It may have seemed that the handcrafted gin markets would suffer from a Unique Selling Point shortfall, as they had run out botanicals.But two New Zealand brothers-inlaw have shown that there’s no lack of fresh ideas with the launch of a black-colored gin.
New Zealand’s Scapegrace Black Gin is the first blackish gin. The botanicals in the gin, such as aronia, butterfly peas, saffron and pineapples, cause it to turn purplish black when mixed with tonic. The Scapegrace Distillery It is situated near Wanaka and Queenstown.
Says fellow co-founder Mark Neal: “The word Scapegrace means libertine and is sometimes used to describe someone unconventional, independently minded and doing things differently to the norm. Scapegrace Black very much falls under this mindset”.
Equatorial Africa has Procera Gin, Australia Ink, and Germany The Illusionist, conceptualized in 2015 by Tim Steglich, Max Muggenthaler. But the UK is the center of color-shifting Gin in the entire world.
We are used to rhubarb and raspberry gins, lime, pink gin or blush gin. In Lytham, Lancashire Sarah Dewhurst’s Lancashire Sandgrown Spirits makes Positively Purple Gin.
Made in Seaford Harley House Sussex Blue One of the first English gins to change color.“We got the idea for the Blue Gin in 2017 when my wife and I were making a birthday cake for our son” says Adam Cowley. “He is allergic to artificial colorings so we were trying to find a natural blue coloring for the icing; He was and still is an avid Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club fan. The Butterfly Pea Flower is used in Thailand to color food. I was able to obtain some and made the blue icing to go with the white and blue stripes. Then we decided to drizzle lemon on a part of the cake in order to match the colors of the away kit. When we added the Lemon drizzle, the Butterfly Pea color started to react, turning pink. Our son was not impressed, but I got the idea for a Blue Gin.
I was disappointed to find out, after doing some research, that although there are other Blue-color changing gins on the market, they are not made in Britain. So we decided we would produce them. We finally cracked the process after 6 months of trying without chemicals to stabilize the blue color in the gin. It was officially released in the summer of 2018.”
You can also find out more about the following: Sussex Blue Gin This gin is made with our award-winning Pure Sussex Gin and the addition of butterfly pea flower, so there are 16 botanicals in total. The pH-sensitive butterfly pea flower is now the current “IN” or “IT” botanical. Explains Adam: “Adding any acidic mixer like tonic water or lemonade reduces the pH of the spirit, reacting with the anthocyanins and creating a color change.”
The UK has been a leader in the development of color-shifting Gins. Other blue gin makers include Yorkshire’s J.P. Adlams The following are some examples of how to get started: Cornish Rock Blue Gin Angie Malde named her white Alsatian dog after a gardenia-based product she made.
His wife Jessica. Colin Mclean-chief ginologist at Mclean’s Gin in Strathaven, Lanarkshire made one of Scotland’s first magic, chameleonic gins for their wedding. “We created just 150 bottles, which was about as far as our cash flow could stretch at the time – however, it was so well received by our customers and the volume of inquiries for more production was such that we decided to add it as a permanent addition to our range.”
Something Blue is the fruit of the happy marriage and dexterous manipulation of tonka beans, bushy leaf, and the getting-more-popular-every-day clitoria ternatea flower. Carol Jackson, who has a background in running large change programs in financial services makes Glasgow’s Ellis Gin; The following are some examples of how to get started: Edinburgh’s Secret Garden in the form of its Lavender and Echinacea Gin.
The Isle of Wight’s Adgestone Vineyard, the oldest vineyard still in operation in the UK and with underground cellars, produces sparkling blue wine. It is a light bubbling Cuvee that is unique. It is produced using the Methode Traditionelle and has been left on lees for a minimum of 18 months.
Russ Broughton was a former Ford Motor Co. engineer who worked in robotics before moving to the container port industries at Southampton and London Gateway. Russ and Philippa Jane, a corporate lawyer, now own Adgestone Vineyard at the Brading Downs.
Russ and Philippa both had no previous experience in the wine industry. Russ simply describes his discovery of the vineyard: “I was on holiday when I saw an ad in the local paper- “Vineyard For Sale. I went to have a look. The house was in a terrible state. But, having renovated a few properties, and built a house, a garage, and two cars from scratch I thought “Why not?”
The Isle of Wight’s Adgestone Winery, which originally opened in 1968, was once a prestigious vineyard winning the Gore Brown Trophy for English wine in 1970. The original plantings of Seyval Blanc in 1968 survive (affectionately known as the “Old Ladies”), making them the oldest commercial vines in the UK.
Russ suggests everyone should “think differently, drink differently and think differently again”.