How are Ecology & Co spirits crafted?
Traditional distillation meets a few important twists
Our London Dry and Asian Spice alcohol-free spirits are distilled in a similar way to traditional gin but with a few important twists to ensure maximum flavour and authenticity. Here’s our six-step process to non-alc spirit greatness.
No alcohol. Just pure New Zealand water
Firstly, no alcohol is involved at any stage of the process. Instead, we use naturally purified New Zealand water that comes from an aquifer underneath Christchurch and feeds off the Southern Alps. This is essentially thousands of years of rainfall that’s fed down from the mountains and naturally filtered in the grounds below Canterbury. It produces some of the purest water in the world.
An abundance of fresh botanicals
Secondly, we use three to four times more botanicals than an alcoholic gin, particularly the Juniper – gin’s signature ingredient.
Crushed and steeped for 24-36 hours for maximum flavour
The fresh botanicals are crushed to release the flavours and then steeped for a minimum of 24 hours. This process of upping the botanicals, crushing and steeping, ensures that the flavour compounds and aromas are extracted as powerfully as they would be if alcohol was present.
Distilled true London Dry Style, but with the heat up
We then, in true London Dry style, put all the flavour compounds through the copper still in one hit at very high temperatures to create the gin concentrate.
Fresher for longer
Next we simply add pure New Zealand water and lower the pH to an acidity level that extends the shelf life and stability of the product.
Zero sugar
Our distillation process mirrors a regular gin production and doesn’t include any sugar. All the flavour comes from the fresh botanicals. Sugary cordials? Not us.
Ready to try? Shop our products.
Have you met our distiller yet? Read his interview about craft non-alcoholic spirits.
