Description
GIN—base spirits, bespoke blends and building flavour
Saturday 24th August 2024 10am–4pm
Workshop Schedule:
We’ll distil two different gins (using the vapour-infusion technique), learn how to structure classic and bespoke blends and explore the flavour profiles of different base spirits. Also includes blending with quintessences (individual botanicals extracts), and layering flavour with bitters and elixirs.
- Introduction to the mighty ethanol molecule and its applications.
- How to make a classic gin blend—creating a well-balanced gin recipe (for use in our first distillation).
- How to create bespoke gin blends (the really fun part)—under the guidance of Jill Mulvaney the group will create a new blend using a wide array of classic, seasonal and experimental botanicals (for use in our second distillation).
- We will demonstrate two vapour distillations using the blends we have made and two 3L copper appliance stills, taking you through the complete gin distillation process from start to finish.
- Using our single vapour-distilled quintessences, practise your blending skills and make your own 30ml shot for a pre-lunch G&T.
- BREAK FOR LUNCH.
- Making a neutral spirit—Jill walks us through a demonstration of a small stripping run using a pre-prepared tomato paste/sugar wash.
- Alcohol tasting—we sample and compare a wash or ferment, lactanol, grain spirit, and do a blind tasting of our sugar-based spirit against a typical store-bought vodka.
- How to create new flavours—using our range of aromatic elixirs, wine and bitters to create cocktails and aperitifs.
- Complete our gin distillations: Each person gets 30mls samples to take home.
**On purchasing you’ll receive a complimentary Distilling Alcohol Course so you are familiar with the process and the terms we will be using in this workshop (valued at $175). All our online courses come with lifetime access, so you can refer back to them whenever you need, making them a great learning resource. Feel free to explore your online course before or after your workshop with us.
Getting here: Ferry’s depart from downtown Auckland, and take approximately 45 minutes. If you are not staying on the island, we recommend an 8am ferry to arrive in plenty of time. You can easily bus to the venue—public buses depart from the ferry terminal at Matiatia. All three buses (50A, 50B and 502) will get you here—just ask your friendly driver which stop to get off at to get you to Moa Ave.
Lunch: The Lab is an easy 10 minute walk from the shops and cafés of Oneroa Village.
