Meet the Maker of Gin Phi

It was in New Zealand that Baptiste Kirchhoffer, accompanied by three of his best friends, had "the revelation." One evening, sitting around a fire during a wild card game, Baptiste, as usual, took advantage of his friends' drunkenness to cheat and win the game. Far from being fooled, his friend Albin called him out! Baptiste's bad luck, combined with his losing streak, ended the card game.

In the New Zealand twilight, the four friends fell into a church-like silence, no longer daring, no longer wanting to speak because of irritation and resentment. To break the ice, his friend Laurent suggested serving a good Gin & Tonic to everyone to calm the storm. This cocktail did not have the expected effect; it rather had a bomb effect - which exploded in Baptiste's brain.

The young entrepreneur Baptiste, inspired by this flash of genius, launched the Distillerie Officine. A wave of madness is blowing through Colmar. In the land of storks and pretzels, Baptiste had enough of seeing juniper berries in sauerkraut, so he decided to distill them! His distillery is a self-proclaimed creative space, a laboratory of curiosity, a clever mix of experimentation and spirit crafting that will make you fall for it.

Why this name, and why gin? Wait, we will explain. We wanted to restore gin to all its former glory. Wrongly, because of horrible gin and tonic mixes, people turned to more mundane cocktails... Blasphemy! 

Let's start at the beginning... Dr. Franciscus Sylvius, a 17th-century Dutch chemist, is often considered the father of gin. In his time, alcohol distilled from juniper berries and bouquets of aromatic herbs was sold in pharmacies to combat stomach ailments, gout, and lumbago. This explains the origin of the name Officine. The pharmacy officine is a French term that refers to the part of the pharmacy where medicines are prepared.

That's why we are proud to present this month Gin PHI, a balanced gin with a fresh taste. With a contemporary approach, Gin PHI is made from a good gin base, with woody and resinous aromas and a citrus profile. It offers a clear freshness on the nose and a medium finish in the mouth, with floral notes to add roundness. This gin is artisanally distilled using a 50-liter column still, which allows for adapting and perfecting the creation of aromas, as the distillation is carefully and precisely monitored.

The distillation process is based on the use of a neutral alcohol in which juniper berries are macerated and then steam-infused with all the other plants. Baptiste's philosophy is to create small batches in order to offer seasonal gins and respond to changing demand. In the future, he would like to offer unique products.

La Distillerie Officine produces ethical products. Most of the raw materials come from organic farming, but the products also come from the garden attached to the distillery. All the gins are diluted with spring water from Alsace.