On the origin of botanicals - Part 2: Herbal camp

In our first blog post, we've talked about citrus we use in our distillation. Please visit it if you haven’t done that already. In this post, we will describe the botanicals that form those light herbal and floral notes. You can sense them particularly on the nose and on the tip of your tongue. They give our gin the freshness and a hint of the Mediterranean feel. So without further ado, let’s start with those wonderful gifts of nature.

 

Chamomile

Well known as a tea herb, this long stem yet small white flower is well presented in traditional (i.e. grandma’s) medicine and is commonly used as a gin botanical. Since it grows in Croatia in abundance, we thought: ‘Why not?’. It is simple and humble, and yet so profoundly characteristic, bold and timeless. It especially contributes to Luftbremzer gin’s exciting and pleasant floral nose. We have blended it in delicately and unobtrusively so it complements the backbone of the gin with its sweetness rather than just overwhelming the nose.

 

 

Elderflower and elderberry

Coming from the same plant but rather distinct in flavour, elderberry and elderflower combined make a great addition Luftbremzers taste portfolio. Elderflower, as much as chamomile, adds up to the forward and nose notes of the taste. Fresh and gentle, rather than perfumed and heavy, it gives a touch of lightness to the heart of Luftbremzer gin and makes it more sophisticated.

 

 

A little remark: as we are geeks in our core, we cannot write a blog post without slipping in some technical goofiness. So here it is. We treat our chamomile and elderflower a bit differently during distillation. While the rest of botanicals is distilled from the macerate (or by liquid infusion), chamomile and elderflower behave far better in vapour infusion. Since those are flowers that are rather delicate in their nature, it would be just too harsh and invasive to put them in a boiler and cook them for 10 hours of the distillation run.

That procedure would just overcook their essential oils and the final result wouldn’t be as near as good as using appropriate vapour infusion. Vapour infusion simply means that we put flowers in the bag that stands in the still but above the liquid during distillation. By doing so, the distilling vapour from the macerate is being additionally flavoured by chamomile by passing through the bag of flowers, without allowing the flowers to overcook.Ok, so let’s get back to what you’ve really came here for, the herbs.

Elderberry is a botanical that, once distilled, gives our gin this jammy and tarty feel in combination with citrusy and zesty notes. It supports the juniper backbone of the gin and if you taste a bit of fruitiness in Luftbremzer gin, well –it must be those little berries.

 

 

Bay leaf

Probably our main botanical comes straight from Vis island. Being a herb used as a spice, it is commonly used to ennoble Mediterranean dishes, from fish and pasta to stews and grill. It gives our gin the core of its herbal notes, making it fresh, aromatic and gastronomically appealing. These herbal notes can be tasted on the nose and last all the way to the aftertaste.

 

Rue

Probably the most peculiar and extravagant botanical in the Luftbremzer gin portfolio. It has been used traditionally as a stomach remedy. In Croatia, it is known as a herb commonly put in travarica, a grape or a fruit brandy with flavoured wild picked herbs. Every village and house has its own recipe. Distilled, rue gives our gin a specific sort of sweetness.

 

 

And that's it, enjoy responsibly and see you at a part 3 of our botanical journey where you will get acquainted with root we use to form the majority of Luftbremzer's aftertaste.

Anyway, all the prattle isn’t worth much if you haven’t tried it yet, so hurry up and order yourself one.  

 

Enjoy your Luftbremzer moments.

Cheers,

Filip