Our Mission
Nurture meets nature with our ethical & sustainable small batch organic spirits, inspired by the idyllic meadowland and agroforestry on our family farm, capturing the true spirit of the countryside!
My Maceration
The same way in which a gin is distinguished by its defining characteristics, I too have been crafted by my own life experiences.
My life journey, my upbringing, “my maceration” has been the key to shaping me into who I am and ultimately what I will become.
One very dominant, and highly influential ingredient in my maceration is ‘PLACE’.
I was raised on the family farm, surrounded by beautiful countryside in the heart of East Anglia.
It’s that exposure to the wild landscape that formed an ongoing passion for nature and the environment.
I am an ambitious person with drive and heart. And no matter where I am in the world, the strength of that connection which was forged very early on, will continue to be my most influential guide.
The discovery of gin...
I’d love to say that my introduction to gin was a wonderful experience. But it was in fact far from wonderful which actually had me concluding that gin was a horrid, distasteful potion! A concoction of mainstream mismeasurements, squirted at me by a caveman through a bar-mounted shower hose and topped with one of my five-a-day! Not good!! And from that moment on, I had decided that gin was not for me.
A good few years passed and gin and I kept our distance. That was, until some friends were going to a gin bar and they invited me to join them.
With rather doubtful anticipation of what was to come, based on my previous ordeal, I was told to put my bad gin experience to the back of my mind and in preparation I was to try one specific gin with a specific tonic…. WOW!! I was wrong. Very wrong!
From that moment on I was fascinated and so my journey into the world of gin began and I soon realised that gin was a finely tuned, considerably balanced and sophisticated drink that required respect.
One of the most intriguing things about gin is that there is so much variety out there which brings me to my next important point in my maceration, ‘PERSONALITY’
I too, like the world of gin, have a life filled with variety. I have interests and passions for many things. They do say ‘variety is the spice of life’. And that is true for my own character. A glass half full kind of girl (with gin of course!)!
My upbringing is my origin. The foundation that taught me the importance of ‘PLACE’ but it’s through the explorations of ‘PLACE’ that have ultimately shaped my ‘PERSONALITY’.
My world is surrounded by people of vast variety. Each so different and unique. Those whom I now carry dear in my heart, those whom I share my life with now and those who I’m yet to meet on my journey. Relationships that form a strong bond over the course of time.
A parallel universe of both people and gin alike. A coming together of multiple elements to form a complex yet balanced blend. I am a Libra after all!
It’s fair to say that if it weren’t for my friends, then gin and I may have continued on separate paths but I’m so glad our paths crossed. I’m a strong believer in those serendipitous moments in life.
The huge variety of gins and even the variations between batches of the same gin, intrigues and inspires me.
We live in the now, which are very exciting times. We got here on the inspiration and works of others and we continue with their work and make it our own to create the new with respect and understanding of what’s come before.
My gin-education...
Ever since that WOW moment, courtesy of my friends, I’ve taken every possible opportunity to expand my gin knowledge.
I was itching for a new adventure and the world of gin was calling me. So I packed in my career of 21 years and was ready for the change. “YEESS!!”
Then the corona virus pandemic hit! “OH BUM!!”
This actually was a blessing in disguise in some respects. It gave me the time to focus. And my chosen subject ‘gin’ was a focus in its own right.
Gin is so much more than just an alcoholic drink! It’s an art form! A fascinating mix where nature meets science and art.
As individuals, we all have different tastes and preferences. If we were all the same then the world would be rather monotonous. It’s that individuality that gives birth to variety.
The taste of gin is just one element of this art form. It’s an important one but also one of the alluring qualities for me is ‘DESIGN’.
I have always been a very creative person and attention to detail is my middle name. And for someone of this makeup, viewing the plethora of beauty that goes with gin, it takes me to a whole new level of fascination.
When it comes to bottle design, I have a bit of an obsession. And proof of that can be seen in my home where I have an ever growing collection of gin bottles and gin memorabilia. My gin gallery!
In a fairly short space of time, I have accumulated over 200 different bottles. Each one unique yet forming a rather beautiful collective piece.
I find it very hard to visit somewhere and return empty handed of a bottle of the local gin (more often than not, the plural version)!
The lockdown periods have been testing for most to say the least. But me being me, found focus and distractions from negativities and fully embraced my newfound love… this does not mean I spent 18-months drunk! 😂
As sharing and embracing was prohibited in the physical sense, thankfully there were other outlets in the form of social media, books/magazines and other online platforms and events to keep me entertained and preoccupied.
I started a dedicated gin instagram account (@anelfsruin) to connect with other, likeminded ginthusiasts, and to share my passion.
The opening of my distillery and the future vision of moving it to pride of place on our family farm is more than I could have ever dreamt of. Not only is it a significant step in securing the longevity of ownership of the land within our family through diversification, but it supports and underpins aspirations of my dad whose dream of organic agroforestry will come into fruition! The land immediately surrounding the distillery will provide many of our organic botanicals, grown specifically for my recipes!