Welcome To The Gin Ignite Podcast

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

News

Welcome

• Hello and Welcome to Episode 26

The Only Way Is Gin

• It was official on Monday 16th November 2020 the only way is gin gin went live
• Premium in taste with an understated flamboyance.
• 9 natural botanicals are carefully selected to produce a smooth and sophisticated dry gin.
• Exotic and sweet, first the aroma of orange blossom.
• The fresh citrus burst.
• Poppy seeds provide a long, lingering finish.
• Serve with a slice of pink grapefruit to create the perfect gin and tonic.
• Congratulations Nikki so pleased for you.

Christmas Gifts

• Please support your local and favourite distilleries for Christmas.
• Massingberd-Mundy - meet the family back £5 gets you their two sensation gins. Order one of the main gins and get a £10 voucher per order.
• The Edge Gin has a lockdown offer at the moment lockdown2 and if you spend £40 or above get free shipping. Mulled Pear.
• Pitwheel Distillery - orange and ginger gin sounds like a great winter warmer for the Christmas period
• Otterbeck Distillery have got a few lovely gifts of coasters and glasses as well as their signature cotton gin and limited edition winter cotton gin
• Stockport Gin - bauble selections are a back but stock is going fast and they have great lockdown bundles 3 gins for £100 or 4 gins and 8 tonics for £140
• I'm so tempted by the The Gower Gin Company GŴYR Six Pack

Subscriptions

• Craft Gin Club
• The Botanical Trading Company

Gin To My Tonic

• With so many Christmas markets cancelled the Gin To My Tonic are having a virtual GinMas on 4-6th December
• Go to https://thegintomytonic.com/shop/virtual-christmas-market/ to find out more
• It cost £10.00 or if you order GinMas 5cl samples then you can get admission free.

LAW Gin

• If there is a UK distributor who wishes to bring LAW gin to the UK then please get in touch with me or with LAW gin directly.
• It would be great to get this in the UK’s hands for Christmas !!

Cheshire Mobile Bars

• Don’t want to shake your own cocktails on Christmas Day but you want extra special drink ? Why not checkout Cheshire Mobile Bars national cocktail delivery service. Proper professional bartender cocktails sent directly to your door !! Want to know more continue listening to this podcast.

Review

• Reviews really help the podcast in a given podcast directory. So if you did have a chance to review the podcast I would be most grateful

Weekly Gin Recommendation

The Gower Gin Company - Bara Brith Gin

• The Gower Gin company are in my favourite part of Wales.
• I think I am slightly biased given that I was born there and lived in that area for 4 years.
• Bara Brith is a Welsh tea bread with dried fruit
• The thing I like about the Gower Gin Company is their expertise in blending botanicals. Everything is seamless. For example their use of ginger adds heat and give you a gorgeous flavour but does overpower your palette like it does in so many other gins
• The nose reminds me of Christmas time and that dried fruit smell you get from mixing up Christmas pudding but not as overpowering. The aroma is very subtle.
• The flavour profile is very interesting when tasting it neat it starts with dry juniper taste followed by a sweetness which meanders into a bit of heat from the alcohol and the end of the profile is sweet.
• The taste is a triumph. You get the ginger and spices and the tea stained fruit giving you the sense of eating Bara Brith bread. It is a unique taste which is hard to describe in words but one which I adore.
• I tested with Mediterranean tonic and it was a very pleasant G&T. It would work really well with any standard light tonics. I would not pair it with Elderflower but I would consider an orange based tonic instead.
• The smoothness of this gin would lend itself to be a dry martini and I would love to try it, albeit only on a cold winters day.
• I think this would be a welcome addition too many cocktails.
• This is a definite keeper and will be one I will be adding to the long list of gins that I want to buy and one that I would thoroughly recommend if nothing else that it is so different from other gins that I own.

Paul from Stockport Gin

What were you both doing before March 2019 ? 

• Paul worked for a large architectural practice in Manchester since 2003
• Cheryl worked in her own business doing hair extensions

What gave Cheryl the final push to go full time and for you to eventually go part time ?

• Launched in March 2019
• The demand in four weeks after launch for their original gins was such that it was not feasible to work in the day and make gin, label and bottle at night as well as look after two young children
• Cheryl took the step first to go full time in the gin business
• 12 months ago Paul reduced his hours

You were both adamant that it was going to be called Stockport Gin. What were some of the other suggestions put to you ?

• There was only one option for Paul and Cheryl and wanted to represent their town
• Always love to try local gins when away but when came home there was no Stockport gin
• You could get a local gin from Cheshire or Lancashire but there was no gin from Stockport
• Paul and Cheryl had always said that someone should do a Stockport Gin but no one did. So they did !!
• Other people said don’t call it Stockport because it will limit you
• They knew that simply was not the case and they wanted to prove that person wrong
• Ultimately people enjoy what is in the bottle and the story that is behind it
• Important that the product in the bottle tells the story as well as the name on the front
• Their gin is for their town
• Not only promote themselves but also the town

You are craft gin enthusiasts. What attracts you to a particular craft gin ? Bottle ? Label ? What you have heard on social media ? 

• A bit of everything
• Always love trying different things
• Sometimes people spoken to pre-launch because they have asked for advice which Stockport Gin are always happy to give
• Sometimes it is gins they have never heard of before
• Not just the bottle, people behind them or the story behind them

When you taste a gin for the first time what do you look for ? Nose ? Taste ?

• When tasting new gin like to try neat
• Good quality gin always has a smoothness to it does not burn back of your throat like some more well known gins
• Then neat with ice. Completely changes the taste and aroma
• Then try distillers recommended serve

How did your love for craft gin influence your own gins ?

• Always knew that gins that they always came back to were citrus based gins
• Always knew that this was the style they would make
• If made a gin that they really enjoyed then they could put all our passion into it and if it did not sell then they would have a supply for life !!
• Always stuck to that with the rest of the gins
• All gins citrus based
• Tastes slightly changing and currently enjoying ones which are not citrus based
• There is a gin out there for everyone

How did you start with your first gin ? In a baby still ? On the large 100L still ?

• Started with a mini two litre copper pot still
• Decided 8 botanicals wanted to use
• Developed different recipes using different quantities of the 8 botanicals
• Made 5 variants
• Took to local gin bar and had blind taste test
• The one chosen was the first variant made
• The first variant is the one you drink

Where do you distill ?

• Converted the garage into a small, humble distillery
• Bottle and hand label in there too

How do you distill ? 

• Buy in neutral grain spirit at 96% ABV
• That goes in the still and gets watered down
• Put 5 of 8 botanical in the still if making original gin
• Normally filled the night before
• Another 3 botanicals in gin basket which vapour infused
• When vapour infuse citrus much lighter and smoother gin
• Spirit comes out and goes into containers like milk churns
• Tested for alcoholic strength. Normally 80% ABV
• Normally sit for a day or two then blended to bottling strength 40% ABV
• Now use reverse osmosis machine partly cost and partly environmental as before had 25 litre water containers that not able to recycle or return to the supplier
• Try and be as eco friendly as possible so try not to use single use plastics

You have such a playful brand and this reflected in the products you offer. How did you come up with gin baubles and tell me what you have learnt since last year ?

• Buy a lot more than you think
• Bought a few in 2019 to try and went to one market and sold everything in 2 hours
• Then tried to get more but only got 2 weeks before Christmas
• In 2020 ordered in advance. Now fancier, shinier new labels. Much more stock than last year
• At the moment stock levels are ok but they are really popular
• All screw caps so can buy and refill !!

You also have really thought about lockdown 2. What are the offers you have ?

• This time felt different so wanted to put an offer on 
• Lockdown bundle - get 3 bottle for £100
• MEGA Lockdown bundle - get 4 bottles and 8 tonics for £140

Taster edition ? What was the reason to partner with double dutch ?

• Double dutch are really good at helping and supporting small brands and distilleries
• Started using about 12 months ago
• Give good help and Stockport Gin promote
• Have a load of good mixers as well as tonics

Mug with Wish this was Stockport Gin on it. How did that come about ?

• Don’t take ourselves too seriously
• Two normal people that happen to make gins and also the same two that come to markets. Face of the brand
• Important to have relationship with people who see and relate to us
• First impressions count
• Very well received that honest and down to earth
• Someone once told us don’t ever put yourself to the front but concentrate on showing a lifestyle rather than showing yourself
• They ignored this advice and like people to see them for what they are just two people that make gin
• For example Paul took over social media to tell people it was Cheryls 40th birthday. Loads of responses back
• Took a while to find their feet but now know who they are, what they are and where they want to take it

Talk to me about the Original Edition ? How would describe it ? How would you serve it ?

• Citrus forward London Dry Gin - juniper, coriander, orris root, cardamom & cubeb for warmth, lemon peel and orange peel give it a citrus smoothness.
• All Stockport gins have signature botanical pine needles which is foraged from a pine forest on their doorstep in Stockport
• Stockport not just the name on the bottle but also in the bottle with the signature botanical pine needles
• Nice sipping gin over ice
• Paired with a premium Indian tonic like Double Dutch or equivalent
• Lots of ice with wedge of lemon or orange

Talk to me about the Twist of Lime Edition ? How would describe it ? How would you serve it ? (Awards)

• Evolved over time
• Huge project in Stockport after they had launched to promote the town
• The project saw how popular the brand had become and approached by the project to buy gin
• They wanted to buy original gin and re-label it
• Stockport Gin not happy about that because very honest so decided to make a special gin instead
• Whole project based around 19 frogs and called the giant leap.
• Frogs were 5 - 6 ft tall and sponsored by local company and then painted by 19 local artists
• Idea that brought everyone into Stockport and follow a map to find 19 frogs and see parts of the town that would not normally see
• Really good idea
• Commissioned to make a gin and decided to use lime
• Very difficult to source dried lime peel so made with fresh lime peel instead. Bought a load of limes and peeled them themselves.
• What came out was a really citrus, zesty, lime gin
• Over 3 - 4 months produced 3 batches
• In October holding auction to sell off frogs
• All money went to charity
• Asked to come down and sell bottles of the gin. So gave some money to charity but the problem was they had no gin
• Local bars and restaurants were also selling the gin
• Made one more batch to sell at the October event and to re-stock the bars
• People who love a really dry gin always came back to this one
• Always known as Twist of Lime gin
• So beginning of this year decided to make it permanent and call Twist of Lime edition
• Could not drink as sipping gin
• In gin and tonic is amazing
• Premium tonic, ice and wedge of lime
• Also makes a really good gimlet cocktail
• Peels go in still and juice used to make cocktails
• Gin mojito a possibility soon

Talk to me about the Pink Edition ? How would describe it ? How would you serve it ? (Awards)

• After launch the biggest question asked was do you do a pink gin ?
• Pink gin is very popular. Paul and Cheryl have never really been fans because generally the ones on the market are either full of sugar or too full of flavour
• Decided to take original gin and then post infuse after distillation with raspberry, strawberries and pomegranate
• Cheryl calls it a ginny gin
• Won the flavoured gin category in The Gin Guide Awards
• Works much better with a light tonic rather than an Indian tonic as a G&T
• Works well in fizz. Put 25ml or less in a glass, add your favourite fizz and then top with a strawberry
• Also works well in a negroni and gives a different take.
• Not quite as sharp and punch when add a normal London dry

Talk to me about the Pink Grapefruit and Pink Perppercorn Edition ? How would describe it ? How would you serve it ? (Awards)

• First launched this time last year. Launched 6 different flavoured gins and 6 different labels by local artists
• Showcases local area and different buildings
• Whichever proved most popular would probably become a regular edition
• Difference is actually distill with pink grapefruit and pink peppercorns. Infuse more pink grapefruit afterwards
• Get fresh taste of pink grapefruit first and then the final taste is warmth of the pink peppercorns.
• Serve with an Indian tonic, plenty of ice and pink grapefruit or slice or orange

How did the sustainable edition come about ? 

• When we first launched knocked on as many doors as they can
• Knocked a few times on Selfridges door
• In day job Paul was in London and offered to pop in with bottle
• Buyer got back and said yes come in at 16:00 . Paul did not see the e-mail.
• The next thing he knew Cheryl was booking a ticket to London !
• Buyer tasted the gin and decided to stock The Original edition
• Also had a conversation about making a gin exclusively for Selfridges
• 12 months ago got in touch and said would you fancy doing something exclusive
• Jumped at chance
• Selfridges very much in sustainability and wanted to find some waste products in their store that could be used for the gin
• Paul went in and talked to staff, waiters, bar managers and chefs in the Manchester store
• Best candidate was the orange juicing machine. Orange peels discarded at the end of the day
• Take the orange peels away and make and orange citrus gin
• Found a specialist supplier who could produce a biodegradable label and adhesive
• Use recycled glass bottle
• Also completed carbon footprint study with Selfridges
• Worked out how many journeys would make on normal gin run compare to sustainable edition where goes to one place rather than a number of stockists and retail customers.
• Carbon footprint hugely reduced
• Post first lockdown came back and said were only able to take third of batch. Came to agreement that Stockport Gin can retail gin but at their price point

How have you been affected with Covid and the markets ?

• Biggest impact hospitality industry been closed pubs, bars, restaurants, cafes
• Luckily have really good local stockists
• Order disappeared overnight with hospitality
• On flip side online sales increased certainly in lockdown 1
• Did online taster nights in lockdown 1
• In lockdown 2 offering bundles
• Biggest impact is events
• No gin festival this year
• Are doing Gin To My Tonics Ginmas festival

Where next for the brand ?

• Difficult because know what the brand is and what people love about the...