trial

Mixologists

• Gins likely to go down very well with mixologists and bar tenders to play around with
• Laura has been working with a mixologist to develop signature cocktails for each gin
• Versatile spirits
• Lovely neat and on the rocks
• Using this in long serves with Fever Tree Ginger Beer
• Good with different flavoured tonics.
• Good with darker mixers such as the recent ones brought out by Coca Cola
• Twist on classic cocktails such as Expresso Martini or Coffee Negroni
• Also used on desserts. Good for chefs. Tiramisu, ice cream or some fruit sorbets
• Vanessa came on three weeks ago not last week !!
• Not sweet on the palette
• Sweetness comes from roasting of coffee beans
• Great coffee bean can be destroyed by bad roaster
• Artisan roasters bring sweetness out of the coffee
• 100% Arabica Coffee
• True art

Brand

• Quirky
• Focussed on artisan side of things
• Premium hand crafted gin
• Bottles hand finished and hand waxed. Drew on experience from Italy. Italians managed to maintain artisan crafts
• Label design journey in itself. Designer 3 nailed label. Previously latched on to lava spirits as molten lava. Nothing to do with lava spirits
• Emphasis not on brand name
• All about coffee. Clear bottle to allow liquid to shine through
• Coffee gin has a splash of red berries to indicate coffee beans
• Coffee orange gin has a splash of orange to indicate the orange.

Competition

• Ask people to guess from a few snippets what lava means
• You can win bottles of Coffee Gin and Coffee Orange gin
• Will be a few post after live day on 7th August

Contact

Instagram - @lavaspirits -best one to use to contact

Twitter - @lavaspirits

Facebook - lavaspirits

Website - https://www.lavaspirits.co.uk

What is your favourite gin other than your own and how would you serve ?

• Favourite Brockmans gin.
• Took 10 years to develop before launch
• Fabulous smooth and you can drink neat
• Junipers wild from tuscany
• Citrus and berry combination
• Serve with simple tonic. Not flavoured tonic. Add in blueberry, blackberry and grapefruit
• Simple uncomplicated flavours that combine really nicely that wow the palette

What does gin meant to you ?

• Means everything
• "Gin is my life"
• Gin started at 18 because aspired to be sophisticated and classy
• All about an experience about savouring a moment
• Laura drinks gin when she wants to savour a moment and create a memory

Gin Community Shout Out

• Anfield Gin gets a special shoutout Mark and Chelsey who are a father and daughter dynamic duo behind the gin. I feel an episode on the podcast coming with Anfield gin in it!!!
• Martin Miller Summerful gin
• Worthing gin great advert for a blow up bottle
• Massignberd-Mundy - exciting new distillery. First live with @glassofgin_packetofseeds on Friday. Got new packaging showing South Ormsby Estate.

Instagram Community Shout Out

• This weeks shoutout to @mothers_not_ruined_
• Recently changed her logo. Last one good but this one is amazing turquoise blue background with her Dalmatian dog.
• I found out after recording that there are actually 4 others in the pack too !!! The full pack is Dolly, Mia, Posh, Dior and Honey !!!
• Her Dalmatians have also appeared in many of her pictures but not as much as I would like as they are beautiful
• Liked her entries into drinkbledon especially the one with the tennis racket and flowers
• Posts colourful and a great background
• Really creative
• Love the gin bramble courtesy of bloom gin redness and the glass with mothers not ruined
• Blue post gin is always the answer.

Get In Contact

• IM me at @ginignite Instagram or @ginignite on Twitter
• E-Mail me at [email protected]
• If you have ideas IM me or e-mail at [email protected]
• If you want to be on the show then IM me or e-mail me at [email protected]

Final Thought

• The thing that I like about the gin community that I have met so far is that no one judges anyone for what they believe, what they look like or who they choose to be.
• The world would be a better place if everyone took that view.
• Grab your drink, toast those you love, enjoy your weekend and whether your decide to party or stay in I will be with you in spirit !!!
• Seriously though enjoy your weekend and I look forward to joining you for another episode next Friday.
• Cheers