The story of Ink Sloe & Berry Gin

Written by Husk Distillers new Brand Ambassador, Abbie Weir

When I started at Husk around three months ago (literally as the pandemic hit, great timing) we relaunched Ink Gins little sister - Ink Sloe & Berry Gin.

We first released this girl just over a year ago with the small batch of 900 bottles selling out too fast. The lads at the distillery then went back to the drawing board, bought a bigger tank and began infusing the next batch of Ink Sloe and Berry Gin.

Ink Sloe and Berry Gin is the Australian take on the traditional UK sloe gin, which is a thicker gin liqueur with a rounded tart finish. The British would pick the sloe berries leading up to winter and have a sloe infused gin warming their souls throughout the cooler, cuddlier months.

Step 1 - Distillation

The first step in making Ink Sloe & Berry Gin is distillation. As you know, to be called a gin, you must use juniper berries as a key botanical. That’s the only hard and fast rule – the other ingredients are limited by your imagination and what you can source. To create Ink Sloe & Berry Gin we wanted a simple and delicious base gin, so along with juniper berries we used coriander seed, angelica root, liquorice and locally grown jaboticaba plums.

Step 2- The infusion

Once the gin is distilled, it’s time to start the infusion and reduction. As this is a sloe gin the infusion is where most of the flavour and all the colour comes from. Talk about irony - this process is slow, our distillers stir this pot for about two months with the utmost TLC. Just like our agricultural rum, Ink Sloe and Berry is seasonal and relies on the Australian berry season. As you read this the next batch of Ink Sloe and Berry is in the final throws of infusion, ready for bottling in the coming weeks. We love using Australian suppliers wherever possible - our key berry is raspberry sourced from the Mid-North Coast of NSW, our davidson plum is grown right here in the Tweed Valley and the blueberries are Aussie grown too.

Although the red berries influence the flavour, the rich red colour is deepened by our native rosella flower, which is a type of hibiscus. We pick the flower bud - it is young and full of flavour and colour.

Now, if you don’t know already, our floral infusions are 100% organic, meaning they will fade over time. Drink up everyone, Ink Gin is meant to be shared, enjoyed and definitely not left lonely gathering dust for over a year!

SLOE COCKTAIL INSPIRATION

Charlie Chaplin

This is one of our favourite classic cocktails - it’s been going nuts at our cellar door.

I was at Rosellas’ the other day and filmed Jack shaking up a Charlie Chaplin - if you want me to visit you and make a little video for your venue, hit reply on this email!