It’s not a secret, here’s how we make our gin.
The Hillside Gin starts with a few classic gin botanicals that we simply can’t forage locally. We then float the locally foraged botanicals over the top of this classic gin base to create our unique blend of flavours
Heather
The predominant flowering plant of the local hills is the natural heather that blankets the Long Mynd. Heather provides the dominant floral note, but also adds a vegetal component to the body of our gin.
Whinberry
Mountain blueberries are known by many names: bilberry, whimberry, whortleberry, blaeberry to name a few. They grow in abundance all over the Shropshire Hills in low shrubs close to the ground. The taste and aroma are very intense and blueberry-like, with a natural tartness.
Rowan
Mountain ash trees produce large clusters of bright red berries and are often used in ornamental gardens. The berries, although very tart, give an amazing blast of rich fruity taste and scent.
Crab Apple
Crab apples are a wonderfully versatile fruit, often used in jellies, pies and even in making cider. We use only the peels of local crab apples, as that lends a bright and zingy flavour to balance the richer wild berries in our gin.
Hawthorn Berry
Haws can be seen in any hedgerow around Shropshire and grow wild across the hills. Despite being a fruit, the predominant flavour is spicy and hot, so these are used quite sparingly to season the gin.
Gorse Flower
Gorse is a scrubby bush with sharp needle-like leaves and bright yellow blossoms that flower most of the year. In the wild, gorse flower smells distinctly like coconut, but distilled in spirit the coconut disappears instead provides a light smoky aroma. We use tiny amounts of gorse to put a gentle hint of smoke at the body of the gin.