The Bite Magazine - Spring 2019 - Issue 24

Pinkster Cristina Lloyd gets tickled pink with Pinkster Gin which sustainably uses raspberries in their gin and other products. bite drinks T here are many ways to make gin with juniper berries being the main ingredient but if you happen to be at your kitchen table and have a bowl of fruits, you may come up with a winner. This is what founder Stephen Marsh ended up doing af- ter he realised wine and beer no longer agreed with him. Being a keen maker of sloe liqueurs and other concoctions, he turned his attention to gin and worked through an entire fruit bowl before discovering that raspberry delivered the best flavour. When he was satisfied with the recipe, Stephen was encouraged by his friends to go commercial. Collaborating with G&J, one of the country’s oldest distillers, they produced the core spirit with five botanicals and infused this with the founder’s original recipe which was painstakingly developed over several years. “We then macerate with a further three botanicals, including fresh, plump raspberries grown nearby our rural base outside Cambridge to produce the finished gin that is Pinkster.” After positive feedback at tasting events and food fairs, Stephen took the plunge and quit his job as an accountant in London, whilst reassuring his long-suffering wife that it would all come good in the end. Thankfully, the demand for Pinkster increased over the years and is now stocked by the likes of Majestic Wines, Marks & Spencer, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges as well as dozens of farm shops and food halls across the country. Today, Stephen still oversees the day-to-day operations of production. The reason raspberries turned out to be the best fit for Stephen’s gin was because the infusion of the fruit rounded off the juniper edges, which is known to be bitter, and thus resulted in a delicious- ly dry gin with a hint of fruit and an exceptionally smooth finish. It was voted the Best Contemporary Gin at the 2017 Gin Guide Awards and also the Best Fruit Led Gin at the 2018 Gin Awards. And as The Observer described it, “Minimal bottle. Maximum fla- vour. Artisan gin with raspberries. Yum!” so we know this gin has been well received. Interestedly back in 2013, the industry did not think it was worth the hassle using fresh fruit in gin as they considered it a fiddly business. But Stephen decided to persevere: “partly out of naivety but largely because we weren’t prepared to compromise on qual- ity” and thank goodness he did carry on because five years later, pink gin became all the rage. “However, as the veritable pink pi- oneer, we’re busy encouraging gin lovers to focus on the flavour rather than just the colour.” The great news is that the leftover inebriated fruit doesn’t go to waste. It is recycled, “albeit slightly intoxicated” as the brand ad- mits, in the form of Boozy Berries, Gin Jam and Pinkster Royale. Boozy Berries can be used to garnish your gin and tonic, poured over ice cream, scrummy dipped in chocolate or baked in a cake, while the mildly alcoholic Gin Jam can be spread on bread or toast, used in a cake or as a cocktail ingredient. Pinkster Royale is a rich spirit designed to pimp up your glass of prosecco. Images courtesy of MPR Communications Agreeably British Gin