Meet the makers of Erika Gin de Printemps

It's spring, which means it's time to discover a gin specifically made for this season. We're proud to present Erika Gin de Printemps by Erika Spirit from the Aquitaine region. Created in 2016, Erika Spirit was born from the friendship of three passionate men: Paul Thirion, a beekeeper, attached to the land and the rhythms of the seasons, thanks to his bees; Vianney Badilhac, a restaurateur and master taste tester at Erika; and Thibault Poëlvilain, a barman and a master of pairings. First and foremost, their goal was to produce artisanal gin to drink among themselves, but also with friends and strangers. The three founders chose to name their gin after a flower, but not just any flower, it is the flower that Paul's bees gather to produce the honey they use in the distillation: Erica heath. In 2019, they started distilling Gin de Printemps. Each year, over a two-day period, when the elderflower is in bloom, they produce five batches of 500 bottles each. The gin is made using a one-shot distillation process in a Stupfler column still. The botanicals used are juniper berries, tarragon, walnut leaves, Sancho peppercorns, Erica heath honey, and fresh elderflowers. The elderflowers are hand-harvested in the beautiful gardens of Altaïr in the Dordogne. The harvest and the distillation are only done a few hours apart to ensure the intensity of the spring aromas is captured. If you are a lover of fresh and floral aromas, this gin is for you! In addition to Gin de Printemps, Erika Spirit makes three other gins: Gasconha Dry, Navy Strength, and Old Tom. They have a lot of top-secret projects in the works, but among the projects they can talk about, they will be bottling a mead this summer (for now, it's patiently waiting in barrels), as well as their Old Tom in a version aged in cognac barrels.