Ever wondered what a Letchworth-flavoured gin might taste like? A potent new concoction might satisfy your curiosity while also supporting a local business.
The Spirit of Hertfordshire, a gin distillery near Welwyn Garden City, has launched a brand new flavour all about the world's first garden city.
This came off the back of a gin made to mark the Welwyn Garden City centenary last year, which brought on calls to give Letchworth the same recognition.
After taking an early retirement, business owner Richard Daniel wanted to turn his attention to something "more fun", according to colleague Richard Osmond.
"We've got this Victorian stable building which was derelict, and Richard has been restoring it", he said.
"I came on board when he opened up a gin shop to see whether people in the area would be interested in a new distillery."
Richard Osmond previously ran a pub which specialised in foraged ingredients for its food. The pair got into a conversation and came up with the idea of working together to come up with ideas and flavours.
The consultant continued: "With the Spirit of Hertfordshire, the goal was to tell a story with the gin - and use pieces of the town in the gin.
"We forage botanicals from around the town, which we pick ourselves.
"We chose to use lavender, as it was an export for the town in the 18th century.
"It smells and tastes really good, but has the association with the golden era of fashion, which we started looking into because of the old corset factory at the Spirella Building."
The flavour is made from juniper plant, balanced with citrus, bergamot oranges, local Hertfordshire lavender and Broadway linden blossom.
After lockdown, the pair will be restarting their gin school, which took off before the pandemic hit.
At the events, visitors can pick their own botanicals, distil their own gin and go home with a ready to drink bottle of gin.
Richard said the events were just taking off before the second lockdown hit - and while the drinks industry has not been hit as hard as others.
Following the rise in popularity, The Spirit of Hertfordshire is looking at putting together tasting boxes.
To find out more about The Spirit of Hertfordshire's gins, go to spiritofherts.co.uk.
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