November’s Club gin is packed full of flavour and it’s no surprise – with a whopping 110 botanicals used in the making!! Botanical Breaker, as we understand, is the only gin in the world with a botanical count of over 100 👀
Why so many, you ask? Good question! Stick with me on this, as the explanation is rather a long one…
When we distill an experiment and it doesn’t quite make the cut, we have the means to ‘strip’ the liquid back to a base and essentially re-use the liquid again in distillation; this means we can minimize waste and essentially recycle what would otherwise be discarded and unused. Great, yes? Zero waste!
Before we get to a point of stripping back the liquid, it all gets collected in one pot which affectionately became know as Heinz 57 – so many varieties of gin, in one big barrel. Before we went on to strip the liquid, naturally, curiosity got the better of us and of course we gave Heinz 57 a try. Surprisingly, we actually really liked the taste of it and it got us thinking about how random things sometimes end up having unusually good outcomes.
Bear with me, there’s more…
Sitting around chatting about gins with friends, we were asked if we’d ever make a Las Vegas inspired gin and just throw in a mix of everything we have because when in Vegas “anything goes”! And, well if you’ve been to Las Vegas, you’ll know that ones true!
So with Heinz in our mind and a “what the heck, this could be fun, wild in Vegas” attitude, Botanical Breaker Gin was born.
With an innovative gin club on our hands it’s no doubt that we’ve stacked up a huge range of botanicals in our cupboards. From exotic to unusual, there’s a whole host of herbs, fruits, florals and spices – with an array of flavours. Not one to shy away from this record breaking challenge, Distiller, Ryan set about balancing these 110 botanicals.
The label artwork
Resident artist, Bodie also had a challenge on his hands this month. He said “Botanical Breaker is one heck of a feat that Norris McWhiter and Roy Castle both would marvel at. 110 Botanicals in one recipe! How to fit all of them on a label was quite the challenge and if you look really, really closely you will see (very nearly almost!) all of them. Big ups to Ryan for pulling it off. Cue… Dedications What You Need!
Botanical Breaker Gin
Distiller, Ryan says “In everyday life I am ambitious and I love smashing records – whether that be PB’s or little challenges I set for myself. To bring this mindset into work and have a bash at experimenting with a truly mad blend of botanicals was well up my street. I used the ratio framework that I normally use with our ‘regular’ recipes to balance out the fruits, herbs and spices and was shocked there were 110 botanicals in this recipe. I had lots of fun making this gin but I would say the only thing I didn’t enjoy was the time it took to weigh out each and ever botanical – that did take a long time!”.
Perfect Serve
Enjoy this Botanical Breaker over ice with Indian tonic. Garnish with sliced pear and split cardamom pods.
Banging Botanicals Cocktail
Fancy a cocktail with a bang? Feast your eyes on this month’s Botanical Breaker cocktail. To make, you’ll need:
1 fresh or dried fig
2 orange slices, cut in half
6 fresh cranberries (use frozen, but thawed if you can’t get fresh ones. Or substitute with raspberries)
150ml Botanical Breaker Gin
Prosecco
Orange twist and cranberries/berries to garnish
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the fig, orange slices, and cranberries/berries with the gin. Add ice and shake well. Strain into a champagne flute and top with prosecco. Garnish with the cranberries/berries and an orange twist.
