Gin is just the tonic for Bristol

When Jake Black was thinking of names for his new gin distillery, he always knew that he wanted his home city pride of place on the bottle. And so Bristol Distilling Co. was born.

Now operating out of a 5,000sq ft warehouse in Bedminster, its see-through still is the only one of its kind in Europe – producing small batch London dry gin called Gin 77.

Jake, who also owns Chomp restaurant in St Nicholas Street in the Old City, and his fellow company director Emily Astley-Cooper, have only been distilling gin since the beginning of this year but already have big plans ahead for their warehouse including the possibility of making whisky.

Emily Astley-Cooper and Jake Black make their gin in a huge warehouse in Bedminster

For now though, they are content with making more Gin 77 and on Friday are opening the bar inside their distillery on the Malago Vale Trading Estate to thirsty customers for the first time, in the same way that many Bristol breweries have neighbouring tap rooms.

“The reaction has been really positive so far,” Emily says on a recent weekday morning during a break from distilling. “People quite like that we have gone for a classic London dry. It’s a really tasty gin; nothing to shock people.”

Bristol Distilling Co. are opening the bar within their distillery for the first time on Friday night

Like the burgers served at Chomp which are in essence a pimped-up version of the McDonald’s quarter-pounder with cheese, the aim of Gin 77 is to take a classic and do it better.

This is in marked contrast to the style of Bristol Dry Gin, who operate from the basement of The Rummer in St Nick’s Market and recently hit the headlines for producing a vodka called Novichok – named after the nerve agent that last month killed Dawn Sturgess in Wiltshire.

Novichok vodka from Bristol Dry Gin is still for sale despite recent controversy over its name

For South Africa-born head distiller David Blatch, it’s an example of his mischievous sense of fun.

When Bristol24/7 visits him soon after 10am on a recent Monday morning and brings up the subject, we ask if he is apologetic. “Yes, absolutely,” he answers, before saying: “You should try some, man! It’s fucking amazing. It’s such a good example of why this style of distilling kicks arse.”

And so before it was even time for elevensies, your intrepid correspondent was sipping not the Novichok but another 75 per cent liquid, Turbo Island gin, with a hefty dash of tonic.

Bristol Dry Gin’s range are made through vapour infusion. In this process, the botanicals never come into direct contact with the neutral base spirit. Instead, they’re placed into baskets in the still, above the base spirit, which when boiled, vaporises and rises up and infuses with the botanicals.

David Blatch is the head distiller at Bristol Dry Gin, who make their liquids in the basement of The Rummer

David has the air of a mad scientist about him as he grabs bottles of his previous creations from around his underground lair, talking as he does about spirits made with the likes of blue cheese, garlic and onion.

“Lots of people are really accepting of all of our interesting ideas,” he says with a laugh. “People are really open-minded here in Bristol, which is awesome.”

When we speak about gin in Bristol, the first business that David recommends is Espensen Spirit of Redfield, specialists in naturally infused gins, vodkas and whiskies. “It’s fucking hard doing that stuff,” David adds.

Espensen Spirit produce a range of naturally infused vodkas, gins and whiskies

“We’re the fruity contenders of the Bristol gin scene,” Espensen Spirit co-founder Sam Espensen tells us via email.

“I’ve been making naturally infused spirits for over a decade and we currently produce a pink raspberry gin called Pump up the Jam (our best seller), and we’ve also got Gin Genie Blueberry Gin and Pretty in Pink Rhubarb Gin.

“Our spirits are very versatile as they are equally lovely as a sipping gin, with mixers or in cocktails. And Espensen Spirit is co-owned and run by two women, so I guess we bring that to the table too.”

Aiming to join Sam soon in BS5 (where Espensen Spirit will have their first festival bar at Redfest on August 4) is Psychopomp.

Bristol’s most well-known and well-respected gin distillery currently have a second production site in the pipeline which could double the amount of gin made at their current home on St Michael’s Hill, while also giving the option of making other spirits.

Where the magic happens at Psychopomp

Psychopomp co-founder Danny Walker began distilling gin as a hobby, “until our wives pointed out that it was expensive and we had to either give it up or start a business. We still do it because we love it.”

Danny estimates that he spends as much as half his time in product development, with new seasonal gins launched each year and collaborations with other businesses to make bespoke gins that can be found in places such as Pata Negra, Bravas and Honest Burgers.

On a recent Saturday morning, Danny was helping to set up the distillery into a session for a small number of people who will later go away with their own bottle of gin made using their own blend of botanicals.

Danny Walker began distilling gin as a hobby before turning it into a business

We take a seat in the sun outside, underneath the original sign from when this was a grocers.

“The best part of this job is talking to people,” Danny explains. “We do a lot of gin making classes, getting a lot of customers through the door. And I also work with lots of great restaurants and bars, talking to more people who are enthusiastic about gin.”

All of the labels on Psychopomp’s bottles are still attached by hand, a long and laborious process which harks back to Danny’s days as a hobby distiller, where he wrapped luggage tags on the bottles to tell his creations apart.

Real alchemy takes place at Psychopomp, which produces 60 bottles per day on its two copper stills, the vast majority gin but also some absinthe and aquavit.

“I just want to create really good liquid,” Danny says, squinting in the bright sunshine. “That’s what I strive for and I hope that people see that in the product.”

Main photo: just a few of the botanicals used to make gin at Psychopomp