OUR PROCESS

FROM HEDGEROW TO GLASS

Ever wondered how to make gin?

At Slake we’re fanatical about botanicals and getting the absolute best from these special ingredients has defined our process from start to finish.

Read on to learn more about our gin’s journey, where only the ‘pick of the crop’ will find their way into your glass.

FORAGING

Gathering both ingredients and information, we start by combing the countryside looking for abundant aromatic edibles and soaking up some natural inspiration.

Foraging for flavours, sometimes lost or long forgotten and sometimes new.

We take our haul back to the Slake lair where we lovingly prepare and slowly dry our hand-picked botanicals, all the while considering how to weave them into a balanced recipe.

CRAFTING A RECIPE

Now to experiment, by isolating variables, we begin to deepen our understanding of the ingredients, developing processes & refining recipes to make the most of the botanicals.

In pursuit of something distinctive, that adds value, our work begins. By trial and error we home in on a recipe and process that captures the very best of these special ingredients.

CREATING A BATCH

Once we have a recipe that deserves to be shared. We start making batches for production.

Infusing our botanicals in neutral grain spirit before careful distillation, hand-crafting small-batch, single-shot spirits that best capture the taste of the seasons, Sussex by the Sea and the South Downs.

WATCHING, WAITING & TASTING

After distillation, we carefully blend our spirit with South Downs spring water and place it in a vessel to rest.

We watch, wait and test the spirits to ensure they are in peak condition before they are bottled and released to the world.

There are many processes at work while our spirits rest, oxidation, equilibration and other natural processes, some recipes are ready in a week, but others take several months.

TIME TO SHARE

Once the spirit is in peak condition, the Slake family assembles to bottle it all by hand.

Meticulously putting the finishing touches on together, from batch number to sealing every bottle with wax.

FORAGING

Gathering both ingredients and information, we start by combing the countryside looking for abundant aromatic edibles and soaking up some natural inspiration.

Foraging for flavours, sometimes lost or long forgotten and sometimes new.

We take our haul back to the Slake lair where we lovingly prepare and slowly dry our hand-picked botanicals, all the while considering how to weave them into a balanced recipe.

CRAFTING A RECIPE

Now to experiment, by isolating variables, we can begin to understand the ingredients and develop processes that will make the most out of the botanicals.

In pursuit of something distinctive, that adds value, the work begins.

With trial and error we home in on a recipe and process that will best express these special ingredients.

CREATING A BATCH

Once we have a recipe that deserves to be shared. We start making batches for production.

Infusing our botanicals in neutral grain spirit before careful distillation, hand-crafting small-batch, single-shot spirits that best capture the taste of the seasons, Sussex by the Sea and the South Downs.

WATCHING, WAITING & TASTING

After distillation, we carefully blend our spirit with South Downs spring water and place it in a vessel to rest.

We watch, wait and test the spirits to ensure they are in peak condition before they are bottled and released to the world.

There are many processes at work while our spirits rest, oxidation, equilibration and other natural processes, some recipes are ready in a few weeks, but others take several months to ripen.

TIME TO SHARE

Once the spirit is in peak condition, the Slake family assembles to bottle it all by hand.

Meticulously putting the finishing touches on together, from batch number to sealing every bottle with wax.