Have you ever taken a sip of your Dragon Slayer gin and wondered how on earth we created such a delicious drink? Well, we’re going to let you in on the distilling process…
Don’t get too excited, though! We’ll be keeping our top-secret recipes under lock and key, but the process of making the drink we’re willing to divulge.
Meet Bertha
We’re well aware the average person doesn’t have a 200L handmade Copper Alembic still lying around their house, but we use our beloved Bertha on the daily to lovingly produce our signature gin.
Of course, if you’re willing to commit to the process, there are small stills you can purchase online, they tend to go for approximately £100.
Source high-quality alcohol
One of the key ingredients you’ll need is alcohol, which is made through a fermentation process which can take up to two weeks.
We order ours in from a trusted, high-quality source; it is possible (but tricky) to create your own.
The best bit
It’s time for you to whip out your still and put it to good use – this is where the magic happens.
The distilling process essentially purifies your alcohol; it’s heated, vaporised then the vapor is then recondensed into liquid.
This is a process distillers can have a bit of fun with, single still, double still or numerous stills – it all depends on how pure and tasty you’d like the gin to be.
This is also the point in which the delicious infusion of botanicals is added, which gives the gin its signature flavour, and can be done at any point during this distilling process – it’s sometimes a case of trial and error.
Make it pure
Then it’s time to sort through the liquid. There are three cuts the distiller has to make. The heads, containing methanol, the hearts, containing the best part of the run of gin, and the tails, which can taste quite nutty and watery.
The final touch
Now it’s time to dilute the gin with water, and no, this isn’t a case of short-changing a customer, it’s a process to ensure the alcohol by volume (ABV) is correctly measured, and the flavours are perfectly balanced.
At this point distillers can also add additional flavorings like sloe gin, of course, we only use organic, local produce to ensure each bottle is of the highest quality.
Bottle em’ up
Last up, you’ll need a couple hundred bottle to correctly store your stash ready for consumption!
Sound overwhelming? Well, you could always just grab a bottle from our shop… we have a range of flavours for you to enjoy – leave the hard part to us: https://dragonslayerdistillery.uk/shop/
