We didn’t set out to make a glamorous new designer gin. We wanted to make a gin from the bountiful tastes and fragrances of the local hills.
So, we sought and received permission from the National Trust to forage wild botanicals from the Long Mynd and Carding Mill Valley near Church Stretton. We also received permission from the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre to forage from the Onny Meadows near Craven Arms. This gave us access to a plentiful, yet seasonal supply of local flavours from which to craft our Hillside Gin.
As seasoned foragers, we always gather responsibly, taking only small amounts from any one area and leaving plenty behind for the birds, animals and other foragers. It’s not easy work, but it can be quite satisfying at the end of a long day amongst the bushes and trees.
We spent more than two years experimenting with various berries and flowers from the area to develop a prototype recipe for the Hillside Gin.
Our partners and friends became quite accustomed to having a glass of soaked berries wafted under their nose and asked for feedback on various mixtures of flavours.
The very first batch of Hillside Gin was bottled under the label of Batch Zero and served to customers at the Ludlow Food Festival. We asked everyone for their feedback, both positive and negative, carefully recording the comments and suggestions. After all, this is supposed to be the taste of the local hills, and we wanted as many people as possible to be a part of it. We sold every last drop of Batch Zero that weekend, which is the best feedback we could have asked for.
The recipe was tweaked slightly based on feedback from the festival, the juniper and coriander reduced a bit, the fruits increased slightly, and some liquorice root added to sweeten the wild berries. The result was the final recipe for the Hillside Gin, a recipe that is followed meticulously to maintain consistency between batches.