Having trouble deciding which botanicals to put in your gin recipe?

At Treganna Gin we spent a long time experimenting with dozens of botanicals when developing our recipe. It’s vitally important that you invest time and patience early, rather than trying to fix a recipe after you’ve released it. It can be a testing time. Each distillation, from planning to execution is time expensive and if you hate the results at the end, making adjustments is a very slow process.

There are a few simple things you can do to speed up this whole process. The most obvious thing would be to start with quality botanicals from the beginning. Botanicals that are tried and tested so you don’t find yourself in lost down blind alleyways trying to balance chocolate with chilli (or something equally disgusting.)

We’ve complied a list of the five most important you need to include in your recipes. I haven’t specified ratios so you’ll need to work that out for yourself.

Juniper Berries

All gin recipes should include this botanical otherwise the spirit would have to be reclassified as a flavoured vodka.

The juniper bush is a conifer found in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. They grow on a circumpolar strip that wraps around the globe, which looks like someone wearing a sporty headband. 

The berries are used in many culinary dishes, but are highly regarded when cooking with gamey meat. 

Juniper is what gives gin it’s characteristic flavour. It’s piney, bitter and ever so slightly peppery.

Angelica Root

This biennial plant grows large domed flower heads and can be cultivated here in the UK. It has many medicinal uses but for gin production we’re only interested in the root.

The flavour is earthy, bitter with floral hints. Dried angelica root sells for £50 a kilo, so it’s definitely a cash crop. 

Orris Root

Orris root has a similar earthy flavour to angelica, and is used to bind all the other flavour together. Some of the floral notes are said to be indistinguishable from raspberry.

Orris is prized for its aroma and is used extensively in perfumery by such brands as ‘Christian Lacroix’, ‘Yves Saint Lauren’ and ‘Serge Lutens’.

Coriander Seeds

These seeds have a nutty, spicy and citrus flavour so they’re perfect in gin. They contain two important terpenes called linalool and pinene and give coriander its distinctive flavour.

Lemon

I’m going to assume you know your lemons but you may not know that in distilling, only the rind is used and not the flesh. The skin has the flavour oils and it’s these oils that the alcohol extract. Because alcohol is like a solvent it makes for a perfect substrate for absorbing flavours.

A  List of Welsh Brands That Craft Their Own Gin 

Craft gin simply means a spirit that’s produced in small quantities with a typical distillation size of a few hundred bottles. Sticking your label on somebody else’s gin certainly isn’t welsh craft gin, and they won’t be appearing on here. The businesses in this welsh craft gin guide produce, bottle, and brand their own creations. They sell them at farmer’s markets, to niche wholesalers or through their own ecommerce shops. They do the marketing, accounts, distilling, selling, cleaning and often rely heavily on very little man power.  

TREGANNA GIN

Established in a suburban area of Cardiff (‘Treganna’ is the welsh word for Canton), Treganna Gin is distilled and bottled by Mark Flanagan. Distilled in an 80 litre copper alembic still, they only produce about 100 bottles a batch. They sell through their website, shops and in the Riverside Market every Sunday. They recently launched gin they sell is the delicious Blood Orange & Rosemary flavour, made with blood oranges from the foothills of Mount Etna in Sicily. 

AFALLON MON

This gin was launched in 2019 by two lifelong friends Emyr and Arwyn, and the distillery is situated on Arwyn’s farm on the island of Anglesey. They produce using their 300 litre gin distiller. You can find their gin in many delis and shops, and they also sell online. They recently won a gin award judged best in the UK. A magnificent achievement. 

GOWER GIN

This award winning distillery is run by husband and wife Andrew and Sian. Andrew made a career swerve from management consultancy to managing the perfect botanical profile. They distill using a 200l copper pot called Arianwen. They offer an impressive 6 varieties of gin – Gwydd, Pinwydd, Rhosili, Bara Brith, Nerth y Ddraig and Rhamanta. Branded with their distinctive horizontal coloured stripes, you won’t miss these on the shelf.

DÁ MHÍLE (ORGANICALLY CRAFTED WELSH GIN

Located in Llandysul, this wonderful distillery has an emphasis on organic and sustainability. Their distiller is powered by burning timber which is grown on their land. When they cut down a tree, they plant another in its place, creating a carbon neutral power source. They sell a variety of products on their website, including seaweed gin and scotch whiskey.

CYGNET GIN

Cygnet is a micro distillery in Swansea, and similar to Treganna Gin they have their own adorable creature displayed on the bottle. They craft their gin in a 300 litre Arnold Holstein copper distiller, and offer guided tours of their facility. 

A Story Steeped in Drama.

Supply chains aren’t known for their drama (or reliability for that matter!). So when we were started developing our new blood orange & rosemary gin, little did we know how explosive things would become. Just as our blood oranges were preparing for harvest, the volcano they were sat next to erupted. Typical!

A natural disaster of this magnitude was surely going to derail our progress. As is turned out, it didn’t make a tiny bit of difference. The citrus fruits of Sicily loved eruptions.

Why are Blood Oranges Red? 

Blood oranges are highly prized for their distinctive red pigment. The pigment comes from chemicals called anthocyanin’s. The blushed flesh not only looks amazing, it has many health benefits from fighting cancer to lowering blood pressure.

Blood Oranges to fight Scurvy (when it’s not steeped in gin)!

Back in the 1800, it was a different substance contained within the fruit that defined its utility. In fact this substance was so important it was considered vital for national security. That substance was Vitamin C…. 

The great European empires built their power using their naval ingenuity. However, sailing to the opposite side of the globe to plunder and pillage was difficult. One of the main obstacles was keeping your crew alive. Sailors would often lose their teeth, then drop down dead. Highly annoying! It was only after the seminal work of James Lind that scurvy was studied and later eradicated: using citrus fruits.

Blood Orange & Rosemary Gin and the Sicilian link.

Sicily has the perfect climate for growing citrus fruits and has cultivated them steadily since 850AD. Farmer’s made modest gains over the centuries growing fruits. Nothing prepared them for what would follow the publication of James Lind’s discoveries. Suddenly, citrus enjoyed unprecedented demand, and the prices sky-rocketed.

 The Birth of the Mafia from Lemons & Blood Oranges

Sicily wasn’t ready for the citrus boom. There were few institutions able to protect people’s property from marauding brigades, so the farmer’s took matters into their own hands. Unwilling to part with their prized cash crop they employed local strongmen to protect their farms. These strongmen known as the “mafia”  were held in high esteem. Violence being the tool of their trade.

California’s citrus producers caught up. Sicily’s boom days were numbered and the mafia were at a loose end. “Protection” was all they knew. In the absence of customers, they packed their bags and headed west to the land of opportunity. The rest is history.

The Violent Eruptions of Mount Etna.

The blood oranges from the groves of Sicily have perfect growing conditions. A warm climate, gentle sea breezes and a continuous source of micronutrients that these fruits demand. The source of the abundant micro-nutrients come from Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano. The last major eruption was in February of this year, as our oranges were gearing themselves up for the harvested. Just before all hell broke loose. Volcanic eruptions cause mayhem for local residents, while farmers often talk of them being lucky. If I had someone fertilise my enormous fields in a few days, I’d feel lucky too. Our Blood Orange & Rosemary gin have to thank these volcanic eruptions for creating the perfect growing conditions for our 

Cynhyrchu jin eirin tagu cartref – gweithred sy’n arwyddocâd bod Nadolig ar y gorwel. 

Rhan amlaf, yr Hydrfef ydi’r amser gorau i fynd i gasglu eirin tagu. Mae sawl arwydd sy’n dangos bo’r ffrwyth yn aeddfed –  welwch chi liw piws tywyll ar y ffrwyth, neu mae’r ffrwyth yn teimlo’n feddal neu welwch chi ambell eirin wedi disgyn i’r llawr yn barod.

Er mwyn creu jin eirin tagu safonol, yn draddodiadol oedd rhaid disgwyl am y barrug cyntaf cyn casglu’r ffrwyth, ond diolch i Curry’s a Dixon’s, fedrwch anwybyddu’r cyngor yma….

Mae’n bwysig rhewi’r ffrwythau yn y rhewgell am o leia 24 awr o flaen llaw. Mae’r rhewi yn achosi i groen y ffrwyth i dorri’n wastad, rwbath sy’n galluogi’r blas i rhedeg heb rhwystr i’r alcohol. Mae’n bosib malu’r ffrwythau efo llaw wrth gwrs, ond gallwch byth a chreu yr un effaith a mae’r rhewgell yn gneud. 

Y BROSES

1. Casglwch y ffrwyth aeddfed. 
2. Cofiwch rhewi’r eirin tagu am o leiaf 24 awr.
3. Rhowch y ffrwyth mewn jar gwydr ceg-lydan fyny at hanner ffordd.
4. Tolltwch jin o safon (fel Treganna Gin?) at dop y jar. 
5. Arhoswch am 3 mis, gan ei droi ambell waith.
6. Straeniwch y jin eirin tagu ac ychwanegwch siryp siwgwr nes bod o’n blasu yn ol eich dewis
7. Mwynhewch

Rwan bo chi wedi creu jin eirin tagu cartref, beth am drio’r jin mewn coctel arbennig…

JIN EIRIN TAGU RHOSMARI & LIMONCELLO

• 50ml Jin Eirin Tagu
• 25ml Limoncello
• Dwr pefriog
• 2 frigyn o rhosmari, un i dorri ac un fel garnais

Rhwygwch y dail oddi ar un brigyn ac rhowch mewn ysgydwr coctel efo’r limoncello.

Dyrnwch (muddle).

Ychwanegwch rhew a’r jin eirin tagu, ysgwydwch yn wyllt nes mae’r hylif yn oer oer.

Straeniwch mewn i wydr llawn rhew.

Topiwch fyny efo dwr pefriog a brigyn o rhosmari fel garnais.

Are you sick of your money ending up in a trust fund on a private island somewhere? Ever thought of shopping locally to ensure wealth is distributed locally. In this article you’ll find fantastic gift ideas from Welsh independent business.

Here is a list of 6 businesses that take orders online and who are able to deliver locally/nationally….

Gift Idea from Welsh Independent Business #1 – Blossom & Nectar

This small indy is run by Tams who was inspired to create a business with an emphasis on sustainability and environmentally friendly products. They sell a variety of beeswax candles, raw honey, ceramics and jewellery. These make perfect gifts for those who are ethical consumers.

You can purchase from their website directly or you can visit them in their Cardiff store on Pontcanna Mews, Kings Road.

 Gift Idea from Welsh Independent Business #2 – Flowerhorn Brewery

This new brewery, set up by two friends Andrew and Arran, produce seriously good beer using high quality fresh ingredients. Their psychedelic branding looks fantastic too! They adopted the flowerhorn fish as the official mascot because they were completely enamoured by the creature. Not only do they have ridiculously bulbous heads, they exhibit peculiar behaviours.

They have three main varieties – ‘Capo’, ‘Loops’ and ‘Pharmaceutical Stimulant’. You purchase straight from their website where they offer free deliveries every Thursday and Friday to all CF (Cardiff) and NP (Newport) postcodes. Perfect gift for your craft beer enthusiast boyfriend, maybe?

 Gift Idea #3 – Work Shy .

‘Work Shy’ is an independent clothing brand run by Demi Amber. All pieces are hand-made, hand-dyed and made to measure. Demi uses only sustainable materials and natural products. If you’re tired of fast fashion and the environmental misery it causes, but still want to look fabulous – this is the antidote for you!

Send Demi a DM on her instagram if you’d like to find out more.

Gift Idea #4 – Treganna Gin

This craft gin distillery, established in the suburban area of Canton  (Treganna is welsh for Canton) make small batch gin using traditional copper stills. When we say small, they make 40 bottles in each run. Treganna Gin made  friends and headlines over lockdown for producing free hand sanitisers for local residents; back when it was harder to get hold than an NHS dentist.

They also have an aquatic mascot, Billy the Seal from Victoria Park.

You can purchase straight from their website and they offer free delivery throughout the UK. You can even request a personalised note if you’re buying for a friend.

Gift Idea #5 –  Cup Cake Bouquets by Audrey

If you’re looking for cup cakes, wedding cakes or birthday cakes, Audrey is your woman. She creates amazing cakes for her clients from her home in Pencoed and you can pop over to her website for prices and testimonials. This 5 start hygiene rated business is definitely where you want to be spending your money.

Gift Idea #6 – Tŷ Caws

You guessed it, these guys sell cheese. And what better gift than The Ultimate Welsh Cheese Box. The box includes all your welsh favourites – Brefu bach, Perl las, Celtic Promise and many more. You can order this gift box online to be delivered wherever you want! A perfect gift for any cheese lover.

Hope you enjoyed our 6 gift ideas from welsh independent business.

The origins of Tonic Water.

So you want to learn how to make tonic water at home? You’ve come to the right place. First, here’s a bit about the origins of tonic water.

 It was once said that quinine – the main ingredient of tonic water – was as important to the colonial efforts as the Gatlin gun. Malaria, a deadly mosquito-borne disease, decimated British soldiers in India so something needed to be done. A global search for a remedy became the British Governments’ top priority.

The Spanish recalled how indigenous people of Peru ingested bark from the Cinchona tree to treat fevers. Cinchona bark contains quinine and luckily this drug proved incredibly effective for Malaria. As a matter of fact, it was so effective that the British prescribed daily doses of it to each serving soldier in India. 

The impact of this was so great it lead to Winston Churchill claiming that “tonic has saved more Englishmen’s lives, and minds, than all the doctors in the Empire.”

Soldiers were less enthused however.

The birth of gin and tonic

Tonic water with medicinal quantities of quinine is bitter to the point of being unpalatable. A teaspoon of sugar would not suffice, and something a little stronger was needed to help this medicine go down. Administering tonic remained unpleasant until the ingenious discovery of mixing it with gin. And just like that, a combination for the ages was born.

Tonic water and gin marry together perfectly. Especially artisan gins like the incredible Treganna Gin. It’s baffling that destiny waited so long to join such obvious soul mates. Like a hand in a well fitted glove, the bitter astringent flavours interweave and perfectly balance out the sweet botanical notes. And finally, a farewell zing of acidic citrus settles over the tongue like a punctuation mark. 

How tonic water is made

These days commercial tonic water contains one fifth of the quinine that the British endured a century ago, and often include more exotic flavours. Below is a recipe for a simple tonic water syrup which should be mixed with plenty of carbonated water. You’ll notice that the tonic isn’t clear, don’t worry. Commercial outfits generally use quinine extract, useful when you want a clear liquid. To learn how to make tonic water at home, it’s best to use all natural ingredients.

WARNING – Quinine can be dangerous if consumed in large quantities.

Ingredients

• 1 lemon
• 1 lime
• 500ml of water
• 4 – 6grams teaspoons cut cinchona bark
• 5 grams of citric acid powder
• 1 stalk lemongrass, sliced (about 2/3 cup)
• 200 – 300 grams of sugar
• A few bottles of carbonated water

Directions

1. Zest lemon and lime and place in medium saucepan.  Juice lemon and lime and add juice to saucepan, along with water, cinchona bark, citric acid powder, lemongrass, and sugar. Bring to a boil on high heat.
2.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 45 minutes. Remove from heat and let mixture steep for 20 minutes.Strain mixture through two layers of cheesecloth placed in a fine-mesh sieve
3. Strain again if there are still particles to be removed. This liquid is the tonic syrup.
4. Place the tonic syrup in a sealable glass container and refrigerate for at least two hours before use.
5. To make tonic water, combine the syrup with carbonated water, mixing one part syrup to four parts water. Do not combine them in a large batch unless you intend to use all the tonic water at once. Instead, combine syrup and fresh carbonated water for each individual use.

Have you ever wondered why we have Victoria Parks’ Billy the seal heroically emblazoned on our bottles? There is a reason beyond the random. The tale of Billy the Seal of Victoria Park’s incredible existence has captivated this corner of Cardiff for years. We’ve even erected a statue in his memory and placed it proudly in the centre of beautiful Victoria Park.

Now normally, getting entangled in a trawler’s net is the precursor to something deadly. Despite being caught in a net in the Irish Sea, this lucky little seal survived and landed in Cardiff Docks in 1912.

Billy’s home in ‘Treganna’ (welsh for ‘Canton’)

Victoria Park in the early 20th century was a cornucopia of exotic animals. This ever-expanding menagerie frequently received donations from seafaring captains. Monkeys, crocodiles, turtles, armadillos, and ostriches. You name it, Victoria Park had it! And now they had a seal, Billy.

It’s a testament to Billy’s personality that despite being in more glamorous company, he quickly became the city’s darling. Years later, when Billy sadly died, his remains were proudly displayed in Cardiff Museum, where it became clear that Billy had been misgendered her entire life. Billy the boy was in fact Billy the girl!

When we began distilling Treganna Gin around the corner from Billy the Seal and Victoria park, his intrepid spirit was the obvious symbol for our brand. But our interest in sea life didn’t end there. On the week we celebrated World Ocean’s Day, we have been reflecting on Billy the Seal and the sea creatures that live around us today. We feel beyond lucky to live in such a beautiful country, surrounded by 800 miles of Welsh Coastline.

Wales’ Beautiful Coastline

Wales has the honour of being the first country in the world to have a dedicated footpath that hugs the entire country. All 870 miles of glorious Wales Coast Path are accessible to the public, and this led to us being named one of the best regions to visit in the world.  When not on lockdown, we made time to visit the ocean every week.

We have been fortunate to sail out from the Welsh coast to witness seals and puffins feeding from the  waters. But it’s not all plain sailing – the sea around us is in trouble. Overfishing, plastic and pollution are all contributing to a dramatic decline in sea life in Welsh waters.

Conservation Zones

World Oceans Day reminds us that the health of the ecosystems, on which we depend, is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. This erosion creeps into the foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide. The good news is that scientists are telling us that it is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level from local to global.

Under laws introduced in 2009, the Welsh Government has powers to introduce Marine Conservation Zones in the Welsh seas.  These sites are intended to play an important role in helping Welsh seas cope with increasing pressures. But there is still much more to be done. On a personal level, we take out our paddle board and observe the beautiful sea life around us. We share our joy with our children and inspire them to appreciate our oceans too. We take time to collect any litter we find when we visit the beach, and when we buy fish, we follow the advice of the Good Fish Guide to make sure we make sustainable choices. 

Will this be enough to save the descendants of Billy the Seal? Not on its own. But if every person we meet shares our love for the beautiful creatures that make our oceans home, we can start to make a difference.

If you would like to find out more about UK charities making a difference to our oceans, we recommend the following. Marine Conservation Society, Surfers Against Sewage and the Welsh Wildlife Trusts. 

How bottling gin with local Cardiff beeswax gave us an appreciation of bees. 

It’s summer and our skies are full of flying foragers. Hungry, industrious and well organised, these creatures are crucially maintaining our ecosystem.  In addition to converting flower nectar into delicious honey, the honeybee is also responsible for pollinating a large percentage of the food we eat. Our reliance on these little creatures cannot be overestimated, inasmuch as we’d be dead without them.

A single colony in the UK can produce 27kg of honey. A bounty this large requires safe keeping in a hive. The hexagonal honeycomb wax structure is ordered in a way that uses the least amount of material per unit volume.  No other shape in nature is as efficient as the hexagon. Incredible feats of problem solving, not to mention engineering. Despite having brains the size of poppy seeds, bees are very smart.

Beeswax is an incredible natural product with many useful applications ranging from cosmetics to candles. In addition to honey, bees produce a great deal of wax. Producing 1 gram of wax to 8 grams of honeyWe need to put this stuff to good use.

Here at Treganna Gin we’ve introduced local Cardiff beeswax when bottling our gin, from a local beekeeper in Ely. Ever since, the bees foraging around our distillery this very moment are playing a part in making our product truly unique. Moreover, the  next time you pick up a bottle of Treganna Gin I urge you to notice the sweet aroma of the seal. The sweet scent is the wonderful culmination of Cardiff wests’ entire botanical spectrum; in one sniff.

Below is the recipe we use for making bottle seals so that you can have a go –

• 35 grams of paraffin wax
• 35 grams of beeswax
• 7 grams of low temperature glue sticks
• 1 gram of candle dye 

Remember you can purchase Treganna Gin through our website. Free delivery UK wide.

Wondering how to make gin cocktails at home? This refreshing gin and cucumber cooler is perfect for a sunny summers day. It looks fantastic and has a clean, light finish which is makes it a great gin option for the daytime sun.

These last few weeks, learning how to make gin cocktails at home has made lockdown bearable for us. Sure, we could bake bread till the cows come home (and we have…) but that get’s pretty boring after a while. Cocktails are an art form when executed correctly, and can really elevate the botanical flavours in your gin. So if you want to impress your friends on that weekly zoom chat, or just explore different flavour profiles, making cocktails at home is great for any occasion.

Add raw sugar or a good quality drinks syrup if you prefer something a bit sweeter. Nigella seeds make a striking garnish and are available in the spices section of most big supermarkets.

Ingredients

1 cucumber

1 lime

2 teaspoons raw sugar (optional)

50ml Treganna Gin

Tonic water (to taste)

Nigella seeds to garnish

Method
Using a vegetable peeler or spiralizer, prepare some thin ribbons of cucumber and set aside.

Cut a second chunk of cucumber and muddle with lime juice and sugar (if using)

Fill a glass with ice and add 50ml Treganna Gin, followed by the muddled cucumber and lime. Top up with tonic water to taste, then add the ribbons of cucumber and a sprinkle of nigella seeds to garnish.

Sit back, sip up, seal the deal!

Yes, you read it right, we’ve made a Cardiff Foragers Gin Cocktail. We’re used to living a city life; spending time in the parks and museums, joining the crowds watching the rugby and eating as many Salkaara curries as we can get our hands on. Lockdown has forced us to live very differently for the past few months. We have stayed close to home, only venturing out into the garden or the little lanes around our house.

Getting out into the countryside has given us the chance to grow an appreciation of nature, re-establishing a connection which is almost totally cut-off by modern urban life. We have watched the gentle progression of spring; the buds appearing on trees, wildflowers blooming in hedgerows and the arrival of the migrating swallows.

On the back lanes around Cardiff, nature has taken over whilst the cars and council lawnmowers have stayed home.  Have you noticed the abundance of wildflowers this year? The charity PlantlifeUK estimates that there are only 85,000 hectares of species-rich grassland in the UK. When you compare that with the 238,000 hectares of roadside verges you start to see how important these little mini-meadows are.

Spurred on by the resilience of nature all around us, we have used lockdown to start to learn more about the different uses for the plants around us. The wild garlic down by the river smells fantastic and makes the best pesto. Nettles are surprisingly delicious when you sprinkle them with oil and roast them into crisps. The Ribwort Plantain that sprung up outside our house is a natural antihistamine and fantastic for nettle stings picked up during said crisp making!

En hommage to nature which has kept us sane these past few months, we’ve used our gin in a  ‘forager’ cocktail. The drink includes forget-me-not and lilac flowers which can easily be found in gardens and verges around Wales. Please remember! when foraging, always make sure that you can identify the plant accurately. When in doubt, leave it out! Seek expert advice if you are unsure. Please use common sense when foraging for ingredients. Leave 1/3 for wildlife, 1/3 for sustainability and 1/3 for foraging.

 Ingredients for Cardiff Foragers Gin Cocktail

•         50ml Treganna Gin
•         100ml quality tonic (we used Fever Tree Mediterranean Tonic)
•         25ml fresh lemon juice
•         20ml sugar syrup (we used Monin Lavender syrup)
•         Edible wild flowers for garnish (we used forget-me-not and lilac flowers)

Method

1.   Fill your glass of choice with crushed ice, Treganna gin, lemon juice and sugar syrup
2.   Stir and fill to the brim with tonic water (add more gin or ice if you prefer!)
3.   Gather your foraged and washed flowers or herbs and decorate
4.   Enjoy!