Meet the maker of Blue Gin

Blue Gin, a special edition gin, was in our box for December 2020. The bottle of Blue Gin, which looks like a Christmas ball, is made by the talented Baptiste Kirchhoffer, founder and distiller of the Distillerie L'Officine in Alsace .  

The magic operates with this fresh and floral gin with notes of green apple, basil and wasabi. Maceration of single flowers is responsible for the blue color (a natural dye) after distillation, which turns to a purple / pink color when diluted with tonic. This flower, native to Thailand, is sensitive to PH and will react to the acidity of citric acid present in storage soda. In tasting, the Blue Gin presents a beautiful freshness with a resolutely floral finish, which offers a very consensual bouquet. In mixology, garnishes are often used to visually embellish a cocktail, but this gin alone is the star of the show!

Blue Gin is made by steeping the plants (juniper berries, cilantro, basil, green apple, wasabi, ginger, Douglas thorn and Sancho pepper) in neutral alcohol to extract the essences and flavors. Then, this maceration is distilled in a rotary evaporator according to the cold distillation process. Vacuum distillation lowers the boiling point and evaporates the alcohol at 30 ° C, thus preserving the aromas of the plants without overheating them. This innovative technology makes it possible to obtain expressive spirits with a silky texture and fabulous aromas.

Now that this gin has no more secrets and that you know its entire history, it's time to shine a light on Baptiste Kirchhoffer, the unusual "apothecary" behind the Officine Distillery. This 30-year-old Colmarian has been able to combine all his faults and strengths to concoct his vision of gin for us. And it is only by this combination of what he is, by making fun of the divisions that this implies, that he was able to create the Officine for the greatest pleasure of all of us. No matter how perfect when you have passion, and being categorized is not important to him, the innovator. Assuming a unique and artisanal taste instead of an ether-flavored gin, such is its objective. Drawing on Alsatian diversity, Baptiste creates ethical gins. Having two very special stills to offer small, quality batches instead of falling into the cogs of time is its hallmark. He recommends his gin with a dosage of tonic according to the mood of each one.