People often ask Kate about the different ways of distilling gin? We chose pot-distilling because it's how gin was traditionally made and reflects the artisan ethos at the heart of our spirits. We also use the one-shot distillation method, which is rarely seen these days, as it involves a high level of craft and skill to maintain quality and consistency.
Kate says "I'm also asked why some of our stills are copper. Some people claim it removes impurities, but when rectifying gin using the London gin method you start off with a very pure spirit, so there are no impurities to remove. Traditionally stills were made from copper more probably because it's a malleable metal, easy to beat into shape; it conducts heat well, distributing the heat from a fire that would have been lit beneath it preventing scorching of fruit and other ingredients."
"I designed Bindy Bubblepop, our larger stainless steel still, with these factors in mind. I had custom immersion heaters made that were very long and curved round the contours of the pot to reduce the watt density to avoid high temperatures. Immersion heaters have much higher efficiency than hot plates, fires or gas flames typically used for traditional copper stills. Stainless steel is less malleable and conducts heat less well than copper, which is why you don't see elaborately shaped helmets made out of steel. Instead I implemented a variable cooling system to reduce vapour temperature giving our distillers real time control over reflux compared with the fixed reflux achieved by changing the vapour pressure gradient in a copper helmet."
"The result is we can produce consistently smooth spirits with rich vibrant flavour."
Comments