The Cornish Gins You Need To Try This Summer…
We are truly proud of the food and drink scene here in Cornwall! Our local area is absolutely full of local producers and we are super keen to share them with you. Our post about the Food Barn in Flushing gives a flavour of what you can expect, but here we’re doing a deeper dive on one particular part of Cornwall’s creations; GIN!
Loveday Gin
The ladies at Loveday are perhaps our most local gin distillery, based in Penryn. Chloe and Daisy are childhood friends turned gin-distillers in lockdown 2020, and since then the brand has grown and grown.
Their first gin was built around fresh rock samphire to reference their hometown of Falmouth, and after 63 recipes, it was ready in Spring 2021! This summer, they are hosting several ‘Open House’ cocktail evenings at their picturesque distillery yard complete with fairy lights and rustic outdoor tables. Dates can be found here. You’ll also see them regularly at the Flushing Food Barn!
Tarquin’s
Aged 23, Tarquin Leadbetter left his London job to experiment with gin distilling in Cornwall, and there are many people who are very glad he did! Self-taught and hand-crafted, Tarquin’s gins have won multiple prizes, including ‘The SeaDog’ Navy Strength Gin (57% abv!) which was crowned the “World’s Best Gin” at the 2017 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
You’ll see Tarquins with their own stores across Cornwall, including one on Falmouth High Street where you can sample the spirits on offer. If this piques your interest, you can also take a tour of the distillery (which is about 50 minutes from Falmouth, between Newquay and Wadebridge). Their first copper pot still was named Tamara – Goddess of the river Tamar, the border between Devon and Cornwall, followed by a second – Senara, and then a third – Tressa. What we love about all the gins listed here is that they have remained small batch and hand-crafted in Cornwall. Cheers to that!
Cornish Rock Gin
The owners recall the original idea of Rock Gin being dreamed up while walking their dog, Blue, on Rock Beach (near Padstow). From there, the experimentation process grew and they now have a range of gins as well as other spirits. We particularly like their ‘Cornish Folklore’ collection of gins, which includes ‘The Spaniards and the Obby Oss’, ‘The Mermaid of The Zennor’, ‘The Dragon on The Mount’ and ‘Saint Petroc.’ The bottle designs are beautiful and might make for the perfect Cornish souvenir gift!
Wrecking Coast
Wrecking Coast a Tintagel-based distillery has a special new gin out with a very worthy charitable cause: the ‘New Heli Gin’ raises money for Cornwall Air Ambulance with every bottle sold. They also have a ‘Honey Sloe Gin’ as well as ‘Clotted Cream Gin’ – and you’ve guessed it, these are created using local Cornish ingredients.
Friends Craig and Avian are the brains behind the brand, one ‘in the shed’ making the gin, and one ‘out of the shed’ building and sharing their brand with the world!
Elemental
Husband and wife Joe and Nicki craft Elemental Gin (and other spirits) using 12 unique botanicals and traditional distilling methods at their family-run ‘bottom of the garden’ distillery in Tregonetha. Their claim is that in 2013, theirs was ‘one of the first gins to be exclusively distilled and bottled in Cornwall for over 300 years’… and they haven’t stopped since. Their offerings include the award-winning ‘Cornish Dry Gin’ and a range of fruit flavours: Spring Citrus Gin, Raspberry Gin, Apple Gin and Winter Berry Gin.
Their process involves steeping botanicals in warm organic grain spirit and Cornish spring water from Bodmin Moor. The next morning, they’ll strain the liquid before firing up their four stills: Tan (fire), Norvys (earth), Awel (wind), and Dowr (water) and letting the magic begin!
Holly’s Gin
With a strong art deco theme in the branding, this gin looks as cool as it tastes… created by Holly Harwood in Saltash, it’s distilled in two 300 litre copper pot stills called Doris and Rose. Holly’s Gin is also rather cleverly does a refill pouch, so you can keep your original bottle to be refilled and then refill the pouch with water to use as an ice pack. This kind of sustainable thinking is typical of Cornish brands rooted in nature and aware of their impact on the environment.
Rosemullion
Another extremely local gin to us here on the South coast is Rosemullion, near the Helford River. Founded in 2028, they use Helford rainwater in the fermentation and distillation process, and local Cornish ingredients from their own home-grown vines.
They built their own copper still (no name listed for this one…) and have five gins available: Navy, Harvest, Summer, Dry and Seafarer’s. They’ve got a stand at the Royal Cornwall Show this year, so if you’re visiting in early July be sure to go and say hello! Otherwise, they are often at the Saturday Market in Truro.
Pentire
And for those who aren’t choosing the alcoholic option, we have to tell you all about Pentire. The growing demand for non-alcoholic spirits and cocktails inspired founder Alistair Frost to set up the company and promote a healthier way of living that is just as linked to local ingredients and the natural environment.
They explain that ‘Pentire is made through the same distillation process as a premium gin, with added steps to enhance the pH and mouthfeel to replicate the texture of a spirit. Unlike soft drinks that are from fruit extracts or cordials, we distil botanicals to get as much flavour as possible.’
So, whether you’re shopping for something to have in your cottage, or choosing a tipple at one of our amazing local pubs and restaurants, we hope this list has inspired you to venture away from the big brands and try something local whilst you’re in Cornwall. We promise you, you won’t regret it!
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