Sipsmith gin distillery tour

In a large garage in the residential streets of Hammersmith is a new gin distillery run by a  company of gin enthusiasts, Sipsmith. They were awarded the first gin license in London in the last 200 years !

We had a tour of the garage last night along with 20 or so other gin drinkers.

Sipsmith's website   -  http://www.sipsmith.com/story - gives you more information on their story.

We were surrounded by drums of 96% proof ethanol - made from english barley and later blended with water from the source of the Thames, Lydwell Spring, to bring it down to a less dangerous and more manageable 60 % proof.

The copper still was made in Germany by a family called Christian Carl, is the only one of its kind in the world and was commissioned in 2009 - it is tradition to name your still - this magnificent model is called Prudence - nothing to do with the worst Chancellor and Prime Minister we have ever had ...

Initially, the still is used to make vodka (five time distilled), adding water from the source of the Thames to reduce the proof to 60%, and this is then partly bottled and the rest used to make the gin - the juniper berries and 9 other botanicals, coriander, orange and lemon peel, orris and angelica root, liquorice root, ground almond, cassia bark and cinnamon, are added and left to macerate for 12 hours before being distilled one more time to make the final Sipsmith gin.


The copper is the key to distilling great gin - it chemically reacts with the vapour and removes the bad stuff from the mix - the copper on the still will eventually deplete - but it will last 80 years.

 The beneficial effects of drinking gin can be clearly seen from the following pictures of Amanda on the tour - initially she is suffering from the January blues ...

 One slug of Sipsmith gin and Fever Tree tonic and ..

 ...all is well with the world.