World Gin Day

June is the month when we celebrate World Gin Day. When we were toasting the occasion and gently enjoying our very own Sapling London Dry climate positive gin, we realised that The Sapling blog hasn’t yet fully explored the joys of gin. We’ve been so keen to tell you all about our stunning premium vodka that our equally impressive, highly sustainable and totally delicious British gin has hardly got a look in.  Well, there’s no time like the present to set things straight.

British Gin was on the crest of a wave.

Right from the beginning, we’ve always had on hearts set on doing things differently. That’s why we started our brand with a sustainable vodka: we noticed that the British vodka market didn’t have as many options for the connoisseur, and hardly any vegan vodkas that had a core message of sustainability. Of course, the same couldn’t really be said of British premium gin. The ‘Gin Boom’ was very much in full swing, and the UK consumer was spoilt for choice.

What sets us apart from other premium gin brands?

We felt we had two options: either leave gin alone or make something fantastic and unique. No prizes for guessing, we went for the latter. In order to cut through the noise and earn our place on the shelves of the best bars and restaurants, we made two fundamental decisions. The first was that, in spite of the expense, we would use Wildfarmed, organic regenerative wheat. The second was to create a classic London dry gin. Let’s dig a little deeper into those choices and what they mean to you and us.

Wildfarmed and Sapling: kindred spirits.

Wildfarmed is an amazing business. The company was set up in 2019 to shake up the flour industry by using regenerative farming methods to grow their wheat. Their focus on soil health, crop rotation and farm biodiversity means they can grow crops without the need for the herbicides, fungicides and pesticides which modern farming depends on. You can see why we consider them kindred spirits. Of course, as we’ve been through in other blogs, this does mean that their wheat costs more to grow, so they took a sensible approach that means that their customers can still advertise their products as made with Wildfarmed flour as long as 30% of it is regenerative.

Crafting the best gin on (and for) the planet.

But that wasn’t enough for Sapling Gin. We wanted to use Wildfarmed wheat and plant a tree for every bottle we sell. That’s right, we make our stunning London Dry Gin with carbon negative wheat, grown in the UK, and then we double down on helping the planet by planting a lovely, CO2-absorbing sapling! As well as this being something that we passionately believe in as a group of people, it also gave us the chance to differentiate ourselves in a crowded market. We’re incredibly proud to be the world’s first truly climate positive real gin.

What’s in the (recycled glass, refillable) bottle.

But we’ll never become the brand we want to be purely by focusing on eco credentials. We want customers to buy Sapling sustainable gin because they love it, so we left no stone unturned when it came to making a spirit that proudly stands up against the very best. By using organic wheat, we give our artisan gin a natural sweetness and rounded, slightly viscous mouthfeel that only the very best gins have. It’s a great feeling that our efforts haven’t gone unnoticed: experts are lining up to compliment the finished product.

London dry – the reasons why.

We also wanted to create a London Dry Gin. Lots of great British gins brands have created distilled gins that introduce flavours after distillation, which is terrific, but London Dry is a classic for a reason: it’s the best and most versatile style for cocktails.  Our gin is made the traditional way and leads with juniper as the dominant flavour, before opening up with notes of citrus peels, spicy coriander and fresh rosemary. As a result, it is utterly perfect in a G&T. Make it the way you like, but we’d suggest using one part Sapling Gin to three parts tonic. Make sure you choose a good quality tonic water, such as London Essences or Fever Tree. We’ll gladly give you free tonic with your order: take us up on this offer here.

Sapling Gin & Tonic

• 50ml Sapling Gin
• 150ml Tonic Water
• Pour over ice and garnish with a sprig of rosemary

Another classic cocktail to enjoy that shows off our premium gin at its best is, of course, the Gin Martini. This is a textbook example of ‘less is more’ and one we’d warmly encourage you to try. Make sure to chill a Martini glass for half an hour or so, then shake these ingredients with ice.

Sapling Gin Martini

• 60ml Sapling Gin
• 20ml Vermouth
• A drop of orange bitters (optional)
• Slice of lemon peel
• Shake with ice and serve in a chilled Martini glass. Garnish with lemon.

We hope you enjoyed learning more about our fabulous sustainable gin. Stay tuned for our next blog, which will explore brands that are helping the planet by using refills and delve a bit deeper into how our own innovations are leading the way in both the on trade and consumer spirits sectors.

Until then, enjoy the sunshine!

Love,

The Sapling Team